The Death of Morality in Comic Books
Originally posted to Thinkspot on June 16th, 2021.
One of the most poignant moments in Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy is Alfred Pennyworth's explanation for the Joker.
"Some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn."
What is truly frightening about that statement is the number of supposedly ordinary people that applies to. There's always a micro and a macro to life. Some sick people fantasize about torturing and killing their fellow man. And some call themselves revolutionaries, vowing to tear down the system. However, others want to destroy the world in smaller ways.
It is by no means an exaggeration to say that I learned my values primarily from comic books. That may seem ridiculous to you, but it is true. Comic books used to be a great place to learn how to be a good person. Batman teaches you the value of hard work. Spider-man teaches you to keep getting up, no matter how many times you fall down. The X-men are about accepting people who are different from you. Superman teaches us that it is the responsibility of the strongest among us to protect the weak. You get the picture.
I am the man I am because of comic books.
There are many men who feel the same way. They have waited many years to pass those joys and lessons onto the next generation of boys and girls. And yet we can't. Because while we were enjoying those books, other people came into the comics community with the intent of tearing them down.
The characters I named above are Icons. They are the closest thing Americans have to mythology. Superman and Batman are over 80 years old. These ideas have stood the test of time for a reason. They have merit. The values they espouse are timeless.
And yet...
A recent interview with the creators of the HBO Max adult-themed Harley Quinn cartoon revealed that DC refused to let them air a segment in which Batman would be performing oral sex on Catwoman. You read that right. And the internet exploded.
I am filled with loathing just thinking about it.
A friend of mine sent me an image another artist posted of Batman and Catwoman in the act. I guess the artist in question thought it was hilarious. I don't. I think it is pathetic. And... just to clear things up, DC wasn't saying that Bruce wasn't a generous lover. For once... FOR ONCE... they were protecting the integrity of their character. The most popular comic book character in history didn't need to be reduced to a sex joke.
This isn't the first time these subjects have come up.
For all that is horrendous about Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice, the moment that blew my mind was a scene of Lois and Clark talking in a bathroom. I'm not kidding. That was the thing that broke me. I don't even remember what they were talking about. All I remember is that at the end of the scene, Clark jumps in the tub with Lois, presumably to do some deep sea diving.
I am not naive. In the comics, Clark and Lois are married and have a child. I understand that a Kryptonian penis had to enter a human vagina to produce Jonathan Kent. But in the immortal words of Kevin Smith: "Dude... it's Superman."
There is literally no reason to make sex explicit there. None. It adds no value to the characters. It adds no value to the scene. It is just tawdry.
Here's the thing. I am not a Puritan. I like sex as much as the next man. And I am not arguing that there is no space in the comic book medium for adult themes or sex. One of my favorite books growing up was Garth Ennis' Preacher. I've enjoyed my share of complex, adult-oriented comics from publishers like Vertigo or Image and I appreciate that the medium is being explored beyond the limitations of superhero stories. This isn't the issue. There needs to be a separation between kids stories and adult stories. This applies to comics as well as any media adaptation.
Guess what? Batman should be off-limits. And you know what? So should Deadpool.
I was appalled to see Ryan Reynolds getting pegged by Morena Baccarin in a movie that we all know kids want to see. I kept seeing the same idiotic statement. "well if you were familiar with the comics, you would know that Deadpool has always cursed and had sex". Well I have read the comics. Apparently those people haven't. Aside from the one Deadpool Max mini-series, the Deadpool comics were never more explicit than the occasional bleeped out word. And frankly, the funniest moments in the movie were the least R-rated.
The worst part is that it isn't just the movies.
The moral decay of mainstream comics began years ago.
It isn't even Batman's first time. Frank Miller wrote a series called All Star Batman and Robin. The lauded writer/artist wrote a lot of appalling scenes that depicted Batman as an unhinged sociopath. Beyond those, there was a small scandal when he wrote a now-mostly-forgotten scene in which Black Canary and Batman have sex in public while keeping the masks on to make it hotter. I guess I should be grateful. If he wrote it that scene now, they would be having unprotected sex in front of a crowd at a parade. And unfortunately, that isn't where the tales of Batman's genitals end.
A couple of years ago, DC made the insane decision to end the beloved and critically acclaimed Vertigo Comics line of adult books. Vertigo had produced many classic comics, such as Sandman, Fables, Y The Last Man, Scalped and the afore-mentioned Preacher. Vertigo rarely allowed the mainstream DC characters to cross over into the adult line, with exception to a couple of times in Neil Gaiman's Sandman. John Constantine was technically a character who appeared in both, but his book was called Hellblazer, so as not to cause any confusion. Following the exit of editor Karen Berger who was largely responsible for Vertigo's success, the imprint had been on the decline.
DC decided to replace Vertigo with their Black Label line. Unlike Vertigo, Black Label was happy to use the main DC characters in adult stories. In Batman: Damned, Brian Azzarello and artist Lee Bermejo treated the world to multiple illustrations of Batman's penis. I'll say that again. I have seen Batman's penis more than once. Imagine working in a comic book store and having to tell a child he can't buy a Batman comic because Bruce is locked, stocked and ready to rock. Someone please explain how that benefits anyone. The scene doesn't even make any sense. Bruce is just sitting naked in his chair drinking whiskey.
And oh how I wish I could say that is the only time we've seen the penis of one of the most iconic superheroes ever created. Sadly, that is not the case.
In 2006, Marvel gave a mini-series to writer/ artist Kaare Andrews. On a few occasions I've seen the words "superstar writer/artist" applied before Andrews' name. I have no idea why. Spider-man: Reign was essentially a pastiche of Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns, but starring Peter Parker. At one point in the book, Andrews illustrates Peter's shriveled, elderly penis. We're also told that Peter murdered the beloved Mary Jane Watson Parker with his radioactive spider-penis. I'll say that again. Marvel paid someone to write a story in which Peter Parker gave his wife cancer with his dick.
I kind of want to slam my head into my desk just typing those words.
My whole life I was told that I was a weirdo-- a Revenge of the Nerds character made manifest, because I liked reading comic books. The truth is that I like reading stories where the good guys and gals win. Where the weak are protected by the strong and the powerful. I like reading about a better world. The real weirdos are the lunatics obsessed with giving Wonder Woman yeast infections and Daredevil having crabs.
I'm not arguing for gatekeeping.
If you're a 45 year old black lesbian woman from Istanbul, I don't have a problem with you writing Superman. But you don't get to decide you don't like Superman's values and change them. No, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Captain America is not a symbol of colonialism. These characters are pure. They are there to remind us of the greatness is all of us. They are there for us to aspire to be better people. You don't get to change that. You don't get to erode that. You are stewards of something greater than you are, no matter what your unduly inflated egos may tell you.
The true crime in all this is that we can't pass our love down to our children. We are stripping their childhood of something precious out of a selfish, narcissistic need to remake the world in our image.
Maybe I'm just a bitter old nerd, but I believe in a better world. I believe in silly, spandex-clad superheroes with old fashioned ideas about Truth, Justice and the American Way.
