Superheroes are not real, right?

[Spiderman]

'My name is Peter Parker and I've been Spider-Man since I was 15 years old. Any questions?'
http://upload4.postimage.org/409973/capt31fd3eb9ffb3658122108cdabe49d35a.jpg

When i was a iddy biddy kiddy i loved to loose myself in the escapism of my Marvel Comics. And no, i'm not one of those adults who collects comics and keeps them in plastic wrapping before you get the wrong idea of me.
Even if i was, i guess id be reading them for the same reasons i did as a kid - escapism and fun. So when i read this nonsense...

His decision is reportedly made in support of a new Superhero Registration Act, which requires the crimefighters to be catalogued as 'living weapons of mass destruction'.

It makes my blood boil. Why are these things so close to the reality that we all live in. We discuss tipics like this on the forum and end up with locked threads and name calling, so why is it appropriate to drag kids conciousnesses into the real world before they have a chance to actualy use their imaginations a bit?

Or am i missing something here?

Full article (http://www.metro.co.uk/fame/article.html?in_article_id=15445&in_page_id=7)

[K]

Essentially it's not a new topic for comics to cover.

"Who watches the Watchmen?" Is a quote from one of the greatest comics of all time.

The Dark Judges in 2000AD if you take it to its extreme conclusion, or simply the SJS.

Justice League America have repeatedly covered the ground of Superheroes being just a dangerous to the innocent public as Villans in 'battle' circumstances.

X-Men's Mutant Registration storyline is far older than the films - and a theme that has been rehashed by many different writers, about many different characters or 'groupings'.

Hell, even Dandare and Captain America have at times been accused of causing more harm that good and raised calls for them to be 'controlled'.

It's an old deal - if anything, Weapons of Mass Destruction is a term from comics or Sci-Fi writers rather than tabloids or scientists. But it sounds good so I'm not surprised that it gets over used instead of "that freak who could kill alot of people if he wanted to" or "a chemical that, if the wind is blowing the right way, could kill thousands", or even "that bomb that will cause alot of buildings to fall on a lot of people"! :wink:


What is sad is that children themselves seem to be aware of the real world at a younger and younger age.
As such they are likely to lose innocence, or a need to imagine a storyline as they are able to draw comparisons with the real world earlier.


So perhaps it means that we just need to get them reading comics younger - or stop them watching the news, using the internet or talking to anyone at all.

[thor]

Proper comics (quite rightly) draw on the real world for inspiration. They've always had some challenging themes, otherwise they would just be kids stories. Themes such as the one presented add depth to the alternate world, and they help readers to identify with the main characters.

[sharriso74]

200Ad often had a lot of political undertones to their stories. Means that young children can read them on a basic level and the provides some thought provoking issues for the older ones.


Hmm Judge Anderson...

[lynw]

200Ad often had a lot of political undertones to their stories. Means that young children can read them on a basic level and the provides some thought provoking issues for the older ones.


Hmm Judge Anderson...

Oh yes, Strontium Dog kidnapping Ronald Reagan. Classic stuff. :lol: :lol: :lol:

[UlsterSV]

http://upload4.postimage.org/415357/196.jpg (http://upload4.postimage.org/415357/photo_hosting.html)

Best. Thread. Ever.

[northwind]

It's not a kid's comic... A lot of the Marvel series are for adult readers, this is one of them. Not sure about the US, but in the UK most comic buyers are adults now. Or at least, legally they're adults ;) Just because it's a comic doesn't mean it's for kids. Look at Watchmen (as K pointed out), Preacher or Transmetropolitan and try and find me anything at all that's suitable for kids :)

[Ping]

Sometimes I wish super heroes were real.

[UlsterSV]

Some of us are :-$

[Spiderman]

Sometimes I wish super heroes were real.

Few mins ago i walked past Superman on Baker Street. Honestly!
Typicaly i didnt have a camera on me but there was this blak guy with dreads dressed in a full Superman outfit complete with all the muscles and abs!!!

Thansk for the reply guys and i see what you are saying about comics and their mainly adult readership now days but thats exactly what i'm getting at.... what happended to Marvel comics for kids?

Did we squeeze the kids out with all the reaslistic and adult story lines?

Or was the PS2/PSP/GameBoxCubeThingShineyButtonsBleepingSouns the death of them anyway?

And Ping... get youself to Soho one evening and you'll see that i'm real at least :D

[northwind]

Sometimes I wish super heroes were real.
Did we squeeze the kids out with all the reaslistic and adult story lines?


There's still kids comics, but the aduly market's just bigger. The old buyers got older, the new ones got bored with the old heroes... You're probably right with the PS2 etc. Call it evolution- Alice in Wonderland just died of old age, Spidey's more popular than ever.

[Spiderman]

Glad they made a couple of movies about me to keep me in the limelight. ;)
Spidey 3 will be coming soon i hear too.

But i think Spidey will always be more popular than the other Supes as he was the only one who really used to get his ass kicked on a regular basis. :lol: And we all love it when the good guy gets a kicking cos we know its only gonna make him madder :D

Now who remembers the Special Edition where Superman & Muhamad Ali had a boxing match?>???

[carelesschucca]

200Ad often had a lot of political undertones to their stories. Means that young children can read them on a basic level and the provides some thought provoking issues for the older ones.


Hmm Judge Anderson...

I always read Judge Dredd and thought this stuff will happen, sad to say it does get closer every day... How long till they ban sugar, they're trying their best with everything else...

[K]

It's not just that the buyers got older, but the writers did to, and realised the value of their chosen field for illustrating various observations, be they political, humerous or just plain tragic (or at time, all three).

Plus lets face it - adults are supposed to be the ones with the buying power... aren't they?! :wink:

Personally I don't think comics 'purely' for kids ever really existed - mainly because reading any graphic medium, just like viewing art, is a subjective think.

Regardless of age, if you are innocent of mind you will not notice any hidden meaning or darker undertones - but the more cynical, paranoid, politically aware you become you see more in exactly the same story.

I reiterate, it's not the medium itself, but the readership that is less innocent nowadays, at an age that the previous generation thought left and right wings belonged to birds and aircraft!


Northwind, I really must get round to reading Preacher... and 100 Bullets - very good I've been told.


Ping - Superheroes DO exist, but like serial killers, they generally just look like your average 'man in the street'. :wink:

[northwind]

Northwind, I really must get round to reading Preacher... and 100 Bullets - very good I've been told.


I've never got round to 100 Bullets either... Should do. Preacher's great in places, but it does go right off the rails in the Salvation collection, some of that's just dismal.

The ending's an absolute knockout... Well worth the buildup.

[Reckless Rat]

Sometimes I wish super heroes were real.

I know how to contact Bicycle Repair Man :batman: