“The Hulk smashed through the walls of fear I’d been carrying inside me and feed me to feel everything I had been repressing: rage and pride and the hunger for power over my own life… He hadn’t smashed all my problems, but he’d led me to a new sense of myself.”
- Gerard Jones, Killing Monsters
- Gerard Jones, Killing Monsters
Do comic book writers choose sides, if so; does their opinion reflect the opinion of the masses?
Everybody has an opinion. Even the most righteous journalists have opinions. If there is one group of people who express their explicit opinion its artists. Graphic novelists have the means to express their opinion on social matters not only in word but also in graphic. The appreciation for experimenting with opinion and graphic novels even reached real journalism. Take Slate‘s recent presentation of the Sept. 11 Commission’s report in the form of an online graphic novel[1]. Some may argue this is entertainment in the vein of a Hollywood film like World Trade Center.
Art, including graphic novels, often have a reactionary opinion. During the classical age, Michelangelo and Da Vinci absolutely mastered the art of expressing opinions in their work. Now a day’s artists don’t have to fear the wrath of the Catholic church as much as Michelangelo and Da Vinci had to so their expression is more straight forward, more in line with the emphasis on the freedom of speech.
The Civil War run from Marvel is exemplary for combining entertainment in comic books with a political statement. As explained before, Civil War is a reaction to the United States government after enacting the USA Patriot Act after 9/11. During those troubling times, the public trusted their government for ensuring USA’s safety (and Al-Qaida’s destruction). Mass media treated the Patriot Act as necessary and didn’t set the right example (yet) questioning the government. Mark Millar used the Marvel universe and all its colorful characters to question the Patriot Act. The tagline of this particular storyline is: Whose side are you on? He is referring to the classical conflict between freedom and security. Millar already choose a side. He portrayed Iron Man (who supported the act) as a law loving, forceful, short-sighted, neurotic superhero who didn’t care for betraying his friends. Captain America however, was treated differently. He was the ideological caretaker of the weak.
The outside cover alone indicates a lot of the conflict that takes place within the story. On the back, in bold, capital letters, the words “WHOSE SIDE… …ARE YOU ON?” occur. There is a line break in-between half of the question. The text, “WHOSE SIDE…” is in white, whereas “…ARE YOU ON?” is in red. You can even look at this disjuncture in the question to see that there are two different sides to the question. More importantly, the colors are white and red, two of America’s colors. The front cover is similar, where “CIVIL WAR” appears on two different lines and in two different colors: white and red. The portrayal of people/heroes on the cover shows everyone basically grim and serious. On the front cover, Captain America is present, whereas the back cover shows Iron Man. Both ideological figure heads are represented. When it’s all said and down, we can see that Marvel chose to put Captain America on the cover of the graphic novel because of his importance in America. In the end of Civil War, Captain America gives up because he realizes that even if he and his rebels are winning, they won’t really win the war because the people they’re supposed to be fighting for don’t support their rebellion.
From here on we see that Marvel has shown which side has won: the side for security. This idea is even furthered when Captain America, on his way to his trial for going against the Super Hero Registration Act, is assassinated. So, although the battle was over, the conflict continued. Stephanie Cox of graphicnovel.com said it best when she wrote, “While Americans are still battling out the pros and cons of freedom versus security, Marvel comics declared a loser with the symbolic death of Captain America, who the embodied the very idea of freedom and civil rights." Millar defends freedom when killing off Captain America, the symbol of American freedom. Thus, Millar made a stand in creating a commentary on the situation at hand in a post 9/11 America.
In 2005, the polls showed an almost 50/50 standstill on support of the USA Patriot Act.[1] On February 8th 2011, an extension of the Patriot Act was denied by seven votes in the House of Representatives.[2]
In hindsight, Millar didn’t support the popular voice but in the long run his take on the Patriot Act proved durable and in line with the consensus.
Brian Wood’s DMZ graphic novel portrays America in an alternative history. DMZ is set in a near-future version of America where the War on Terror and general economic calamity have taken the ultimate toll on the country. The book continues to draw upon current developments in the War on Terror and other present-day news.
An example of current events influencing the series, the fourth story-arc, "Friendly Fire", strongly evoked images of the Haditha massacre in Iraq.[3] This arc sheds light on Day 204, an event well before the protagonist resides in the DMZ. On this fateful day, a military squadron gunned down a group of protesters who may or may not have presented a clear danger. Just as members of the Marine Corps were tried for their actions in Haditha, a handful of the soldiers involved in Day 204 were put on a very public trial.
Wood said, “This is the massacre story, following up on something I dropped into the story of Day 204. This was an example of DMZ reflecting current events – I remember scrapping a story to make room for this one, based on a new story I had just seen about the Haditha massacre in Iraq. This was a difficult arc to organize. It came out great, in the end, and this is one of my favorite DMZ stories.”
His version of what happened in real-life Iraq was clear cut. He didn’t believe the cover-up and the slow investigations surrounding the Haditha story. Many journalists tend to agree with Woods.
Volgende week het vierde en tevens laatste deel
[1] http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/04/19/opinion/polls/main689507.shtml
[2] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/08/AR2011020806345.html
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haditha_killings
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