Bonus
-
Plot flaws: Even the best writers have them!
Episode VII of the Star Warssaga will be released in a few days. We came across a pretty savage analysis of Darth Vader’s psychological development (John Ostrander, “Redeeming Vader,” www.comicmix.com, October 26, 2014). Naturally, episodes I, II and III muddied up what could have been a very great work. We offer a rather lengthy excerpt of this analysis:
At the end of Episode VI, Anakin’s Force Ghost takes its place with the Force Ghosts of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda, the two Jedi who represent the wise mentors and forces for good.
I have serious reservations about this. I don’t know if Anakin/Vader deserves or achieves redemption. Anakin, as he turns to the Dark Side, betrays all his friends. He kills children. Let me repeat that – he kills children. Episode III makes it clear even if it doesn’t show it. Anakin/Vader leads a cadre of Clone Troopers into the Jedi Temple and we see him confront children, the young students, some of which look to be six to eight. They know him only as a Jedi and trust him. We are later told that some of their corpses had lightsaber marks on them and Anakin is the only one who has a lightsaber in that attack. Anakin killed the children. How is that redeemable?
Why does Anakin turn to the Dark Side? Partly because he feels his fellow Jedi aren’t treating him with enough respect; as tragic flaws go, this is rather petty. Also, Darth Sidious/Emperor Palpatine, Anakin’s mentor, convinced Anakin that he could prevent Anakin’s wife, Padme, from dying. Ever.
Anakin had Separation Anxieties. He couldn’t save his mother from death at the hands of the Tusken Raiders so, once again, he slaughtered every Tusken man, woman, and – once again – child in the tribe. But Sidious tells Anakin he can keep Padme from ever dying and the chump believes him. It’s enough to send him careening down the path of the Dark side, becoming Darth Vader in the process.
And yet both Padme and, later on, Luke insist that there is good in him. Damned if I could see it.
How is Vader redeemed? When he decides he can’t turn Luke to the Dark Side, he decides to turn Luke’s sister. He tries to kill Luke. Instead, Luke defeats him, literally disarming him. Palpatine wanders in and tells Luke to kill Vader and take his place. Luke refuses, tossing away his lightsaber … a rather boneheaded move. Sidious then shoots lightning from his hands and starts to slowly turn Luke into a Crispy Critter. Vader, despite his son’s pleas, just watches for a few moments before finally turning on Sidious and tossing the Emperor to his doom, getting mortally wounded himself along the way. And this act supposedly redeems Anakin.
What exactly did Anakin/Vader do? Did he renounce the Dark Side? No. Did he regret his betrayal of his fellow Jedi? No. Did he feel bad about slaughtering the innocent children? Nope. He turned on his former Master because Sidious was killing Anakin’s son whom Vader himself had been trying to kill only a few moments earlier.
I admit to being an agnostic but I’m specifically a Roman Catholic agnostic. I was raised and steeped in the traditions of the Roman Catholic Church and the notion of redemption was a strong part of that. The concept is that suffering expiates past sin or sins. Anakin/Vader sacrifices his own life to destroy Sidious. Why does he do it? To save his own child. Motivations matter and, it seems to me, this one is private, personal, and rather selfish. I don’t see the act as redemptive.
-
Having something to say
As we’ve written previously, in the comic book world, authors often have grand concepts to justify re-launching a series (Josh Wilding, “Make Mine Marvel? No Thanks. Why DC is now the place to go for quality comics,” September 11, 2013, www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites). Anthony Falcone summarizes the situation thusly: “… in the majority of comic books a real story isn’t told but a series of things just happen and are put together in a slapdash fashion.” (Anthony Falcone, “Comics I Read Aren’t Sh*t,” January 31, 2013, www.comicbookdaily.com).
So, as we’ve also mentioned before, character deaths are often used as a simple dramatic springboard, without having any impact on the readers (Anthony Falcone, “Death be not proud ,” February 28, 2013, www.comicbookdaily.com), who simply count down until the character returns (Tony Guerrero, “Death and the Return of Characters: Jean Grey,” April 11, 2013, www.comicvine.com).
In her analysis of Daredevil, Christine is heading in the right direction: “the best superhero stories have at least something to say about some of our most human challenges.” (Christine, “Review of Daredevil # 26”, May 22, 2013, www.theothermurdockpapers.com). Heroes or superheroes can face superhuman challenges, but when faced with more down-to-earth challenges, how can their reactions be so different from the rest of us humans?
Along those lines, Chris Sims draws an interesting line between the Marvel and DC universes: “What it comes down to is that the Marvel universe is built on limitations. That’s the core difference between the foundation of the Marvel Universe and the DC Universe. Even though they’ve largely been shaped by the same creators over the past few decades, they’re built around very different ideas that are expressed in the characters that define them. There’s nothing that makes me roll my eyes harder than when people refer to the DC characters as “Gods” because that’s such a goofy, high school way to look at them, but even I’ll admit that there’s an element of truth to it. The DC Universe, even before there was a DC Universe, was built around characters that have this uncomplicated aspirational ideal to them. You just need to look at Superman to see it.” (Chris Sims, “Ask Chris # 171: The Superman (Well, Supermen) of the Marvel Universe,” November 15, 2013, comicsalliance.com). These “simple aspirations” are too simple, we guess: so let’s give our characters more elaborate desires and we may end up with denser stories.
-
Comics as a team effort
We mentioned a few weeks ago that comics require teamwork. We feel it’s difficult for it to be the work of only one person, contrary to what Todd McFarlane claims (“The Todd McFarlane Interview,” The Comics Journal, n° 152, 1992). Beyond the respective roles, we favour collaboration because interactions lead to a proliferation of ideas and viewpoints.
With regard to the essential role of collaborators, it’s like casting in a film. You have to choose the right actor for the right part. Thus, some of my collaborators are more at ease with action scenes, others with introspective ones, etc. But one important determining characteristic for all collaborators is their ability to respect deadlines. The best illustrator is not useful if the story boards are late. Deadlines are critical in webcomics where posting regularly is a moral contract between the producer and the reader.
This doesn’t mean that the collaborator is the only one responsible for meeting the dateline. It’s also important to have a schedule that allows enough flexibility to accommodate the unforeseen events that can happen at any time.
-
Are superheroes fascist?
Faraci revisits the oft-touted argument that superheroes are fascist: “Superheroes are essentially fascist because they use force to accomplish their goals, and their goals are almost always supporting and protecting the status quo.” (David Faraci, “Are Super-heros Fascist?” December 1, 2013, http://badassdigest.com.). The status quo is more than bearable if the superhero is a multi-millionaire, but then we may wonder whether the hero is acting for the benefit of others or to preserve his or her own social standing?
The latest Captain America, The Winter Soldier, offers a counter-argument to this opinion. The shield bearer doesn’t stop at defeating the bad guys’ plot, he also destroys his employer, Shield, which he feels has become too corrupt to pursue its mission. It should be noted that Cap’s altruism is his trademark.
-
Character origins: Valasquez
We like to provide the illustrators with locations or people on which to base their drawings. Valasquez is very loosely inspired by right-wing Dutch politician Geert Wilders.
