Thursday, August 10, 2006
Dancing to Architecture
Here's an interesting article about the scholarly study of comic books. Since my thesis was on this subject (an analysis of the portrayal of race in comics of the 1990s), I can relate to the themes they are exploring, but I do agree that some feel forced, given most of these papers are based on qualitative and subjective analysis rather than the quantifiable.
I find myself vehemently disagreeing with Peter Lloyd's assertion that Superman moved away from "good and evil as absolutes" following 9/11. It completely ignores Superman's moral dilemmas in killing Zod and pursuing Doomsday following his resurrection. Superman has been struggling with morals and ethics since day one. I do find it astonishing how many people still see the Big Two's most pure characters -Superman and Captain America, as being totally myopic in their world-views and having an underdeveloped sense of what the real world is like. They know - they just aspire to something better.
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