Adam Graham's Blog: Christians and Superheroes, page 114

Frank Miller: The Man Who Bedeviled Daredevil

Daredevil in most of his recent incarnations has had nothing to do with the swashbuckling adventurer seen in Essential Daredevil, Vol. 1 (see my review.

The Daredevil of most modern comics has been a dark, brooding, and violent character whose adventures have been steeped in sex and violence. The reason for this can be laid at the feed of one man-the same guy who has made comics far darker overall Frank Miller.

Just like with Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, it's hard to find fault with everything Miller did. Some of his changes were pretty brilliant. For example, his portraying Daredevil as a Catholic and providing the Kingpin as a Daredevil nemesis was pure genius. Others such as turning early Nelson and Murdoch Secretary Karen Page into an adult film star who sells Matt Murdoch out for drugs-not so much.

Also, his darker tone for the series was handled far better than subsequent writers who had done some crazy things with Miller's tone. In Batman, it wasn't Miller's idea to have the fate of Jason Todd at the hands of the Joker decided by a 1-900 line. It also wasn't his idea to have Daredevil become Kingpin of Hell's Kitchen or to get possessed by an actual demon as happened in the past decade.

Arguably, two of the 1990s most successful Kids Animated Series wouldn't have the same without his work. Batman: The Animated Series was brilliantly done and far darker than prior Batman cartoons and something that both kids and adults liked. Miller's re imagining of Kingpin made him a very satisfying villain on Spider-man. In both these cases, while portrayals were different from many older programs, they were dialed back versions of Miller's changes.

Miller had good ideas for where to take characters, but he went way too far and the writers who succeeded him on these titles boarded the train to crazy town.

Miller is nothing but thought provoking and in a video posted on You Tube, he raises some interesting questions that deserve discussion and I'll give them the attention they deserve in the next week or so.

Count me Out on Superman #13

I said I'd be buying Superman #13 out of curiosity, but after reading a review of the comic book and a particular scene I think I'll pass.

Wrote the author regarding Superman walking in on a scene with Jimmy Olsen in the shower with a young woman:

Have we ever had such an obvious indication of someone having sex in a Superman comic as soapy Jimmy and pal? I realise this series is rated T for Teen, but I think of Superman as an all-ages character. By all means imply that stuff is happening, in a way older readers will pick up on - in the Seventies there was a running gag around boeuf bourguignon - but show? I'm not so sure.

On top of that, we have Clark Kent reading Lois Lanes' private texts. This is shall we say, not very supermanlike and a good reason why many fans of the character avoid the current books and I certainly wouldn't want to reward DC's degradation of this iconic figure. I'll have more on Superman past and present in some upcoming posts.

1 Day Kindle Giveaway: Your Average Ordinary Alien

My digital short, "Your Average Ordinary Alien" is available for free today on Amazon.

Kirk Picard Skywalker is kidnapped by aliens, fulfilling a lifelong dream, but will disillusionment follow when he realizes that the aliens are all too ordinary?

This is a fun science fiction satire and it's available for free today only on the Kindle. Click here to download.

I'm With Clark Kent

I've read exactly one mainstream Superman Comic Book published after the 1980s. I may make it three tomorrow. Fox News reports:

In the next issue of DC comics’ “Superman,” due out on Wednesday, the superhero’s alter ego will eschew being a mild-mannered reporter, presumably to become a snarky blogger, when he quits his post at the Daily Planet.
“This is really what happens when a 27-year-old guy is behind a desk and he has to take instruction from a larger conglomerate with concerns that aren’t really his own,” Superman writer Scott Lobdell said to USA Today.
“Superman is arguably the most powerful person on the planet, but how long can he sit at his desk with someone breathing down his neck and treating him like the least important person in the world?” Lobdell said.

In a panel from the comic, Clark Kent says, "I've been a journalist for barely five years now. Why am I the one sounding like a grizzled ink-stained wretch who believes news should be about---I don't know, news?"

All I can say is, "Amen, Clark."

Now for those of you who remember Clark Kent being around in the 1950s and 1970s, they've rebooted the series a couple of times in the past couple of decades and just did a fresh reboot along with DC's New 52 series in 2011. There's some psuedo-sci fi mumbo jumbo, but what it comes down to is that DC made some demographic decisions and came up with a story line to justify it.

But anyway, back to the main point, I can agree with Clark Kent as I've had many of the same feelings about journalism. That's my emphasis was on back in college and worked on a paper for a few weeks before leaving over a philisophical disagreement with my employer. I tended to believe that people should be paid as promised for their work. The employer didn't.

About the middle of the last decade, I was glad I really hadn't completed my degree and got stuck in that industry. Journalism had become a joke. Unfortunately, blogging wasn't much better, particularly political opinion blogging because so much stuff became topics of conversations that was really irrelevant nonsense.

Of course, Clark Kent may find better luck as a guy who goes for hard news and investigative reporting, particularly in and around Metropolis. I hope it works out for him and I'll be sure to check out his Howard Beale moment?

Do I think it will last? I'd say there's about a 2/3 chance it wouldn't. The 1/3 chance is that American newspaper really are in trouble, so going back to work for one may not be a career possibility in a few years. The 2/3 chance that he will end up back at the Daily Planet is that Superman has a sense of tradition greater than any other comic books. This stuff goes back 70 years: The Daily Planet, Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, and Perry White. That stuff has a gravitational pull. So, just as his TV reporter gig in the 1970s went away, I think that unless newspaper's collapse we'll eventually see Superman back at the Planet.

Reminder...Still Looking for a Name

I'm still looking for a name for our third novella in "The Adventures of Powerhouse Series."

The Plot:

Mitch Farrow, CEO of Dorado Incorporated and secret agent of King Bel, an extraterrestrial bent on world domination. First he's got to increase cynicism and to do so to undercut Powerhouse. To defeat Powerhouse, he tries the old fashioned supervillain ways as well as using his media prowess to put Powerhouse on the defensive through scandal and controversy. Then King Bel sends a helper, the situation gets more complicated.

Can Powerhouse survive this multi-thronged attack or will Mitch Farrow eliminate him? Found out in... (Insert Title.)

A Look at The Essential Daredevil

One of my favorite episodes of Spider-man: The Animated Series featured the character Daredevil, a blind New York City Attorney with amazing physical powers through the use of his other senses.

It turns out my local library system had the Essential Daredevil, Vol. 1 containing his first twenty-five issues from the 1960s.

So below are my thoughts:

Origin: Matt Murdoch loses his sight in accident while trying to save a blind man from being hit. Due to radioactive material, he not only develops stronger senses as is typical with blind people but also extremely enhanced senses that also completely compensate for sight giving him a sort of radar vision among other things.

Murdoch's father, a boxer, is murdered for not fixing a fight. But he has urged Matt not to make his living with his fist. Matt honors his father's wishes and graduates from Law School but is unable to focus on his work until his father's brought to justice. He designs the Daredevil costume. He'd been teased by kids in school as a "Daredevil" and adopted that name. He set out to find his father's killer and took care of that in Issue #1. And thus begins a long career of crimefighting.

The Supporting Cast: Foggy Newlson, his law partner and Murdoch are in love with the same girl, their secretary Karen Page. Karen cares more for both Daredevil and Murdoch than Nelson. Foggy is a somewhat insecure and vain character, although he can be heroic in a pinch. In one subplot arch, Spider-man sees Daredevil going into Murdoch and Nelson's office and concludes that Foggy is Daredevil because it couldn't
Art: The art, particular, the last fifteen or so issues is solid. It couldn't possibly be the blind guy. Foggy than tries to subtly convince Karen he's Daredevil, putting their lives at risk.

Karen tends to be a little irritating. The art of Gene Colan art makes her look more attractive than earlier issues, but she's a little too focused on Matt's blindness. Her ability to make assumptions plus her guilelessness goes a little beyond innocent. She never truly does anything stupid, but she's no Mary Jane Watson.

Plot and Character: The book has been criticized for its B-grade villains and to an extent, it's true. The original Daredevil villains tend to be a little lame with character like the Matador and Stiltman and the Purple Man is a bit weird.

However, the stories are swashbuckling fun. The quality of villains picks up in Issue 6 when he meets the Fellowship of Fear that includes one villain who can fire a ray that induces large amount of fear-a big challenge for the Man Without Fear.

The Masked Marauder may be a bit of a generic character but he does work as a mastermind foil for Daredevil. The Gladiator and Tri-man are great physical challenges and even the Owl improves on his second appearance.

In addition to that, Daredevil meets up with Spider-man, Kazar, and the Submariner in this book. While some may dis Stan Lee's writing, I love. He gives the stories a conversational air. I found myself chuckling at his notes several times and while most fans seem to hate the introduction of Mike Murdoch (Matt's Alleged twin brother (really Matt himself) meant to cover his secret identity), I thought it was an amusing and fun bit of 60s craziness.

No, you don't have great villains, but the book is pure Silver Age fun.

The character of Matt Murdoch is interesting. He seems to be addicted to adrenaline, which would seem to be his prime motivation for carrying on as Daredevil after his father's murderer was caught. He knows things are traps but boldly walks in wantings to see what will happen. Occasionally, The Man Without Fear acts like the Man Without Sense.

Clearly Matt feels constrained by what people expect of a blind man in terms of being helpless. In Issue 24, he declares that it feels like Matt Murdoch is the mask while Daredevil is the real person. A nice serious character conflict to go with all the fun of these books.

Overall, this is just a wonderful version of the character before Frank Miller had his way with him.

Overall, I give the collection 4 out of 5 stars.

The Mental Health Risks of Being a Writer

Ernest Hemingway and Hunter S. Thompson were fine minds of writing, legends in their field. Both died at their own hands, putting bullets through their brains.

It turns out Thompson and Hemingway are far from alone in a studyreleased from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden:

When the researchers looked specifically at authors, they found that they are overrepresented among people with schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety syndrome, and substance abuse problems. Authors were also almost twice as likely to commit suicide as the general population.

The story does resonates with my experience. Writers can be an odd lot (and I may be the oddest of them all.) We imagine new stories world and if we're any good, we start to imagine our characters tell us things and suggest things. That's a little nutty to start with.

Of course, some may wonder if the best course of action would be to avoid fiction writing. The answer is no for two reasons. First, you can't avoid all risks in life. Second, it is less a case I think that fiction writing brings on these problems as it is that fiction writers tend to have these problems. You take away people's outlet and Good Heavens, things could end up worse.

Writing fiction is a talent, maybe analogous to a superpower, and readers of superhero stories know those come with drawbacks.

Being aware of these tendencies should lead writers to be cautious of their mental health and conscious of the darker side. We have to be in touch with ourselves.

For Christian writers, I think there's a definite spiritual element to consider. Jesus tells us, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy." The thief, of course, refers to Satan. And we have to be aware that he wants to destroy Christian writers. He wants to destroy their work, their efforts, and the ministry of what they write.

This study is a reminder that Christian writers should be in church, in prayer, and in the study of the Word, perhaps as much as anyone else.

For Christian non-writers, remember to pray for all of us writers, for peace of mind and heart.

Where Lust Comes From...

I don't know if I'm nitpicking or not, but I find a slight disagreement with one of the points Paul Asay makes in God on the Streets of Gotham: What the Big Screen Batman Can Teach Us about God and Ourselves. He argues that, "Every evil we commit is a corruption of something good and honorable in us."

The overall point I agree with, but one of his examples seems off. He writes, "If we did not love, we could not lust."

Really?

There are quite a few sociopaths out there who lust both for people and for things and there's no love behind. Same thing with many rapists and other sexual criminals.

What we have to recognize is that lust far from being love, which is concerned with the welfare of the other, lust is completely selfish. It's about what I want and what I desire.

Perhaps, it would be better to put lust in the same category Asay puts envy and gluttony. It's a perversion of God's design for our sexuality, not a perversion of our ability to love, because when it comes to lust, to quote the great philosopher Tina Turner, "What's love got to do with it?"

Last Chance to Enter to Win Free Autographed Copy of Tales of the Dim Knight

Okay gang, last chance to win a free autographed copy of Tales of the Dim Knight. Click here to enter.

Getting Dangerous Again

I'm the terror that flaps in the night...

If you grew up watching the Disney Afternoon like I did, you know the rest. Darkwing Duck, the legendary crimefighter of St. Canard bravely fought evil and crime of all sorts from 1991-95. After his initial run in the Disney Afternoon, he had two thirteen episode seasons on ABC's Saturday Morning.

The show was influential on me and my write for two reasons. First was it's focus on combining the superhero and comedy elements with an eye towards parody. The second was introducing a family life in the superhero with the responsibility of raising an adopted daughter.

Clearly the hours I spent watching Darkwing Duck were part of the inspiration when I sat down to write about a family man who gets super powers in Tales of the Dim Knight.

So when I found out that Boom Studios made a sequel graphic novel bringing the Darkwing Duck universe back after more than a decade, my interest was piqued, so I picked up Darkwing Duck, Vol. 1: The Duck Knight Returns.

The plot finds Darkwing in retirement living exclusively as Drake Mallard and being a cog in the giant machine of Quackwerks that runs St. Canard and employees all its citizens.

However, something suspicious is going on. When his daughter Goslin's best friend Honker Muddlefoot is arrested for having downloaded music (which Goslin affirms on behalf of the Walt Disney Corporation is wrong but not worthy of cruel imprisonment), Darkwing goes back into action in time to see that his four biggest rivals (minus Negaduck) are also getting back into the swing of things with Bushroot, Megavolt, the Liquidator, and Quackerjack ready to wreak havoc. This looks like a job for Darkwing Duck.

The book which collects the first four issues of Boom's Darkwing Duck Comic strikes a perfect balance. It's clearly geared towards kids but also towards fans of the original series who have grown up. It explores themes of compromise, growing older, and has a bit of a cyberpunk feel to it without getting too heavy for younger readers. It recaptures the characters and fun of the series perfectly while having the right amount of serious moments to make it more than a trip down memory lane.

It's adorned with colorful art and lots of bonus cover art that makes it a visually stimulating read.

In addition, the book offers some interesting text in the back with some background on how the original series came about that true fans love. The series was originally began as "Double O Duck" but changed radically to resemble a Silver Age superhero show. It still held onto some of the original Bond-elements with Darkwing's battles for SHUSH against F.O.W.L. (The Fiendish Organ for World Larceny.)

It was interesting to learn about because it always seemed like Darkwing Duck had two different types of adventures. There were his battles with FOWL and his battles with Fiendish Five (either solo or together) and related supervillains and never the twain met.

Anyway, it was a very satisfying blast from the past.