I've tried to tell people, in the past, that comics have always responded to current events & social problems, especially when I hear anyone complaining that comics are too woke now. Some of the first comics I read as a boy were about serious problems. Green Arrow & Green Lantern stories that looked at addiction, or God Loves, Man Kills, one of the old large graphic novels Marvel did, which was so obviously about racism.
My old man thought hero comics were stupid, but he did understand the medium could be profound & he proved it by giving me the Maus books about the Holocaust. But over the last 10 years, even if we just leave the social justice stuff out, where more creators of color, or in the queer community, have been invited to tell their own stories, or make familiar characters more true to their backgrounds - I have never seen as many comics responding & trying to examine current affairs.
So many books, from the top classic superheroes to the little Indies, people are trying to navigate this insanity. I wish there were better resources, or that people at least had a better idea of how to find the resources, to remind them we have power, even individually. I really appreciate anyone with a platform speaking so directly as well.
I'm not really seeing the medium responding acutely to the social rot. As a young teenager I WAS impressed by the political call outs, the anti-drug stuff, etc. As I aged those did not age well. The anti-drug stuff wasn't as thought-out or even researched as they should have been (for instance, drug addiction wasn't as common or as easy as it was alleged, not even heroin). It echoed the exact same fear mongering that kids and others eventually laughed off. Frazetta's famous anti smoking ad in the Warren mags was ironic as Frank was and remained a smoker until the early nineties, and Ellie, his wife, was likely the victims of that addiction. Right now none of these comics are addressing, or have EVER addressed how the west profits from war. Corporations OWN the DC, Marvel and Dark Horse comic lines, and probably too many others. So we're going to see lip service to gender issues, ethnic diversity, much like the reaction to Ethiopian famine. Sadly, many years later that "crisis was revealed to be both not as severe as we were told AND it was used as cover while what happened behind the scenes increased hostilities in the region over access to "cheap" resources along with arms smuggling. Just as famines are STILL happening, and the WEST is causing them, gender and ethnic issue WILL remain because we're NOT culling the cause (perpetual greed is at the heart of those issues and ALWAYS has been).
Where are the comic writers calling out the increased surveillance state, our crop manufacturing being bought up by tech billionaires, our coup that led to the war in Ukraine triggered by a better loan deal offered by Russia, our bombing Iran, our support for a genocide in Gaza, the West Bank and now Lebanon, and all while our own homeless numbers and poverty rates are increasing? I know I'll get some push bash on the take on Russia, but the homework supports what our own and west's politicians continually lie to us about (hence the 30 years of Russian boogey men in mainstream comics). Frankly, comics aren't "woke" at all. The fact that they still refuse to even note how corrupt the entire political system truly is explains the vapid virtue signaling the've always done. They still treat Marxism as an existential "threat" while a certifiable loony in our White House considers nukes to punish civilians because they haven't overthrown their government (and the prevailing narrative in the leadership and their loyalists in the USA, and elsewhere, is a grudging notion that it's what Iran "needs", as if we're the model to live by).
I know, none of that is popular, so attend a "no Kings" rally while the world keeps burning under our live fire events, or funded and supported by our war criminals. The money they rake in -even when we lose- is insane.
It's gotten to where all the research I do into these issues, things the more daring Soc, History and ethnic studies professors and instructors admit to- too often after class is out, because keeping a job requires towing that line shared by our western leaders, the more folly there is to it. I was in a rare, but useless position, listening the war stories of soldiers fresh from down range (we lived in the Kaiserslautern Germany area, because of my wife was stationed at Ramstein AFB during the Afghanistan and Iraq invasions and that's where most of them came for R&R). The stories I was told by everyone from medics, to grunts, intel officers, to aspiring general officers- because most assumed that I was a retired service member- revealed the chaos of our campaigns. What they told me WAS what I expected, but also far worse.
Here we are, having learned nothing, because waving a flag while being exactly what we say we're combatting is STILL insanely profitable for a tiny few. War comics (like Stars & Stripes, ironically) are better about telling the truth than our modern comics are. Our comic creators take their cues from MSM news outlets, know where their bread is buttered and some of their audience. The elites are still in charge and their numbers are growing and no intellectual or populist revolution is in sight. We are cowed. In the USA the "opposition" has yet to invoke the 25th Amendment for a constantly lying and clearly unhinged war criminal who is alleged pedophile and proven guilty of sexual assault in the White House. Talk about the teflon Don. But because of him, "..donate now, donate often (while we sit on our hands) and we PROMISE, next time we'll 'do better'".
Very well said! I think, despite vigorous efforts to the contrary, a consensus slowly but surely builds towards a holistic worldview :)))
In an interconnected system you cannot sustain one part luxuriating while another part is gangrenous, you cannot isolate cascading collapse.
I'm reminded a bit of the famous story about James Joyce explaining why there's no apostrophe in Finnegans Wake. It makes it a statement, or even a command. It's a warning to the ruling class that in every cultural cycle the Finnegans wake up and take down their oppressors. (Funny thing about being anti woke in that context!)
I did no know that about Finnegans Wake! Makes perfect sense. And re. the anti-woke thing... it's literally saying I'm anti being awake. How words like 'progressive' get reinvented as bad, and 'liberal', which has been turned into an entirely different concept to what the word actually means. As for 'conservative', that word reminds me always of the Chumbawumba song that talks about the gate-keepers of folk music not actually supporting the true notion of what music is. That view isn't music, 'it's a pickle'. Conservatism is a human pickle. Let's never change. Let's never progress.
For sure! It's kind of interesting the extent to which the authoritarians have dressed themselves in the semiotics of arch-villainy. Every act of kindness, compassion, and creativity chips away at their enforced reality :)))
There are several things an individual can do; some depend on their circumstances. If someone has a platform on social media, or even just a decent following of friends & family, sharing their opinon can help, but even better is sharing ideas that they could also try. Even if someone is just voicing that they find some things unacceptable, it can help others feel less alone & more willing to speak up or take action.
An easy way to really look for actions is by looking into existing organizations that are active & meet your standards/ideals. Many people today are less aware of the people of the 60's & 70's who worked so hard to figure out what forms of protest & activism is most effective, & we know their methods worked cuz things did change.
If possible, find a group nearby, go check them out & see if you can work with them. Voting of course, is important, but it's especially important in the non Presidential elections & small local elections. But another way to make politicians hear us is by sending in an email about what you feel is important & what you think is unacceptable. You can call their offices & leave a message as well, most of the time, & those are more likely to be reviewed quickly.
A big part of why Jimmy Kimmel got his job back so quickly is because people contacted their local & state politicians & found ways to impact the media company that owned the network. There are plenty of similar methods that often wouldn't occur to the average American, but those organizations will know them.
I've tried to tell people, in the past, that comics have always responded to current events & social problems, especially when I hear anyone complaining that comics are too woke now. Some of the first comics I read as a boy were about serious problems. Green Arrow & Green Lantern stories that looked at addiction, or God Loves, Man Kills, one of the old large graphic novels Marvel did, which was so obviously about racism.
My old man thought hero comics were stupid, but he did understand the medium could be profound & he proved it by giving me the Maus books about the Holocaust. But over the last 10 years, even if we just leave the social justice stuff out, where more creators of color, or in the queer community, have been invited to tell their own stories, or make familiar characters more true to their backgrounds - I have never seen as many comics responding & trying to examine current affairs.
So many books, from the top classic superheroes to the little Indies, people are trying to navigate this insanity. I wish there were better resources, or that people at least had a better idea of how to find the resources, to remind them we have power, even individually. I really appreciate anyone with a platform speaking so directly as well.
I'm not really seeing the medium responding acutely to the social rot. As a young teenager I WAS impressed by the political call outs, the anti-drug stuff, etc. As I aged those did not age well. The anti-drug stuff wasn't as thought-out or even researched as they should have been (for instance, drug addiction wasn't as common or as easy as it was alleged, not even heroin). It echoed the exact same fear mongering that kids and others eventually laughed off. Frazetta's famous anti smoking ad in the Warren mags was ironic as Frank was and remained a smoker until the early nineties, and Ellie, his wife, was likely the victims of that addiction. Right now none of these comics are addressing, or have EVER addressed how the west profits from war. Corporations OWN the DC, Marvel and Dark Horse comic lines, and probably too many others. So we're going to see lip service to gender issues, ethnic diversity, much like the reaction to Ethiopian famine. Sadly, many years later that "crisis was revealed to be both not as severe as we were told AND it was used as cover while what happened behind the scenes increased hostilities in the region over access to "cheap" resources along with arms smuggling. Just as famines are STILL happening, and the WEST is causing them, gender and ethnic issue WILL remain because we're NOT culling the cause (perpetual greed is at the heart of those issues and ALWAYS has been).
Where are the comic writers calling out the increased surveillance state, our crop manufacturing being bought up by tech billionaires, our coup that led to the war in Ukraine triggered by a better loan deal offered by Russia, our bombing Iran, our support for a genocide in Gaza, the West Bank and now Lebanon, and all while our own homeless numbers and poverty rates are increasing? I know I'll get some push bash on the take on Russia, but the homework supports what our own and west's politicians continually lie to us about (hence the 30 years of Russian boogey men in mainstream comics). Frankly, comics aren't "woke" at all. The fact that they still refuse to even note how corrupt the entire political system truly is explains the vapid virtue signaling the've always done. They still treat Marxism as an existential "threat" while a certifiable loony in our White House considers nukes to punish civilians because they haven't overthrown their government (and the prevailing narrative in the leadership and their loyalists in the USA, and elsewhere, is a grudging notion that it's what Iran "needs", as if we're the model to live by).
I know, none of that is popular, so attend a "no Kings" rally while the world keeps burning under our live fire events, or funded and supported by our war criminals. The money they rake in -even when we lose- is insane.
It's gotten to where all the research I do into these issues, things the more daring Soc, History and ethnic studies professors and instructors admit to- too often after class is out, because keeping a job requires towing that line shared by our western leaders, the more folly there is to it. I was in a rare, but useless position, listening the war stories of soldiers fresh from down range (we lived in the Kaiserslautern Germany area, because of my wife was stationed at Ramstein AFB during the Afghanistan and Iraq invasions and that's where most of them came for R&R). The stories I was told by everyone from medics, to grunts, intel officers, to aspiring general officers- because most assumed that I was a retired service member- revealed the chaos of our campaigns. What they told me WAS what I expected, but also far worse.
Here we are, having learned nothing, because waving a flag while being exactly what we say we're combatting is STILL insanely profitable for a tiny few. War comics (like Stars & Stripes, ironically) are better about telling the truth than our modern comics are. Our comic creators take their cues from MSM news outlets, know where their bread is buttered and some of their audience. The elites are still in charge and their numbers are growing and no intellectual or populist revolution is in sight. We are cowed. In the USA the "opposition" has yet to invoke the 25th Amendment for a constantly lying and clearly unhinged war criminal who is alleged pedophile and proven guilty of sexual assault in the White House. Talk about the teflon Don. But because of him, "..donate now, donate often (while we sit on our hands) and we PROMISE, next time we'll 'do better'".
Very well said! I think, despite vigorous efforts to the contrary, a consensus slowly but surely builds towards a holistic worldview :)))
In an interconnected system you cannot sustain one part luxuriating while another part is gangrenous, you cannot isolate cascading collapse.
I'm reminded a bit of the famous story about James Joyce explaining why there's no apostrophe in Finnegans Wake. It makes it a statement, or even a command. It's a warning to the ruling class that in every cultural cycle the Finnegans wake up and take down their oppressors. (Funny thing about being anti woke in that context!)
I did no know that about Finnegans Wake! Makes perfect sense. And re. the anti-woke thing... it's literally saying I'm anti being awake. How words like 'progressive' get reinvented as bad, and 'liberal', which has been turned into an entirely different concept to what the word actually means. As for 'conservative', that word reminds me always of the Chumbawumba song that talks about the gate-keepers of folk music not actually supporting the true notion of what music is. That view isn't music, 'it's a pickle'. Conservatism is a human pickle. Let's never change. Let's never progress.
For sure! It's kind of interesting the extent to which the authoritarians have dressed themselves in the semiotics of arch-villainy. Every act of kindness, compassion, and creativity chips away at their enforced reality :)))
Wise words. Wish I knew what to do. Hopefully, we'll make it out in one piece. Here's to better times. Stay strong
There are several things an individual can do; some depend on their circumstances. If someone has a platform on social media, or even just a decent following of friends & family, sharing their opinon can help, but even better is sharing ideas that they could also try. Even if someone is just voicing that they find some things unacceptable, it can help others feel less alone & more willing to speak up or take action.
An easy way to really look for actions is by looking into existing organizations that are active & meet your standards/ideals. Many people today are less aware of the people of the 60's & 70's who worked so hard to figure out what forms of protest & activism is most effective, & we know their methods worked cuz things did change.
If possible, find a group nearby, go check them out & see if you can work with them. Voting of course, is important, but it's especially important in the non Presidential elections & small local elections. But another way to make politicians hear us is by sending in an email about what you feel is important & what you think is unacceptable. You can call their offices & leave a message as well, most of the time, & those are more likely to be reviewed quickly.
A big part of why Jimmy Kimmel got his job back so quickly is because people contacted their local & state politicians & found ways to impact the media company that owned the network. There are plenty of similar methods that often wouldn't occur to the average American, but those organizations will know them.