Category Archives: comics

X-Men: The Last Stand ruined Dark Phoenix Saga

After seeing Captain America: The Winter Soldier with friends, we spent some time discussing how well Marvel has done creating the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and how well they’ve adapted the various Avengers heroes. This led to a discussion about some other comic book films that were much more disappointing. At the top of my list: X-Men: The Last Stand.

To give you some context: I am a big X-Men fan. Prior to the creation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I would say the X-Men were probably my favorite Marvel characters. I confess that I have not read every issue of every X-related series — though I would love to someday. However, when I was in elementary school, I frequently borrowed comics from a friend, and we would often get into debates about who was the coolest X-Man. We would also fantasize about our dream casting for an X-Men movie, if one were ever made. (I’m pretty sure Patrick Stewart is the only actor from our list who actually made it into a film, but come on, who else would you cast as Charles Xavier?)

X-Men finally made it to movie theaters about six years after the height of my comic book craze, but I was still excited to see my favorite heroes on the big screen. I was so excited that I was willing to give the creators the benefit of the doubt and forgive them for things like altering Wolverine’s height (because Hugh Jackman), excluding Beast and Angel from that first movie while making Iceman much younger than Cyclops or Jean Grey despite the fact they were all founding members of the team, and pretty much everything about Anna Paquin. (I’m sorry, I have nothing against Paquin — she is terrific in True Blood — but Paquin in the role of Rogue, a character I love, just bothers me).

Despite these complaints, I really enjoyed the first film, and X2 wasn’t bad either. In fact, I got really excited at the end of the second movie, because I recognized they were setting the stage for the Phoenix to appear in the third film. At the time, I had no idea which incarnation of the Phoenix we would see, but I was looking forward to watching what was arguably one of the best X-Men storylines ever written translated to the big screen.

If you’ve been following my column, you may recall a few weeks ago when I wrote about trying to judge books and movies separately lest you be inevitably unhappy with every film adaptation. Perhaps if I had taken my own advice while watching X-Men 3, I wouldn’t have been nearly as disappointed. Then again, The Last Stand is more likely one of those exceptions that I just can’t forgive.

After viewing The Last Stand, I remember leaving the theater with my brother, both of us extremely disappointed with the film. One of his comments was that it was a great action film about people with superpowers, but it was not a good X-Men movie. I’m inclined to agree.

X3 tramples all over the X-Men lore that laid the groundwork for the films to be made in the first place. I was very frustrated that the writers killed Professor X and, even more so, Cyclops. The field leader of the team — the one who is supposed to actually outlive Jean, many times, in the comics — gets killed off-screen early in the movie with very little fanfare. But my real problem with the film was in how it handled the Dark Phoenix storyline — or more like how it didn’t handle it.

As I stated earlier, I haven’t read all the X-Men comics, and at the time I first saw X3, I hadn’t read “The Dark Phoenix Saga.” Nonetheless, I was pretty familiar with the general plot and knew that what they had shown in the film was not anything close to the original story. After reading the actual comics, I only got more frustrated with the liberties the film took.

I understand that the entire Phoenix storyline, from the time Jean Grey became the Phoenix until she died, encompasses several years’ worth of comics. It’s not an arc that could easily be told in a single film. I even understand going straight to Dark Phoenix and never showing us the good side of the Phoenix power. The problem lies in the fact that it seems like director Brett Ratner and the screenwriters only wanted an all-powerful weapon for Magneto to wield so they shoehorned Dark Phoenix into that role.

Jean Grey’s death in X2 and resurrection as the Phoenix in X3 are very similar to the story described in Uncanny X-Men issue no. 101, only instead of taking on radiation while landing a spacecraft as in the comics, Jean sacrifices herself while trying to hold back a flood long enough for her friends to take off in the Blackbird. This is the only way in which it feels like the film’s producers were attempting to incorporate anything from the original storyline into the movies.

Dark Phoenix was an incredibly powerful being. As The Watcher says at the end of Uncanny X-Men issue no. 137, “She had only to think, and that thought would become instant reality.” In the comics, Dark Phoenix is a force of nature; she wields limitless power and is perfectly aware of how to use that power. She consumes stars and destroys worlds in order to feed this power; she’s nearly unstoppable. Yet, in X-Men 3, she is made subservient.

Dark Phoenix kills Xavier because she thinks the Professor is trying to control her, but then she turns and allows Magneto to actually manipulate and control her. Despite being the most powerful mutant in Magneto’s arsenal, Phoenix spends most of the final battle observing before she begins to unleash her full strength, only after Magneto has been neutralized. While in the comics she is completely independent and a threat in her own right, in the films she needs to have someone to follow.

Perhaps one of most controversial changes to the storyline — and the part that bothered me the most — is the death of Dark Phoenix. In the original comic, the X-Men temporarily subdue Dark Phoenix using a device created by the Beast. Jean gains control of herself for a brief moment and she begs Wolverine to kill her, but he hesitates and Dark Phoenix once again takes over. Near the end of Uncanny X-Men no. 136, Xavier engages in a psychic battle with Dark Phoenix and, with the help of Jean’s suppressed consciousness, is able to build up a wall around Dark Phoenix in Jean’s mind, suppressing the malevolent entity. However, the Professor’s solution is not permanent: Dark Phoenix begins to reemerge in the next issue. This time, before Jean completely loses control, she takes her own life in order to save the lives of her friends and the universe.

Jean Grey’s sacrifice is the ultimate depiction of love and strength. Instead of once again becoming Dark Phoenix and being responsible for countless more deaths, Jean takes control of her destiny and chooses to defeat the evil within no matter the cost. However, in the on-screen version, Jean was robbed of this noble act. Instead, Jean dies at the hands (claws?) of Wolverine, thus taking a strong and noble act of female empowerment and turning it into another example of male dominance.

This effect may have been unintentional on the part of the writers. I’m sure this ending was chosen for its drama, but the change still sends the message that Jean, though able to kill anyone with no more than a thought, is not strong enough to defeat Dark Phoenix. She needs someone else to do it for her, and that someone just happens to be one of the most masculine characters in the movie.

Another problem I have with this sequence of events is the focus on Wolverine in general. I understand that Wolverine had become the breakout star of the X-Men franchise, and don’t get me wrong: I like Wolverine and I love Jackman. But Wolverine has become the face of the X-Men and the star of these films, and that simply shouldn’t be the case. The X-Men are, first and foremost, a team, and no one character should stand out more than any other. If anyone should receive top billing, it is the leader of the team: Cyclops. This shift in emphasis to Wolverine added to my frustration that Cyclops was killed within the first half hour of the third movie and, consequently, doesn’t even appear in the final battle.

Basically, Dark Phoenix is used as a subplot in this film, taking a backseat to the mutant cure storyline, which seems like a huge waste of one of the best arcs in Marvel history. “The Dark Phoenix Saga” did not receive the attention or focus it deserved in this film, and probably shouldn’t have been squeezed into the story at all. Imagine the separate compelling, blockbuster film series that could have been developed with proper treatment of the saga.

As my colleague John has elaborated on in his defense of X-Men: The Last Stand, the film had some good moments. (Kelsey Grammer as the Beast is one of the best parts of the movie.) In fact, if you were to take the Dark Phoenix storyline out of the movie entirely, it probably would have been decent, and I certainly would have enjoyed it more. The final battle sequence was well done, and I enjoyed the fight between Iceman and Pyro — particularly the moment when Iceman finally becomes the completely frozen version of himself.

Needless to say, X-Men: The Last Stand was a huge letdown for me. However, X-Men: First Class restored some of my faith in the franchise, and I’m cautiously optimistic that X-Men: Days of Future Past — despite the decision to once again put Wolverine front and center, taking over Kitty Pryde’s role in the original storyline — will not disappoint.

X-Men portray historic, ongoing civil rights struggles

In a previous Nerd/Wise article, I explained why comic books and graphic novels are unfairly criticized and should be viewed as a form of modern art and literature. That discussion was limited to more unique works in graphic literature, ignoring the superhero genre that has come to define the medium. Today, we give superheroes their due by looking at how they can be used to tell complex, real stories. Specifically, we look at the X-Men and the allegory of civil rights, starting with its allusions to the African-American Civil Rights Movement and moving on to today’s references to the push for LGBT rights.

In 1963, Stan Lee, legendary creator of almost all of our most famous heroes, was running thin on ideas for origin stories and, in a bout of laziness, decided to create a team of heroes who were simply born with their powers. Ironically, this decision created the most compelling trait ever tacked onto a superhero team. The X-Men were heroes, like Spider-Man, because they chose to be, and chose to use their gifts for the betterment of mankind. Unlike Superman, they weren’t deified and honored but marginalized and feared.

Since (Uncanny) X-Men #1, this has been what makes the X heroes unique. They didn’t ask for their gifts, but they have to deal with them. And as such, they became the stand-in for every person who has ever felt marginalized for traits beyond their control, whether it be skin tone, gender, or sexual orientation.

The real world shows us that it is difficult to come to terms with the qualities we bear for which society chooses to judge us. Some of us are unable to handle this pressure, and we seek an outlet for our frustration. Sometimes, that frustration is let out through art or music, but many times, it can lead to outbursts of violence. Those of us who feel marginalized need the guidance of those who relate and understand our problems and can offer direction. In the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, the African-American community chose a leader in Martin Luther King Jr. The X-Men were given Professor Charles Xavier.

Professor X, the mentor and leader of the X-Men, faced discrimination his entire life — not necessarily for being a mutant, which he could easily hide, but for being a quadriplegic. Professor Xavier, like King, was proof that an educated man with a vision could make a difference. Both men guided the marginalized, gave value to the voices of the unheard, and spoke truth to power while offering a vision of peace. Obviously, there are some differences. King never trained the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to fight giant robots bent on his peoples’ destruction in the streets of New York, but the similarities are still worth noting.

On the other side of the coin exists Magneto, who, for most of his history in the comic books, was the leader of the Brotherhood of (Evil) Mutants. While Professor X appealed to the better angels of our nature, Magneto appealed to the more likely response from people who have spent their lives oppressed and hated. Magneto, as leader of the Brotherhood, offered mutants a chance to retaliate against human hatred. Instead of pushing his followers to win over the hearts and minds of humanity, Magneto told them they were superior, they were ascendent, they were meant to replace homo sapiens.

Magneto began as a more simplistic villain, even outright calling the Brotherhood “evil,” but he eventually evolved into a nuanced and accessible character, thanks primarily to the tremendous work of X-Men godfather Chris Claremont. Magneto was revealed to be a Holocaust survivor, and his hatred of humanity can be better understood in this light. He has already seen what humans will do to the “other,” and he refuses to allow it to happen again.

It’s easy to see the appeal of Magneto’s message — except for the mass genocide parts, at least. Magneto’s later characterizations, including those beautifully portrayed on the silver screen by Ian McKellen and Michael Fassbender, show him as a militant mutant advocate but not an inherently evil man. He appeals to the young men and women who are sick of the status quo and see that the entire system is flawed and biased against them. To them, the problem can not be fixed through gradual change and education but by tearing the whole system down. Philosophically, this isn’t necessarily wrong; sometimes, a revolution is necessary to fix humanity’s mistakes. The problem is when this is taken to its logical extreme and philosophy begets violence.

Magneto has been compared to Malcolm X for his “by any means necessary” approach. Perhaps this is unfair to the man and to the character, but it is obvious that Malcolm X, Elijah Muhammad, and the Nation of Islam at least inspired much of Magneto and the Brotherhood’s characterization. The militancy, the rhetoric, and the desire to separate mutantkind from humanity are lifted from the Nation of Islam and their push for separation of the races.

The X team has historically been very diverse. Since Giant-Size X-Men #1, the team has had an international flavor. Joining Scott Summers and Jean Grey were the Canadian Wolverine, the German Nightcrawler, the Soviet Colossus (in the middle of the Cold War), and Storm, who was born in New York City but raised on the African continent.

This second X team was introduced in 1975, when even including an African-American superhero was still controversial. Even more unique was that Storm’s character was not defined by her “blackness”; she was a character in her own right, with an interesting origin story and traits unique to her — something incredibly rare for a woman superhero, let alone a black woman superhero.

Despite the team’s ethnic diversity, Xavier’s new gang of uncanny heroes often dealt with problems more appropriate for a cosmic opera than a civil rights allegory. However, Claremont’s skills as X-Men writer knew no bounds, and he managed to create an enduring story that appealed to fans of both science fiction and political allegory.

The upcoming X-Men movie, Days of Future Past, is based on the comic book of the same name about a dystopian future in which mutants have been hunted down and placed in internment camps. The story is the realization of Magneto’s nightmare: a second holocaust for his people. The Sentinels, giant mutant-hunting robots, seek out the former X-Men and capture or murder them ruthlessly, strictly because of their X-gene. This potential future is a reminder of everything the X-Men have to fight against. They are being destroyed strictly for being different, like the Jews of the 1930s and 40s. They are feared without reason, like many of those put through the communist trials of the early Cold War era.

And this future seems very possible in the comic book world Marvel had created by 1980. The mutants were being marginalized since their kind had first been known to the world. They had been called “mutie” and attacked by mobs. Despite doing everything right, they never seemed to make much progress.

The X-Men have evolved over the years and have taken on the characteristics of each new group being marginalized by the American mainstream. At times, they are derided as enemies of God and demons incarnate, corrupting society with their sinful ways, like the LGBT community of today. They’ve been told to stay in the closet about their powers and asked to simply “stop being a mutant,” like Iceman was in X2. And in Joss Whedon’s “Gifted” story line, scientists created a “cure,” to which the mutant community asked, “Does that mean we have a disease?”

Since 9/11, the X-Men have taken on the burden shared by Muslim-Americans. Should they be judged for the errors of others? Should all Muslims be feared and marginalized because of a few extremists? Should good, tax-paying mutants be feared and marginalized because of a few mutant terrorists?

The X-Men teach us about ourselves. They bring into focus our fears and our prejudices and ask us to rethink what we claim to already know. They show us that the world isn’t always black and white, even in a medium that was built on black and white morality tales. Are the X-Men perfect? No. They make mistakes. Often tragic ones. And many times, their dealings with the government create morally ambiguous situations in which we are left to believe that both sides are right. They challenge us. Hopefully, they continue to do so, and future generations can find themselves questioning their world thanks to the brilliant stories told about the Uncanny X-Men.

Spider-Man’s origin story defines the hero

Amazing Spider-Man received a lot of criticism upon its release in 2012 for being a reboot of a movie franchise that had only began 10 years before. Tobey Maguire’s portrayal of the lovable geek, Peter Parker, was still fresh in everyone’s mind when Andrew Garfield donned the costume. The newer movie was criticized even more for telling essentially the same story as the first: the origin of Spider-Man.

However, both movies were telling a tale from decades before, originated by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko in Amazing Fantasy #15. Rehashing this particular narrative is only appropriate, because Spider-Man’s debut story captures everything that makes him the hero he is.

Spider-Man’s origin story is essential to establishing the character. Without his tragic background, Spidey is just another faceless comic book hero. The moment Parker became a hero was not when he was bitten by a radioactive or genetically-enhanced arachnid, but was when his Uncle Ben died a tragic and unexpected death.

Parker was raised by his Aunt May and Uncle Ben, and their influence on him remains essential to the character to this day. The Parker introduced in 1962 was only a teenager and was still learning how to be a good person when his world was changed. Peter Parker gained amazing, bug-like powers from a spider bite — and quickly went on to make a lot of mistakes.

Parker’s growth reads like an evolution between two worldviews — not coincidentally, worldviews held by his co-creators. Spider-Man changes from a man looking out for himself to a man using his unique situation to help everyone else.

Lee, the author of Spider-Man, often used his comics as a soapbox for his worldview. Stan used The X-Men to discuss civil rights and race issues, employing Professor X as a stand-in for Martin Luther King. He also introduced the first black heroes in a major comic publication. And, despite being over 90 years old, Lee was recently tied to a project that was to unveil a gay superhero in a one-hour television special. Like Parker, Lee saw he had great power, and used it responsibly.

Ditko, the artist that first rendered Spider-Man, was different. Ditko was an advocate for objectivism and loved the works of Ayn Rand. Rand put forth the idea that selfishness is not a negative trait, and in fact, self-interest is a strong motivating force and a positive good. Following that philosophy led Parker into many problems he had to face head on.

As told in Amazing Fantasy #15, Parker gains the powers of Spider-Man from a radioactive spider bite. What did he do with these powers? Parker did just what Rand — and therefore Ditko — would want. Parker used the powers he received to better his own life by becoming a professional wrestler and television star to make money. Parker, used to being picked on and labeled a geek, was quick to use his new powers to flip the script and proved himself to be just as selfish as those who would mock him. During a robbery, Parker decided not to stop the thief, saying that from then on, he would look out for Number 1.

This objectivist trait of Parker did not last long. Parker’s Uncle Ben was killed by a burglar, causing Spider-Man to seek him out for revenge. However, when the thief is captured, Parker realizes that the killer was the same man he refused to stop earlier. This guilty realization, portrayed beautifully in both Spider-Man and Amazing Spider-Man, is the defining moment of the superhero.

For the rest of his life, Parker will have to live with the guilt of this murder. By refusing to stop the robber, he allowed the man to run free. While we know that Parker can’t be blamed for the death of his uncle in the strictest sense, we are also able to understand how the guilt could be crippling to the young man.

Parker learns from this mistake that, as a man with great power, he must accept great responsibility. It is in this moment that Spider-Man changes from an objectivist celebrity to a selfless hero.

It was important to include this entire story in both Spider-Man reboot movies because it is essential to who he is, just as it is essential that Batman’s parents die and Captain America is the iconic moral center of the Marvel Universe. Spider-Man is driven by a debt that he can never repay. His guilt at the loss of his surrogate father will never dissipate, but he can continue to fight for good in a way that would make Ben proud. In a sense, Parker is redeeming his failure by living for others, just as his uncle lived for him.

Garfield and Marc Webb did an incredible job creating a new but familiar story for Amazing Spider-Man. In doing this, Sony, which owns the rights to produce Spider-Man movies, opened up new possibilities for sequels. Sony had to continue making movies or risk losing the franchise. Without Maguire on board, the most sensible move was to start fresh, and thus Amazing Spider-Man was put into production.

The most important of the potential stories for future sequels involves Gwen Stacy, who was essentially a non-factor in the Sam Raimi movies. The Gwen story, which will have to be addressed at a later date, is as essential to Parker’s growth as his origin story, and looks like it will be fleshed out in Marc Webb’s sequel.

Amazing Spider-Man 2 hits theaters May 2. If you want to be prepared for the new movie by reading a heart-wrenching Spidey tale, check out Spider-Man: Blue by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale. You won’t regret it.

It’s easy to understand why people bemoan the abundance of sequels and reboots Hollywood pumps out every year. But Sony was close to losing a lucrative franchise and had to act. In the process, we were given a strong, character-driven story that fully captured the life of a teenage superhero in a way that made his struggles relatable. And now we will be treated to a series of cohesive movies that give us both the emotional struggle, and the physical spectacle, that made Spider-Man comics so popular.

“And a lean, silent figure slowly fades into the gathering darkness, aware at last in this world, with great power there must also come great responsibility.”

Up, up, and away! A history of Superman

“Faster than a speeding bullet. More powerful than a locomotive. Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.”

Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s Superman!

“Yes, it’s Superman, strange visitor from another planet who came to Earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men. Superman, who can change the course of mighty rivers, bend steel in his bare hands. And who, disguised as Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper, fights a never-ending battle for truth, justice, and the American way.”

No hero has penetrated the American mainstream more than Superman. Yet despite this status, Superman does not share the same level of financial success in 21st century cinema as his counterpart heroes. Superman is too boring and too powerful, many will argue. He’s the corporate hero, clean-cut and idealistic, fighting for an arbitrary ideal of the American dream: “Truth, justice, and the American way.”

But Superman wasn’t always the stringent representative of American corporate culture. Kal-El of Krypton was once the representative of the underdog, the immigrant, and social justice. The Man of Tomorrow has long been a representative of the ideals of today, changing with the times to act as a reflection of our own perception of society.

Superman, like many of the heroes who followed in his footsteps, was born of tragedy, both on the page and in real life. Brad Meltzer, author of The Book of Lies, theorizes that Superman’s creation is directly linked to his creator’s most tragic moment.

In 1932, a robbery led to the death of Mitchell Siegel. Whether his death was caused by a murder or a heart attack has never been fully clarified, but Meltzer believes this event led Mitchell’s son, Jerry, to dream of a man impervious to bullets and fearless of crime.

Jerry Siegel and his artist friend, Joe Shuster, were two poor Jewish boys from Cleveland. They first conceived of a “Superman” as a bald, telepathic villain, who more closely resembles today’s Lex Luthor than the Man of Steel. This quickly changed, however, and by the time the boys sold the first Superman story to National Periodicals, today’s DC Comics, Superman had become a hero, with traits taken from mythology, science fiction, and the immigrant experience.

Action Comics #1 introduced Superman to the world in 1938. From the beginning, the traits that define the Man of Tomorrow were on display. The world’s first superhero fought off criminals, showcased his fantastic powers, and, as the lowly Clark Kent, fumbled his way with Lois Lane to begin a 75-year love triangle. This strange relationship between Kent, Lane, and Superman has been the focus of many stories across the decades.

The tragic relationship among these characters is representative of an idea that certainly must have existed in Siegel’s mind. As something of a geek, Siegel certainly believed he was more capable than anyone would give him credit for. If only the beautiful girls could see the real Jerry, perhaps they would like him. It’s a story that every kid who’s been called a loser can understand.

It was very much the man of Superman that appealed to fans. Comic readers have always been marginalized by society. The readers of Action Comics were primarily young boys, many of whom had been bullied in their lifetimes and could relate to the character of Clark Kent.

Borrowing from his father’s immigrant experience, Siegel wrote Superman as a visitor from a formerly great society, sent to a new world to live a better life. The planet Krypton was written as the old country, like the Siegels’ home of Lithuania. Upon arriving in the new land, Superman, like the immigrants of the day, changed his name from the Hebrew sounding Kal-El to the very Anglican, WASPish name, Clark Kent.

Superman’s origin story has often led to comparisons with the story of Moses, as both were sent away from their mothers to survive inevitable death and become a hero to the people. In time, the story has also been seen with many Christian connotations, most famously in the 1978 Superman film, with Marlon Brando’s Jor-El sending his only son from the cosmos to save the people of Earth from their own mistakes.

Christian stories were not the original inspiration for the creators’ work. Rather, Siegel and Shuster took inspiration from mythological heroes Hercules and Samson and from pulp heroes Flash Gordon and Doc Savage, while naming their hero’s base of operations, Metropolis, after the classic Fritz Lang movie.

Superman began life as a voice for Siegel and Shuster’s politics. Their hero fought against evil in all its forms, whether on the streets, in boardrooms, or in the nation’s capital. Siegel and Shuster’s Superman, years before becoming the representative of Eisenhower’s America, was the champion of social justice, unafraid to bend some rules to right terrible wrongs. Action Comics #1, in fact, sees Superman take on a corrupt U.S. senator, prompting the official’s confession by terrifying the man with a display of Kryptonian powers.

These powers were, at first, comparatively limited. In this first appearance, it was said only that Superman could leap one-eighth of a mile, hurdle 20-story buildings, outrun a train, with “nothing less than a bursting shell [able to] penetrate his skin.” It would be several more years before the Man of Tomorrow would take to the sky.

Action Comics #1 launched a phenomenon. Soon, everyone was releasing superhero comics. These comics remained popular throughout the War years, appealing to kids and soldiers alike. Symbiotically, the comics were also heavily influenced by World War II. With the existential threat of Nazis and Imperial Japan, the Man of Tomorrow became a patriotic hero to inspire American servicemen fighting overseas.

Unfortunately for the comics industry, popularity waned for the superhero genre in the years following the fight with the Axis. Superman, along with his eternal counterparts Batman and Wonder Woman, became the anchors of National Periodicals, pulling the company through the industry’s post-World War slump.

Superman did his part by dispersing his supporting cast across numerous titles. Superboy, which told the story of Clark’s teenage superheroic exploits, was launched in 1949. Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane followed suit by starring in their own titles in the 1950s.

The superhero of the mid-century was different from the early Siegel and Shuster hero in more than just attitude. This Superman had been changed across several adaptations in different media to become the hero we recognize today. Some of the hero’s most enduring traits were actually just practical responses to real-world problems.

Kryptonite, debris from Kal-El’s home planet, was introduced in the Adventures of Superman radio program as a way to allow the actor portraying the hero to take some time off. Animators for the Fleicher Studios Superman shorts were the first to make the man fly, believing that a leaping hero looked poor in animation and that flying would simply be easier.

George Reeves brought Superman to life in the televised Adventures of Superman. To avoid the difficult question of how to make a man fly on camera, the producers decided to shoot Reeves either leaving or entering a building through windows to create the illusion of flight.

In 1978, Richard Donner and Christopher Reeve took the Man of Steel to the silver screen. Using new production techniques, the crew was able to simulate flight on film, allowing the movie to adhere more closely to the source material.

The movie was a huge success, with Reeve stunning audiences in his convincing portrayal of both the confident Superman and the perpetually terrified Kent. This success spawned three sequels and the 2006 homage, Superman Returns, directed by Bryan Singer and starring Brandon Routh.

While movie audiences were enamored by the high-flying hero, comic fans were demanding more realism out of their heroes. In a daring move, DC rebooted its entire multiverse in the crossover comic Crisis on Infinite Earths in 1986. A “last” Superman story, based in the original continuity, was offered to his original creator, Siegel, but had to be turned down due to legal disputes over ownership of the character. Instead, Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow was written by Alan Moore, and told the story of Superman’s final adventure as a hero.

This “final” story was followed by a new “first” story. Man of Steel, written by John Byrne, retold the origin of the hero. Kent became the primary identity, with Superman being the secret. Krypton was explored further, extraneous elements to the mythos were dropped, and all of the hero’s adventures as Superboy were erased. Clark was now a young man coming into his own, trying to understand his supernatural powers and dedicating his life to helping the people of Earth.

Kent soon returned to television in the hit show Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. The eponymous couple were the focus of the show, with superheroics as just an added element. The success was short-lived after a jump the shark moment when Lois and Clark decided to get married, killing the sexual tension that made the show popular.

The launching of Lois and Clark foiled plans to have the couple marry in the comics, and the writers were forced to delay the nuptials. Plans for the following year of comics had to be thrown out, and the writers decided on a bold new plan: kill the unkillable man.

Death of Superman is considered a landmark of comic book history. The book was wildly popular. Collectors bought issues with the expectation of an eventual return on their investment. That will likely never come to pass, of course. This being comic books, Superman remained dead for a mere eight months before returning, with a mullet, to fight the forces of evil yet again.

In the 21st century, the Man of Tomorrow has proven to be the Man of Today, finding success across several media. Smallville, launched on the teen-centric WB Network in 2001, told the tale of young Clark Kent in his decade-long journey to become Superman. The show was a success and humanized the hero in the eyes of fans new and old.

While Kent was finding success on the small screen, Superman was having a tough time on the big one. Superman Returns was financially successful but disappointed the brass at Warner Brothers who expected higher returns. In response, a sequel was aborted in favor of a reboot helmed by Watchmen director Zack Snyder. Man of Steel, released in 2013, again retold the story of Superman’s origin as an alien from a phallic-inspired space society who landed in the middle of Kansas — where human lives are apparently not as important as an explosive action scene.

Criticisms of Man of Steel aside, the movie was again successful at the box office and proved that Superman is still as marketable as ever. Superman will return to the big screen in 2016’s tentatively titled Batman vs. Superman.

Superman may be boring to some, but he sells comics and sells tickets. The Man of Tomorrow has endured across generations because he inspires us to strive for more. Sure, his level of perfection is unattainable, but the humility of this all-powerful alien warrior offers us an example to live by.

Superman may not bring in as much capital as Batman or Iron Man, but the hero from Krypton has always been about more than that. Superman is a reflection of our society. He reminds us that in our darkest hours, we can always look to the sky.

Comics: Modern medium of art, literature

Is art limited to paintings? Is literature limited to books? Can a comic book or a graphic novel be considered both art and literature? Or are they the medium of choice for the classless and the ignorant?

People often have one medium they most enjoy. For some, it’s a book; for others, it’s a movie or live-action television. Comic books and graphic novels are nothing more than another medium. These are media with dedicated writers and artists equally as capable — or incapable — in their areas as anyone who works in television, cinema, or the printed word is in those fields. Then why is there such a stigma when an adult expresses enjoyment for comics?

Comic books and graphic novels as literature

The comic book is derived from the most basic form of storytelling, yet it can tell stories as complicated as any other medium can. The word “comic” emerged from the comedic subject matter that was originally prevalent in the serials. The content has evolved over the years to become a format primarily dedicated to the superhero, but the name has never changed. The term “graphic novel” may fit the more disparate focuses of the modern comic, but it only applies to longer story arcs, not the 30-page serial fiction released every month by DC Comics and Marvel.

If you define the comic book and the graphic novel as sequential pictures that tell a story, you see that the medium is open to much more than just superheroes. Last year, Rep. John Lewis released a graphic novel, March, recounting the story of the Civil Rights movement from his own experience. The novel utilizes photorealistic art to recreate the story of Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights crusaders in a way that can appeal to younger readers without the costs of a feature film.

“It’s another way for somebody to understand what it was like and what we tried to do,” Lewis told the Washington Post. “And I want young children to feel it. Almost taste it. To make it real. … It’s not just the words but the action and the drama and the movement that bring it alive.”

In fact, it was a comic book that inspired Lewis to join the fight for Civil Rights. Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story was published in 1957 as a way to tell the story of the movement in a unique way. It worked, giving us a long-serving Civil Rights icon and contributing to the overall cause.

March and The Montgomery Story are not the only serious comic books out there. For some, the horrors of the Holocaust first became real thanks to the works of Art Spiegelman. Printed in 1991, Maus informs the reader about the 20th century’s greatest atrocity in an unprecedented way. Using mice to represent the Jewish people and portraying Nazis as cats allows the reader to continue reading through the brutality without flinching while still bringing attention to the horrible actions of the Third Reich.

Serious subject matter makes for some powerful stories, but the comic book also allows writers to create some of the most fantastic tales ever told. An empty page offers unlimited creative potential that the right artists and writers can bring to life. Again, superhero tales are the backbone of the comic book oeuvre, but the medium has produced many more stories that would be difficult or impossible to tell in any other format.

Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman is the story of Morpheus, one of the seven Endless, as he tries to rebuild his kingdom after being held prisoner for 70 years. The story is one-of-a-kind and intelligent and is still talked about among fans of the medium nearly 20 years after its original run. The series is so singular that Hollywood has been unsuccessful in its attempts to adapt it to the big screen for two decades — though they are still trying, with Joseph Gordon-Levitt recently signing on to work on the adaptation for Warner Brothers.

Saga is an ongoing comic book serial that is unafraid to take remarkable risks, creating imaginative worlds hosting very realistic characters. Alien creatures, ghosts, and soldiers with television monitors for heads are all commonplace in this story of star-crossed lovers. The bizarre originality and vast universe created by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples could not make it onto film or be told appropriately in a novel, but comes to life with only paper and ink.

Comic books and graphic novels as art

It is easy to ignore the amazing artists who give these characters form. Stan Lee is a rock star and a god to fans of superheroes. Yet, while he has a genius creative mind, Lee still needed the steady hands of Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko to create his most famous heroes. After all, it’s the art that differentiates the medium from text-based books.

There is no single comic book style of art either. Often, the artist chooses what look is best for the project at hand and illustrates accordingly. March uses a stark, realistic tone to recreate the world we know in a powerful new way, rendered beautifully by Nate Powell. When drawing Watchmen and V for Vendetta, Dave Gibbons, David Lloyd, and others also opted for an ultra-realistic style of art to create a world painfully similar to our own, allowing them to drive home Alan Moore’s themes of real tragedy and pain.

The tact is different when illustrating for a Superman or Green Lantern comic. These heroes are larger than life and are often illustrated as such. Many Lantern stories, especially those drawn by artists such as Jim Lee or Ivan Reis, are spectacles of chaos and wonder that match any summer blockbuster movie. In contrast, the more psychological books, such as Arkham Asylum or Gaiman’s Sandman, are often drawn in a distorted way, more closely resembling an acid trip that anything perceivable in the real world.

Is a full-page spread of galactic warfare or a somber panel showing a young boy reacting to the murder of his parents any less valuable as art than the works of modern painters? Certainly, the inferiority associated with comic book artists has faded within the profession in recent years, but quizzical looks still follow whenever a consumer asserts the artistic capacity of a comic book illustrator.

In the past several decades, comic book stories have become the basis of many Hollywood movies. As a result, the source medium has become popular again in its own right. But a stigma still exists. It is still commonplace that a person enjoys The Dark Knight or V for Vendetta movies and yet asserts that comics are for kids.

That idea is no longer valid. Comic books and graphic novels are just a medium. They can be for kids or adults, can tell stories of superheroes like Spider-Man, or real heroes like John Lewis. The only thing holding you back from enjoying a comic book is finding the one that is right for you.

Why is Captain America still relevant?

Captain America returns to the silver screen Friday, and in honor of this comic book icon, let us take a look back at the character’s history.

It was 1941. World War II was raging in Europe and the Pacific. Men and women were dying to protect their homelands from invading armies. Hitler, Mussolini, and Hirohito were guiding their nations toward new world empires. And the United States was enjoying its status as a neutral nation, content with being the Arsenal of Democracy. Some Americans, however, saw that entry into the war was inevitable, and it was important that we be on the right side.

Joe Simon and the legendary Jack Kirby were two such men. These comic book visionaries saw an opportunity to voice their politics and make a few dollars on the way. Captain America, a living symbol of the United States itself, was introduced in Captain America Comics #1, in March 1941 — a rare situation where the publishers had such faith in a character that they debuted him in his own book. The attacks on Pearl Harbor were still 9 months away, yet the debut issue saw Cap socking Adolf Hitler in an illustration still satisfying today. Simon and Kirby, both of Jewish families, used the comic to voice their concerns against the Third Reich. Even if America was officially neutral, Simon and Kirby knew Hitler was a real-life supervillain, and Captain America could stop him.

Captain America is a stunning character. Despite his genesis as wartime propaganda, the character has survived and flourished to this day. How is it that a character so defined by a long-passed era in history is still so relevant in the age of the smart phone?

Captain America does not necessarily evolve like Batman but is not as much of a static symbol as Superman. While both heroes represent the American ideal, Steve Rogers has a much more unique character compared to the Man of Steel, whose character is more defined by brute strength than cunning and tactical mastery.

Steve Rogers was a regular man. He had been a scrawny, naive boy who just wanted to fight for his country, and fight for what he believed was right. Steve was willing to do anything, even undergo a dangerous and untested experiment, to make himself strong enough to fight the Nazis. He represents the person we wish we could be and know we can become.

The Super Soldier serum gave Rogers near-perfect capabilities. Captain America is not impervious to bullets or faster than the speed of light, but is as fast and strong as any human can conceivably become. He is a character who is only as capable as any of us can be.

Cap remained popular throughout World War II, but became an anachronism when the patriotic fervor of wartime died down. As a result, the hero faded away from publications.

Nearly 20 years later, the hero was revived to head up a super-team, the Avengers. In Avengers #4, the old hero was found, frozen in suspended animation. When revived, Cap became a new, more intriguing character. No longer was he simply a symbol of America in a time of war. He was now the living anachronism, a man out of time, a man haunted by the death of his sidekick, with memories of the worst time in human history, trying to adjust to the world of the 1960s.

Cap was the perfect man to lead the Avengers. A team full of hot-headed individuals like Thor, Iron Man, and Ant-Man needed a uniting symbol to rally the troops. Cap was a hero to the heroes, and a warrior of honor to be respected and revered.

Captain America became the traditional leader of the Avengers through most incarnations of the team. His tactical abilities make him an invaluable member of the group, even if his strength and speed can’t compete with his teammates like Thor and Quicksilver. Cap’s abilities are so valued that, even in a rare crossover comic featuring the stars of Marvel’s Avengers and DC’s Justice League, JLA/Avengers, Rogers was asked by Superman to lead the joint effort to bring down the supervillain Krona with no objections made by any of the other heroes.

Captain America’s status as a symbol has allowed him to tackle some of the United States’ most difficult and controversial topics over the decades. The first African-American superhero in mainstream comics, the Falcon, was introduced in Captain America #117 in 1969. The Watergate scandal was handled by Cap, with the hero becoming so disillusioned with his government that he abandoned his longtime moniker in favor of “The Nomad,” to denote his status as a man without a country. Rogers eventually re-assumed the identity of Captain America, deciding he should act as the symbol of the American ideal, not the American government.

In the 1980s, Cap was placed into an impressively progressive story arc. Rogers found his best friend from childhood, Arnie Roth, still alive after all these years. Arnie is, without ever explicitly stating it, obviously gay. This revelation doesn’t phase Cap in the least. Captain America accepted his friend for who he was without ever questioning Arnie or himself. Rogers continued to be emblematic of Americans at our best.

It was only a matter of time before one of America’s icons made a successful venture onto the big screen. Seventy years after his debut, Captain America: The First Avenger did a magnificent job of telling the essential origin story for the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first superhero. Cap was shown in his element, punching Hitler, fighting Nazis wielding super-weapons, and inspiring his troops to follow his example. He saved the world from nuclear-level catastrophe and sacrificed himself in the process. His actions would reverberate across the Marvel world and inspire generations of heroes.

In the deleted scenes to Marvel’s masterpiece work, The Avengers, Chris Evans’ Rogers character is shown adapting to a world no longer his own. Unlike in the comics, in which Cap was revived after only 20 years, the cinematic Rogers was revived after nearly 70 years and was introduced to a world far beyond his comprehension. It’s a shame these scenes did not make the final cut, as Evans’ acting ability is on full display when he portrays Captain America as a lost soul trying to find his way in a new world. The subtlety in his expressions brings the inner turmoil to light remarkably well.

The success of The Avengers was unparalleled for a movie based on a comic book property, but it is the success of the Captain America standalone movie that is truly astounding. Pulling in $370 million worldwide and receiving a 79 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Captain America proved that Cap is a hero for all ages. But how?

In a world full of cynics and overwhelming use of irony, Captain America seems quaint and ridiculous — an odd relic from a more black-and-white time in which good and evil could be easily defined. Perhaps we yearn for that level of simplicity and can relate to Cap’s struggle to understand a world of deeper conflict. Maybe Captain America speaks to the more innocent times all of us experienced in our lives. He acts as a reminder of our idealism and the world we wish to see. Or maybe we can all relate to the scrawny kid who just wanted to do good. Captain America has always been a man who speaks to what we want to be and is the appropriate surrogate for when times get tough. We may not be able to stop Hitler, but Cap can travel to Germany and sock him on the jaw for us.

When Captain America: The Winter Soldier comes to theaters Friday, we will see the return of Cap, Black Widow, and Nick Fury, along with the introduction of the Falcon and the Winter Soldier. The movie promises to examine government overreach and the military-industrial complex. Cap will again fill the role of the common man working to fix the mistakes of our world. Winter Soldier looks to be a movie that will challenge our view of the world and ourselves — and will look really cool when doing it.

Arkham Knight release puts Batman back in black

Rocksteady Studios debuted the first trailer for its new game Batman: Arkham Knight last Tuesday. By Internet standards, the video is old news. Since fans have had over a week to digest the next-gen-fueled spectacle, I think it’s time we attempt a more in-depth analysis of it. Rather than speculate on the game’s plot or our collective geek-out over the trailer, let’s investigate the deeper issue of Batman’s characterization in the Arkham video game series.

The nature of any cross-media adaptation is that the end product is an accumulation of traits defined over time. For a property like Batman that has been (re)adapted numerous times since the early 1940s, this basic truth is all but hitting us over the head with an onomatopoeic “BOP!” While similar in some ways, each iteration has been slightly varied, a necessary byproduct to a character that has evolved along with the culture that spawned it.

The Batman featured in the trailer for Arkham Knight is a collection of representations dating back to Tim Burton’s 1989 film version. A voiceover from Bruce Wayne’s late father plays through the majority of the video. I’m intrigued at how many portrayals of Batman still find creative ways to display his eternal struggle with that one, fateful night on which he was robbed of his parents. But his more noticeable traits are the physical ones, and for this, Rocksteady depicts a fully black-armored Batman for the first time in its proposed trilogy of games.

It’s a notable departure from the lightweight, Nolan-esque Batman outfit featured in Warner Bros. Montreal’s Arkham Origins this past year. Though the modified costume lacks the eye-catching yellow emblem (meant to distract thugs with firearms) of its comic book counterpart, it puts our hero in a position to do battle with some of his tougher adversaries. Two-Face and Penguin’s thugs are effortlessly handled in the trailer, and I am anxious to see what other challenges are thrown at this darkly clad Dark Knight.

It looks like transportation won’t be a problem for Batman either. If rumors are true, players will have access to the Batmobile for the first time in the franchise’s history. Most references to Batman’s signature vehicle still lean toward the version driven in the campy 1960s television series starring Adam West. As the Christopher Nolan film series has become an endless source of reference for recent iterations of Batman, the vehicle we see in Arkham Knight is very close to the tank-like “Tumbler” we saw in Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. Apparently, the Batmobile will be the only drivable vehicle in the game. If its usefulness is anything close to what is featured in the trailer, players will have a huge asset at their disposal.

Another mystery of this latest outing is an exact setting. Beginning with Arkham Asylum in 2009, Rocksteady has done a fine job framing the story in a manageable space. The sequel allowed players to explore a limited, walled-in section of Gotham City functioning as a prison. Arkham Knight looks like it may be set in a similar environment, but the aftermath of Arkham City’s conclusion may force the story line to another location. Recent reports state that Gotham has been separated into three islands and will include a space five times larger than Arkham City.

What has most fans talking is the possible identity of Arkham Knight’s main antagonist. Contrary to many fans’ first impressions, the game’s title is not a reference to Batman. Early reports suggested that we may finally see Hush take center stage. After three games of The Joker as a primary villain, Hush would be a welcome change.

I’m surprised at how underused he has become since his 2003 debut in the pages of Batman. In this hugely popular story line, Hush allies himself with just about every rogue in the Batman mythos to give the hero his ultimate physical and mental challenge. His identity is revealed to be Thomas Elliot, a childhood friend of Bruce Wayne who had recently returned to Gotham after a lengthy absence. To make matters worse, Elliot is fully aware of his former friend’s alter ego and uses this knowledge to his advantage.

Though the true mastermind of the overall story line shockingly turns out to be The Riddler, Hush easily steals the show. Future story lines in the Gotham Knights series fleshed out his backstory, and many fans appreciated his role as a sort of anti-Batman, a twisted reflection who actually orchestrated his own parents’ murder.Â Despite Hush’s positive reception, he was scrapped from appearing in The Batman animated series that ran from 2004 to 2008 on Kids’ WB, instead replaced by Rumor, voiced by Ron Perlman.

It was not until the game Arkham City that Hush made his first real appearance outside of comics. As an added bonus, his voice work was done by Kevin Conroy. It is without a doubt that Conroy’s long tenure voicing Batman allowed him to emphasize the characters’ antithetical relationship. In the game, their shared history is alluded to, but this version of Hush remains unaware that Bruce Wayne and Batman are the same person. It would be phenomenal to see Hush take the spotlight and lead a similar “villains united” campaign against Batman in the upcoming game. Perhaps it is Hush’s voice we hear issuing an ominous warning to Gotham in the trailer’s opening frames?

All of this is, of course, speculation. And though the footage we have so far is quite impressive, I urge viewers to keep in mind that none of it features anything from the actual game, as developers prefer to save that footage for later previews. It’s been intriguing to see the video game trailer evolve into something so theatrical. With visuals this impressive, it’s no wonder Batman’s latest adventure will be released solely for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 consoles. (Sorry, 360 and PS3 owners: it’s time to upgrade.) Hopefully, Rocksteady’s direct involvement with this sequel will help fans get rid of the sour taste Arkham Origins left in its wake.

Batman: Arkham Knight is slated for an October 2014 release.

Batman has endured, evolved for 75 years

When it comes to iconic American characters, there can be no doubt that Batman is among the best. Created in 1939, “the Batman” has endured across seven and a half decades of vast social change, surviving innumerable reboots and interpretations to become a fascinating, well-crafted character who is both relatable and legendary.

Fans of Batman have always appreciated the character for being remarkably unique. The Dark Knight, however, began as a ripoff of every character his creator had ever heard of.

Origins of the Bat-Man

The idea for a the vigilante hero came about as a money-making scheme. Bob Kane, a comic book artist at the time, was looking to make the same kind of money as Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Kane promised to bring National Periodicals, today’s DC Comics, a new superhero to publish alongside the Man of Tomorrow.

Kane began sketching his ideas for a Bat-Man, drawing a character similar to Superman, in a bright red suit, but with wings like a bat. Kane took his proposal to his writer friend, Bill Finger, who offered ideas to modify the outfit for the bat-themed hero. Finger proposed getting rid of the domino mask and replacing it with Batman’s signature cowl to give the hero the appearance of his namesake mammal. Instead of large wings, Batman would wear a cape that could be made to simulate the appearance of wings. Finger also suggested that Kane replace the red suit that was too similar to Superman’s bright colors with darker shades befitting a nighttime vigilante.

Despite his contributions, Finger never received much recognition in his lifetime, and is largely viewed as the uncredited co-creator of Batman.

Under Kane and Finger’s direction, Batman began to take on traits of several popular characters. Kane often cited being inspired by The Scarlet Pimpernel, the swashbuckling Zorro, and Leonardo da Vinci’s flying machine. Kane and Finger have also acknowledged the heavy influences of The Phantom, Doc Savage, The Shadow, and Sherlock Holmes. The Bat-Man made his debut in Detective Comics #27 in “The Case of the Chemical Syndicate.”

Developing the Story

To explain why a millionaire like Bruce Wayne would dress in a bat costume to fight crime in dark alleys, the writers concocted a tragic story that would traumatize any young boy. The story has remained almost exactly the same across numerous genres and retellings.

As presented in Detective Comics #33, young Bruce Wayne witnessed the cold-blooded murder of both his mother and father after a trip to the theater. The shock of this senseless crime caused the boy to make a vow. He would not only swear vengeance against the criminal who killed his parents, but against crime itself. It is this vow, even more than the death of his parents, that is the central tragedy of the Batman mythology.

Robin joins the team in Detective Comics #38

Almost immediately, the Caped Crusader’s supporting cast filled out. Commissioner Gordon, Batman’s liaison in the Gotham City Police Department, was introduced in the same issue as the Dark Knight himself. The character has endured across the ages as another Gotham hero, including his most recent portrayal on film by Gary Oldman.

Only a year into his run as a hero, Batman took on a sidekick, sparking a new trend in comics of underage boys fighting monsters and dangerous criminals. Robin was introduced as a writing device, decreasing the number of thought balloons on a given page by giving Bruce a friend with whom to discuss his plans.

The Boy Wonder became an adopted son to the chronically lonely Bruce Wayne, adding a new layer to Batman’s character. Dick Grayson, the original Robin, evolved over the years into a hero in his own right, called Nightwing, creating a second iconic character out of the Bat mythos.

The Dark Side of the Dark Knight

In the early years, Batman was not opposed to killing or simply letting his opponents die. Longtime fans of the Bat would be aghast to see their hero breaking necks of bad guys and firing a gun when necessary.

In Batman #1, which saw the introduction of perennial villains The Joker and Catwoman, Wayne used guns to slay monstrous giants. The violent imagery led the editor to decree the end of guns and killing in the Bat comics. Bruce Wayne’s aversion to firearms and killing was retconned, explained as stemming from the loss of his parents. Batman’s refusal to kill has become one of his most defining traits.

The Comics Code Authority stemmed from a political backlash against violence marketed to children.

The desire to make money and gain notoriety almost killed Batman in the same way that led to his creation. In 1954, Seduction of the Innocent by Fredric Wertham linked teenage delinquency to comic books, usually citing the violent and gruesome nature and imagery of horror comics.

As expected, the sensational book, which offered little in the way of verifiable science, sparked an outcry exaggerated by a politician looking for an issue to get his name in the news. Estes Kefauver was a Democrat with his eye on the Presidential nomination. Seduction of the Innocent would give him his issue and his media attention.

While Kefauver never became President of the United States, he did force the comic book industry to create a self-censoring body known as the Comics Code Authority. The CCA established numerous rules which led to the death of innumerable superhero properties and forced change upon those that survived.

Batman became a deputy of the Gotham Police Force who fought crime in the daytime. His stories took on elements of the fanciful and the science fiction genre. DC introduced new characters into the Bat mythos, Batwoman and an early version of Batgirl, likely to curb Wertham’s charges of homosexuality in the Bat world.

Entering a new medium

Adam West as Batman in the 1960s television series

By 1966, Batman comics were close to cancelation. Swooping in at the last second to save the day, the ABC television network picked up the Batman character for a new TV series. Batman, starring Adam West and Burt Ward, became a national sensation, offering a campy take on the character that was actually quite faithful to the comics of the time. The show employed a brilliant tactic: appeal to audiences of all ages. For the kids, Batman was a serious adventure story about the Caped Crusader. To adults, it was a humorous take on the absurdist nature of the superhero genre.

Unfortunately for Bat-fans, the show only lasted three years before being canceled due to declining ratings. Still, the show has had an enduring impact, being referenced to this day: Adam West regularly makes appearances to parody his most famous role in shows such as Family Guy and The Fairly Oddparents.

Batman on TV created a new generation of fans, but for some dedicated to the franchise, the hero portrayed on ABC was no Dark Knight. Comic book writers and artists did not want to see another generation of fans grow up believing that Batman was the goofy master of onomatopoeia.

Ra's al Ghul comes on the scene in Batman #233

Artist Neal Adams and writer Denny O’Neil led the charge, taking over the Batman comics in 1969. Looking to add real-world issues into the formerly extravagant comic, Adams and O’Neil introduced the terrorist character Ra’s al Ghul. Ra’s represented a change in Batman stories from exclusively flamboyant supervillains with increasingly convoluted evil plots, to more realistic stories and more relatable villains. Unlike the numerous Bat-villains that preceded him, Ra’s aimed for a seemingly noble goal. He wished to save the world’s environment. The only problem: it would require the death of humanity.

Despite these changes, Batman comics continued to decrease in sales until 1986, when a bold new writer, known for his dark work on Marvel’s Daredevil, was given the opportunity to write the definitive Batman story.

The Bleak Reality

The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller tells the story of a 55-year-old Batman, 10 years after retiring, returning to his crusade against crime in a Reagan-Era Gotham City. Miller’s Batman is, in several ways, a departure from the Batman of mercy, born of his parents’ tragic murder. Instead, Batman is a terrifying brute, certain of what is right and willing to permanently injure those in the wrong.

“I want you to remember Clark, in all the years to come, in your most private moments, I want you to remember my hand at your throat, I want you to remember the one man who beat you.”
Batman, in The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller

This Dark Knight appears to have a death wish, constantly challenging himself to greater fights, until finally the Batman takes on a stand-in for God himself: Superman. In Miller’s bleak reality, Ronald Reagan nearly sparks nuclear war. With Superman by his side, the president believes the United States to be invincible, and he is willing to use its power belligerently, knowing that the Man of Steel is fast enough to stop a nuclear strike from the Soviet Union. As Reagan’s stooge, Superman is brought in to take down Batman. The Dark Knight, always prepared, welcomes Clark Kent’s arrival and enacts a plan to bring the Man of Tomorrow down.

Alan Moore's lasting contribution to the Batman canon

Miller’s Batman defined the hero for a generation as a brutal, unforgiving, genius man, capable of striking fear into the gods themselves.

Following the success of Dark Knight Returns, Miller was asked to rewrite the origin story of the Caped Crusader. Setting his story in a Gotham City controlled by organized crime, Batman: Year One follows the early years of Gordon in the GCPD and Wayne’s attempts to become greater than just a man. Year One asks a question later addressed in the Christopher Nolan film trilogy: Is Batman to blame for the rise in theatrical supervillains?

Adding a new dimension to the Batman character was Alan Moore and his classic work The Killing Joke. That installment follows the Joker’s attempts to corrupt Batman and Gordon. Joker is meant to act as the mirror image of the Dark Knight, a man who was changed by only “one bad day.” In an attempt to prove that one bad day is the only difference between men like Gordon and himself, the Joker sets out to ruin the Commissioner’s life by shooting and torturing his daughter, Barbara Gordon.

Jason Todd meets his demise in 'Batman: A Death in the Family.'

The Killing Joke is one of the most philosophically challenging Batman stories ever written. Is Batman, by not killing the Joker, responsible for the deaths the Joker causes? Since the editorial decision following Batman #1, the Gotham City hero has been known for his deontological stance on killing. Moore had the Joker challenge Bruce Wayne’s convictions, and some fans believe the Joker was actually successful in breaking Batman’s will.

Batman stories continued through the realm of darkness, culminating in a showcase of the danger of kids fighting crime. In A Death in the Family, the second man to don the Robin costume, Jason Todd, is beaten to the point of death by the Joker. The decision about Todd’s fate was left up to fans of the Batman comics, and they chose to allow Todd to die.

On to the Silver Screen

Jack Nicholson (The Joker) and Michael Keaton (Batman) brought the Caped Crusader to Hollywood

In 1989, the Bat achieved new levels of popularity with the release of Tim Burton’s Batman movie. Inspired by The Killing Joke, Burton’s Batman is a single-minded crusader who is often aloof when not seeking out Gotham’s criminals. Burton and actor Michael Keaton returned to Gotham City with Batman Returns. This second installment in the series saw a much more absurdist city, perhaps changed by the appearance of the Batman and the Joker. After Burton left the series, Warner Brothers continued the franchise by handing over the reins to Joel Schumacher. These movies are so universally panned that it’s better just to say nothing.

In 2005, Batman returned to the big screen under the direction of Christopher Nolan. Batman Begins drew its inspiration from Year One, retelling the famous origin story of the Caped Crusader while adding chapters about his time spent traveling the globe to acquire the skills necessary for an urban war.

Following the success of Batman Begins, Warner Brothers released The Dark Knight, starring a returning Christian Bale as the title character, with Heath Ledger redefining the Joker. Ledger’s portrayal of the maniacal clown earned universal praise and a posthumous Academy Award. The Dark Knight and its sequel are currently among the highest grossing films of all time.

“Oh, you. You just couldn’t let me go, could you? This is what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object. You truly are incorruptible, aren’t you? Huh? You won’t kill me out of some misplaced sense of self-righteousness. And I won’t kill you because you’re just too much fun. I think you and I are destined to do this forever.”
The Joker, in The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller

Batman can be found in dozens of ongoing DC comics and is returning to theaters in 2016’s tentatively titled Batman vs. Superman.

An Enduring Legacy

Batman has become a cornerstone of American culture. With successful movies and comics, an upcoming television show based on Gotham City, and 75 years of mythology to draw from and build on, the Dark Knight will likely be with us for a long time.

Bruce Wayne, as a man among gods, inspires us to achieve greatness. Despite being only human, Batman has faced down the likes of alien demigods Superman and Darkseid and has always come out on top. Batman reminds us of the strength of one person to do tremendous good.

And if you ever doubt the inspiring nature of Gotham’s greatest hero, just remember the Batkid.

All Batman comics are the property of DC Comics. Thank you to comicvine.com for archiving these images.

The author recommends the following resources for more information on Batman:

Batman and Psychology
Batman and Philosophy
Batman: Year One
The Long Halloween
Death in the Family
The Killing Joke
Hush
The Dark Knight Returns

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