Comic Book 2-Minute Time-Out: Episode 15

The clock is ticking and there's only two-minutes to talk about whether or not real-life events should be depicted in comic books.

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25 Comments

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SwampPing

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Edited By SwampPing

Garth Ennis has a really hilarious and disturbing take on the 9/11 attacks in The Boys

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amberthemute

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When Morrison wrote The New 52 Superman Action Comics, I loved his use of characters like Glenmorgan. Writing with the right fictional twists and turns, while mirroring specific real life events keeps the stories I love engaging. Some may appreciate less serious content, but having the real life references to our own history is another aspect of what, in my opinion, will leave these books timeless.

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kennybaese

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I think that current events can be mirrored in comics in a way that isn't so explicit that it ages super poorly. Take the X-Men as an allegory for the civil rights movement. Make the places in which this stuff is happening fictional and make the stories allegorical rather than referential. Then, you can still have stories that are timely but don't necessarily date the story quite as badly.

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Wilbertus

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I definitely think real world events should be used in comics. Comics can be a great reflection on events and our time, like countless examples show (perhaps Watchmen most of all).

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gmanfromheck

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@bigtewell: I was gonna reference that Spidey issue. It's one of my fav's and I have a CGC 9.8 graded copy. I just feel it's still a little touchy for some. I didn't think my silly video was worthy of talking about it.

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iceslick

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@captainmarvel4ever: Ok I guess there was a misunderstand. But I think there's something you don't know, you can get comic books and movies for free. There's tons of sites that let you read or stream them online, it's not only Anime and Manga and by the way, it's still illegal to read Manga or watch Anime for free on sites.

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CaptainMarvel4Ever

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@iceslick: Who said anything about downloading, I'm talking about the thousands of sites that just let you read them for free. Also I don't think you can get comics or movies online for free. I also never said that I follow the "If I don't like it, I'm not paying" route, I pay if I think the series will bring the industry in a more positive direction, or if I feel like they really deserve it. Other than that I don't want to support an industry that follows practices I don't agree with. I already feel really bad when I buy a western comic.

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iceslick

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Edited By iceslick

@captainmarvel4ever: Yes people will pay for all if they want to support the medium and your implication doesn't make any sense because you can get anything for free if you download illegally. It's not just Anime and Manga, you can download Western comics, movies, TV shows, etc. Downloading mediums illegally doesn't make one popular more than the other. It's all the same, there is no difference.

FYI: Not everyone follows the whole "If I don't like it, I'm not paying for it" route.

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bigtewell

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Good topic. I would have loved to seen the 9/11 issue of spiderman in it tho.

If you would like a suggestion for next week how about an avengers vs justice league episode?

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CaptainMarvel4Ever

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@iceslick: I pay if I really want to support the series, but I'm talking more about the masses. Do you really think people online are going to pay for all of that when you can get it for free?

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Lvenger

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One of the main problems with referring to real life events in comics comes from the superhuman element in these real world problems. To take an unfortunate and tragic example, the special 9/11 Amazing Spider-Man issue really showed a lot of those problems in action. Granted, there's nothing Spider-Man could have done to stop 9/11 from happening but this is a world with hyper advanced communications technology decades beyond what we have today. So it's hard to believe terrorist attacks can slip past that tech, let alone the superhuman senses of powerful heroes.

Another issue can be seen if you compare a later comic to that issue like The Amazing Spider-Man #694 - Alpha, Part 3: Final Grade where The Avengers manage to save almost all the planes that are affected by Alpha and Terminus' fight by themselves. And there were loads of jets falling out of the sky. So putting in that kind of event into a comic book doesn't come off so well given what the characters can do and that one mid tier character like Captain Marvel or Iron Man could probably have stopped 9/11 by themselves. And that scene where Dr Doom sheds a single tear was beyond ridiculous for reasons I don't have to go into.

A really good 2 minute time out G-Man, this was a very thought provoking piece with interesting suggestions to be made on this topic.

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2cool4fun

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I have a topic Tony, talk about characters who have a title, but are refereed to by their names

Ex:

Luke Cage-Power Man

John Constantine-Hell Blazer (I know that was only the title of the book, but you could still say that's his title)

Jean Grey-Marvel Girl

Emma Frost-White Queen

and even mention characters like Lex or Zatanna who don't use any name at all.

This sounds like an interesting topic

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righteous300

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@iceslick: Yeah I think he means that you can download it illegally.

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iceslick

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Edited By iceslick

@captainmarvel4ever: For free? you do know they do charge to get Manga and Anime in stores and internet services like Crunchy Roll, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Netflix or some book stores unless you're downloading them illegally.

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iceslick

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@g_man: Come on Tony! I was hoping for an after credits dance like you did last time, lol. I guess you were tired from all the traveling.

But yeah I think I have very different mixed feelings about this. I don't think they should totally ignore any real world events that are going on into a comic book. But I think the heroes should just have reasons to not get involved because it can weave them into political power or gain over them and I don't think superheroes would want to deal or get involve with that because they have their own mess to worry about. So, I feel it wouldn't make much such for them to get into that unless it's a political peace like Justice League Frontier and Watchmen.

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CaptainMarvel4Ever

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I think comics should focus a little less on realism, I have a problem with seeing other people's faces, so when I read a comic I like to get away from reality. Also I think one of the reasons Anime and Manga are more popular than Western comics (for now) is because they are more based in fantasy, (plus you can get them for free).

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CaptainMarvel4Ever

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I have a topic Tony, talk about characters who have a title, but are refereed to by their names

Ex:

Luke Cage-Power Man

John Constantine-Hell Blazer (I know that was only the title of the book, but you could still say that's his title)

Jean Grey-Marvel Girl

Emma Frost-White Queen

and even mention characters like Lex or Zatanna who don't use any name at all.

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Jbreen

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I think there are pros and cons to having real world events mirrored in the comic books. The pro being that it could help you feel more connected to a comic because it would be tackling real world issues. As for cons you have the issue that Tony brought up that if we have a War going on and we reflect that in say a Superman comic then it would seem stupid not too have Superman just end the War because he easily could.

Another issue is tying characters to certain events, for example there is Magneto, now don't get me wrong I love his origin but as time goes on we are going to move further and further away from the actual date of War World 2 which in turn makes Magneto incredibly old, now they have already de-aged him and they might have to constantly do that every 20 years or maybe have him develop a power that somehow keep him youngish etc.

Now in regards to Watchmen, I think having real world events in limited series that are set in certain periods of time that have endings works very well because they aren't ongoing.

I think it just comes down to a case by case scenario and what kind of real world event that would be used.

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Comiczilla

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Edited By Comiczilla

Comic books have always reflected world events. Whether that form takes on the cloak of truth, propaganda, or entertainment the medium provides the opportunity to take a measured or visceral approach to any topic that is relevant to the current social climate. From books like Spy Smasher heralding a Nazi fighting super hero to absolute works of literary art like Maus by Speigelman or even the Green Arrow and Speedy drug story lines to Amazing Spiderman Vol2 36 (WTC).

Comics is seldom mentioned as a means of communicating ideas when we talk about social media and print. I think creators like the Hernandez brothers with such books as Love an Rockets would argue that comics might indeed have been a powerful voice for an otherwise silenced topic when media was controlled with a much tighter fist.

Comics have found their voice and will never be silenced because we are meant to share our human experience as much as we are meant to create.

By the way.NICE moves G-man! =D

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LyraFay

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Some part of me thinks that world events should be reflected in comic books. Yes, they do age the comic but shouldn't we see how they would deal with it?! I mean Watchmen dealt with the events of the Cold War yet it doesn't age it, in fact its a great commentary of that time and the superhero tropes. Same with The Dark Knight Returns, we are seeing a great commentary of the 80s and the Regan era, does it age it absolutely not.

I would really love for comic to deal with what's happening in the Ukraine, Venezuela, NSA and the LGQT rights but they're coming too commericalised and mainstream that we won't see another Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns!