Superheros & Civil Liberties

I don’t follow comic books, but I do know that the tales told in them are not simply about wonder characters and their super, duper powers. Of course, it doesn’t take an English major to realize that, for example, the mutants in X-Men are stand ins for the outs in our society. Now, it seems, comic book writers have decided to be more blatant about the presence of current events in their comic panels, according to the Science Monitor. Let’s see the Hollywood Studios use this in their next superhero blockbuster:

In today’s comic books, superheroes aren’t just thinking about how to defeat the usual kryptonite-wielding villains. They’re also tackling topics such as terrorism, war, and civil liberties as a heavy dose of 21st-century reality seeps into their alternate universe.

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"Civil War," for instance, explores the issue of civil liberties in the wake of a deadly explosion in a Connecticut neighborhood during the filming of a superhero reality show. Soon, superheroes are at war over mandatory registration, with dissenters facing terms in a prison that will remind readers of Guantánamo Bay.

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"Ex Machina," a popular R-rated comic book published by DC Comics, also explores the divides of American society. It tells the story of Mayor Mitchell Hundred, a superhero turned New York City politician who must address issues ranging from gay marriage and the death penalty to legalized marijuana.

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More recently, Superman and archvillain US President Lex Luthor tangled in 2003 over plans to invade the imaginary Middle Eastern country of Qurac, which was linked to weapons of mass destruction.

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Even if they don’t touch on specific events, comic books often explore "broad themes, such as paranoia or terrorism, things that the writers perceive as being at work in society," says John Jackson Miller, a comic-book writer and editorial director for the publisher of Comic Buyer’s Guide. "They figure that they can do allegories on these things and make it feel relevant."