GAWRSH
When I was something like 11 years old, my friend Douglass and I created a short comic book called 'Frankenpuppy'. The premise is pretty self-evident - this superhero dog made from the parts of dead dogs was brought back to life and he fought all kinds and numbers of bizarre foes that sprung from our sci-fi and fantasy drenched brains. We sold the comics at the pool where we spent every day of our lives from Memorial Day to Labor Day. I would arrive at the pool before it opened, waiting for a lifeguard to unlock the gate, and then I would pester people throughout the day with chlorine-bleached hair and pruny hands to buy a comic for $.25. If only I had been more persistent, now I could be working for United Nations. Instead, I can hardly get my shit together and publish a mini-comic.
And now to explain. You see, I just read an article on the Financial Times US Homepage indicating that Marvel Comics is teaming up with the United Nations to produce a print run of 1m comics depicting Marvel superheroes such as Spiderman teaming up with UNICEF and UN Peacekeepers to solve global problems such as bloody conflicts and starvation. If that seems absurd to you, we should chat over coffee. I feel as though there is something weird or unsettling about this idea, yet I can't quite figure out why I feel this way. Perhaps it's that the UN is essentially trying to team up with Stan Lee's company to improve their image, rather than improving their image by making a real difference on an issue of global import. Maybe it's that I envision a short, slippery slope that will ultimately result in the Incredible Hulk clobbering an Osama Bin Laden look-alike, which would be a disingenuous purpose for one of my favorite super-strong heroes ever. Or maybe not, maybe that's what the Hulk was meant to do all along.
Maybe I have a tendency to reject propaganda, marketing, or other schemes that misappropriate heroes, music, etc from my favorites. My reaction feels close to the kind of reaction I have when I hear a commercial with a beloved song from the canon of classic rock promoting something I detest, like if "War Pigs" provided the backdrop for an H2 ad. Not that I detest the UN, but I do think that using superheroes in fictional scenarios as a propaganda tool for an international agency is misleading - international problems can't be solved by radioactive spider bites. I guess I'll have to wait til the comics get published so I can get a clearer idea on what kind of insight Marvel's finest can offer into solutions for the problems of Earth. Hmmm. READ FOR YOURSELVES.
And now to explain. You see, I just read an article on the Financial Times US Homepage indicating that Marvel Comics is teaming up with the United Nations to produce a print run of 1m comics depicting Marvel superheroes such as Spiderman teaming up with UNICEF and UN Peacekeepers to solve global problems such as bloody conflicts and starvation. If that seems absurd to you, we should chat over coffee. I feel as though there is something weird or unsettling about this idea, yet I can't quite figure out why I feel this way. Perhaps it's that the UN is essentially trying to team up with Stan Lee's company to improve their image, rather than improving their image by making a real difference on an issue of global import. Maybe it's that I envision a short, slippery slope that will ultimately result in the Incredible Hulk clobbering an Osama Bin Laden look-alike, which would be a disingenuous purpose for one of my favorite super-strong heroes ever. Or maybe not, maybe that's what the Hulk was meant to do all along.
Maybe I have a tendency to reject propaganda, marketing, or other schemes that misappropriate heroes, music, etc from my favorites. My reaction feels close to the kind of reaction I have when I hear a commercial with a beloved song from the canon of classic rock promoting something I detest, like if "War Pigs" provided the backdrop for an H2 ad. Not that I detest the UN, but I do think that using superheroes in fictional scenarios as a propaganda tool for an international agency is misleading - international problems can't be solved by radioactive spider bites. I guess I'll have to wait til the comics get published so I can get a clearer idea on what kind of insight Marvel's finest can offer into solutions for the problems of Earth. Hmmm. READ FOR YOURSELVES.
posted by chizz at
11:49 AM
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