Transcript Comic Books and Batman

Comic Books and Batman
Comics
• Stand out as an overarching symbol of pop culture itself
• Comics (or comic strips) are narratives told by means of
a series of drawings arranged in horizontal lines, strips,
or rectangles, called panels, and read like a verbal text
from left to right.
• Usually depict the adventures, exploits or lifestyles of
one or more characters in a limited time sequence.
Peanuts
• The characters are all children but they seem to have
much more insight into life than do adults, who are
relegated to the margins of the strip.
• Its tone is subtle sadness, a veiled angst that begs the
readers to ask the great question of philosophy: Why are
we here and What is life all about?
Comic Books
• 1930s: comic books communicate narratives through
a unique combination of text and sequential illustration
that works within its own aesthetic vocabulary.
• Not the same as comic strips; the main difference is in
marketing. Comic strips are daily and syndicated in
newspapers and aimed at adult readers, comic books
are created, distributed, and sold on their own merits
to a paying and overwhelmingly young audience.
• Comic book is a misnomer; not books and usually not
comical
• Most closely associated with superheroes; Superman,
Batman, and Spider-man
• Comic books epitomize the accessibility, and appeal to
instant gratification that lie at the core of modern
consumer culture.
• The preeminent motive shaping comic books
has been the commercial motive of publishers to
craft a product that appeals to paying audiences.
• Because the profit is low, publishers have
traditionally emphasized quantity over quality.
• This has fueled the use of formulas that can
easily be duplicated as well as adequately speak
to the concerns and expectations of their
audience.
• Formulas are ways in which specific cultural
themes and stereotypes become embodied in
more universal story archetypes.
• Audiences turn to formulaic stories for the escape and
enjoyment that comes from experiencing the fulfillment
of their expectations within a structured imaginary world.
• Like rock-and-roll, comic books responded to the
emergence of adolescents as a discrete market with
tastes and preoccupations of its own, sometimes in
direct conflict with the mores of mainstream adult culture.
• Where are they today? The mass medium so
appropriate for propaganda and star-spangled saber
rattling in the 1940s now survives among a subculture
raised on cynicism, irony and moral relativism.
Comic books
Graphic Novels
• Starting in the 1970s “indie” publishers began
competing with the larger publishers.
• They experimented with new styles, more
sophisticated formats, and stories suited to
adults.
• Graphic Novels are book-length comic books
that tell a single story for adults.
• Comics online have become almost completely
ironic in focus (thanks The Simpsons!)
• More importantly, irony is a basic mindset
of the carnivalesque.
Reading Comic Books
• The Superhero genre is still popular today because as Barthes argued it
recycles an ancient code—the code of the hero. This code includes:
– A life-saving journey in infancy: Superman had to leave his home planet of
Kypton to avoid being destroyed along with it.
– An obscure childhood: little is known about the early lives of most
superhero characters.
– Orphanage: some superheroes, like Batman, Captain Marvel, Black Panther
and Cyclops, have lost their parents as had many ancient mythic heroes.
– Superhuman powers: possessed by all superheroes (physical or
intellectual). Sometimes gained in unusual ways (e.g. Spider-man being
bitten by an irradiated spider gone berserk). He gains his spider sense,
spider’s web.
– A fatal weakness: exposure to kryptonite, blindness (Daredevil),
psychological problems (the Hulk), the fatal weakness is a basic feature of
the hero code—Achilles had a weak heal, Samson’s strength depended on
his hair, etc.
– Selfless dedication to the common good: usually at their own expense,
the heroes of ancient myths and the comic book superheroes exist to help
the common folk.
– A magic weapon: Norse god Thor had a powerful hammer. Spider-man
has his web shooter, Iron Man has a sophisticated suit of armor; Batman his
sophisticated car and array of gadgets, etc.
Reading Batman Comics
• In 1954 Frederic Wertham published Seduction of the
Innocent
• Mostly about horror comics but contained four pages that
suggested there were homoerotic overtones in Batman
comics:
• "At home they lead an idyllic life. They are Bruce Wayne
and "Dick" Grayson. Bruce Wayne is described as a
"socialite" and the official relationship is that Dick is Bruce's
ward. They live in sumptuous quarters, with beautiful
flowers in large vases, and have a butler, Alfred. Bruce is
sometimes shown in a dressing gown. As they sit by the
fireplace the young boy sometimes worries about his
partner… it is like a wish dream of two homosexuals living
together." – Dr Fredric Wertham, Seduction of the Innocent
(1954)
Is Batman Gay?
• Interesting
the moral
panic that
ensued…
• Comics were
thought to
promote
deviancy
Moral Panic and Comic Books
• Superheroes have evoked moral panic
• In the 1950s concern over violence led to senate
hearings.
• However as moral panic theory suggests, the
public outrage and concern was to last only a
brief period.
• By the 1970s comic books were seen as not
only a simple form of entertainment, but also as
mementos of a previous, supposedly more
innocent period (one in which propaganda could
be blatant!).
Comic Books and Propaganda
Comic Books and Movies
• Comic book characters crossing over into
movies a true convergence of media stages in
the domain of pop culture.
• Watchmen is particularly interesting; Rorschach, a
demented vigilante with a morphing inkblot mask
who investigates the Comedian’s murder. They
are parodies of superheroes.
• The Comedian is a reworking of the statesponsored, nationalistic breed of superhero a la
Captain America or Nick Fury.
• Rorschach is a version of the night-shrouded hero
embodied by Batman (the Dark Knight) to
Daredevil.
• In carnival theory, parody and irony reign supreme.
• What happens when we put out faith in moral leaders
(represented by the Watchmen indicative of politicians
like Reagan or Thatcher in the 1980s)?
– The Watchmen serves as a critique of power
generally.
• The Watchmen was also grounded in the real world in
ways previous comics were not. Metropolis is noticeably
artificial and faux pristine in comparison to the world
depicted in the Watchmen.
• The comic book came to satirize the comic book (we will
see this theme reemerge, The Simpsons satirizes
sitcoms (amongst other things) and the Daily Show
satirizes real news programs).
• Comics have broad appeal because they constitute a
perfect example of how fantasy, the comedic, and the
grotesque are intertwined in pop culture materials and
spectacles.