I had never read Miller's work, only heard stories of his miraculous tale of the man who wears the black cape. One of the first things that caught my eye was in the Introduction by Alan Moore. He writes how "heroes are starting to become rather a problem. They aren't what they used to be...or rather they are, and there lies the heart of the difficulty". As someone who is very interested in the changing ideologies through history, I found this statement to be very fitting for our previous class discussion. We have just gone over the Comic Book Code and the reasons, the fears, behind its making. One would think that this recent break from the Code would be an encouragement for comic books to get back to its roots- for heroes to be shown as brutal and action driven as they used to be. But that is not the case.
Moore claims that heroes of the past are now rendered obsolete because they are easily rationalized. One of the joys of comic books is the readily accepted suspense of belief that comes when reading a comic. But, as Moore states, people are less willing to do so today. They try to explain things; how can Batman be a superhero is he has no powers? If Hulk is picking up Thor and Thor has his hammer in his hand, is Hulk picking up the hammer? How can Superman breathe in space if there is no air? These silly questions, which would not have been asked in the past, are ruining the hero. So what are comic book creators to do in this new age of questions?
I really liked Moore's semi-response to my inner question when he talks about the colors used in Miller's work: "The values of the world we see [in Miller's comic] are no longer defined in the clear, bright, primary colors of the conventional comic book but in the more subtle and ambiguous tones". Miller shows a different world. Rather, he shows the world as it is. Dark. Dangerous. Scary. And he shows the hero as being someone who should be remembered, not just for the good deeds, but for the less honorable ones: "every subtlety of expression, every nuance of body language, served to demonstrate that this Batman has finally become what he should always have been: He is a legend".
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Moore, Alan. Introduction. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. By Frank Miller. New
York: DC Comics, 1986. 1-51. Print.
Moore claims that heroes of the past are now rendered obsolete because they are easily rationalized. One of the joys of comic books is the readily accepted suspense of belief that comes when reading a comic. But, as Moore states, people are less willing to do so today. They try to explain things; how can Batman be a superhero is he has no powers? If Hulk is picking up Thor and Thor has his hammer in his hand, is Hulk picking up the hammer? How can Superman breathe in space if there is no air? These silly questions, which would not have been asked in the past, are ruining the hero. So what are comic book creators to do in this new age of questions?
I really liked Moore's semi-response to my inner question when he talks about the colors used in Miller's work: "The values of the world we see [in Miller's comic] are no longer defined in the clear, bright, primary colors of the conventional comic book but in the more subtle and ambiguous tones". Miller shows a different world. Rather, he shows the world as it is. Dark. Dangerous. Scary. And he shows the hero as being someone who should be remembered, not just for the good deeds, but for the less honorable ones: "every subtlety of expression, every nuance of body language, served to demonstrate that this Batman has finally become what he should always have been: He is a legend".
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Moore, Alan. Introduction. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. By Frank Miller. New
York: DC Comics, 1986. 1-51. Print.