'Stop Making Comics Political!'

So, let's do this.

There has been a common theme in the comic book community as of late (I say late, when it's more like 2014 with the creation of Female Thor) that comic books are too political and that writers and artists are more interested in pushing a political message than telling a good story about the hero beating the bad guy into submission and everyone going home happy.

Well the truth is that you can only tell that story so many times before readers moan at you that it's getting boring. But on the flip side, when readers moan at you that a comic is too political and that it should go back to before, everyone loses. Let's face it, how many memorable stories are there which have the hero defeat the villain with no problem whatsoever and there is no political subtext? All the stories you love, Dark Knight Returns, Watchmen, Civil War and many more all have overt and subtle political commentary that carries the narrative forward and contextualizes to the reader what these characters would be like in the real world. For example, Watchmen and Civil War both focus on the premise of "what if superheroes were real?" Both instances outlaw superheroes and make them illegal vigilantes but yet readers adore these books and hold them skyward despite the fact that they both demonise superheroics and heroism in general.

What a lot of "readers" complain about is the changing of many of their favourite characters to "PC" or, the more commonly used term, "SJW" versions of that character. Miles Morales Spider-Man, Riri Williams Ironheart, Kamala Khan Ms Marvel, Jane Foster Thor and Sam Wilson Captain America to name a few examples. However, regardless of the quality of the story-telling of these characters or their characterisation, what most of the detractors miss is that SJW or Social Justice Warrior (which is defined as someone who promotes socially progressive views such as feminism, civil rights and multiculturalism) is the literal definition of a superhero. Superheroes such as Captain America and Superman fight against the taking of freedoms by others for personal or political gain. That is what a superhero is. To deny this is to deny everything superheroes are and you should really re-evaluate your stance as a fan of these characters. That's not something I say lightly as I believe that anyone can be a fan of comics, regardless of political persuasion but if you intend to push YOUR political views onto readers who read characters that for decades have been cemented as protecting the freedoms of speech and the rights of all, then you need to rethink a few things.

To conclude I'll leave an analogy. In a recent issue of Action Comics (the now supplemental but originally the first Superman series) through some contextual circumstances, Superman winds up saving a bunch of immigrant workers from being gunned down by their abusive employer. Many from the "anti-SJW" crowd yelled cries of anger at their favourite character Superman being used to promote SJW values. However, what seemingly all of them forgot (or chose to ignore) is that Superman himself IS AN IMMIGRANT! His creators were also Jewish immigrants as well who would be appalled with how this crowd believe their creation should be treated and pleased with how DC's current writers are handling him. That says it all really.

Phew and I got through all that without mentioning Trump... d'oh!!!