Comic Books and The New Literature
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censorship has been two-fold: first, it irremediably associated the genre with
immaturity by tying it to a specific recipient, namely a child or a teen-ager, and
naturally inhibited its possible social and cultural significance, reducing it to a
simple commercial operation. It openly condemned the medium to serve
escapist rather than truly artistic necessities, for it was understood once and for
all that comic books were not intended to provoke any type of intellectual or
sensory reaction other than that of an already pre-packaged image of a
reassuring reality destined to avoid unsettling young minds: comic books
became an art form that was not supposed to make waves. Secondly, it favored
the domination of one specific genre, that of superheroes, very much akin to
what passed as righteous ideals in the 50s—^manichean opposition between basic
good and evil, defense of private property, and triumph through sheer violence.
The characters of Superman and Batman, who survived the comic book crisis
without much trouble, epitomize this particular vision of comic book heroes, in
terms of both form and content, for their respective uniforms connote and
complement their narrative function: while the colors of Superman’s attire are
those of the U.S. flag and the golden “S” upon his breast reminds us of the all
mighty dollar sign. Batman’s disguise appears modeled according to the
dominant tones of a typical police officer’s uniform, black and dark blue, the
golden badge having moved from the cap to the belt and the police car having
turned into the souped up Batmobile.
Along with such a self-imposed moral imperative, which naturally stifles
artistic freedom, the excessive commercialization of comic books has worked
against their possible creative and cultural significance by favoring a type of
“assembly line” production that promotes specific genres within the medium to
the detriment of others. In this, the difference between the European and the
U.S. concepts of comic books is quite revealing: whereas European comic books
present a variety of styles, themes, and motifs and are destined to a great
diversity of addressees*^ both in term of age groups and preferences, the U.S.
comic book market has been essentially dominated by two specific publishing
groups, DC and Marvel, which have established an artificial correspondence
between the comic book medium and a specific genre, that of superheroes; it is
indeed difficult to separate the notion of comic books from that of super
powered individuals involved in a manichean struggle between good and evil,
regardless of the shape they take, and the venerable Superman remains the
archetype of the comic book hero.*^
Over the years, the superhero has evolved into a more complex entity,
mainly under the influence of the Marvel comic group, whose characters
distinguished themselves from their DC counterparts by emphasizing the
personal struggles of their alter-egos: whereas the personal lives of Clark Kent
or Bruce Wayne traditionally presented little or no narrative conflicts, those of
Peter Parker or Tony Stark appeared from the beginning as narratively
authoritative as the adventures of Spiderman and Iron Man themselves. Hence,
there has been an attempt to turn the figure of Bruce Wayne/Batman into a