The Best Worst Villains

Just so I can get this out of the way, this blog entry is going to be about Nazis. I in no way endorse or condone the actions of these horrible people. But I cannot deny while they are vile human beings, they do make excellent villains in fiction.

If you follow closely the worlds of Fantasy and Science Fiction, the Nazis have been involved in nearly every form of doomsday scenario imaginable, especially in films. Zombies (Dead Snow), vampires (Bloodrayne 3), Old Gods (Hellboy), time travel (The 25^Th Reich), Space Travel (Iron Sky), werewolves (FDR: American Badass), and the list goes on and on. It makes a certain kind of sense that the worst of the world’s real monsters would become the worst of our fictional monsters as well.

In comics, most super villains’ ultimate goal is world domination. That was the goal of the Nazis as well so it makes perfect sense that there are so many Nazis among the ranks of comic book super villians. Both DC and Marvel have a gluttony of SS super villains. The most famous of these is The Red Skull. The Red Skull, like Captain America, was birthed during World War II. According to the film, the Red Skull was created by the failed attempt to use the same super soldier serum that gave Captain America his amazing abilities.

Baron Zemo

Joining the Red Skull in their hatred of Captain America is Baron Zemo, Baron Von Strucker, Hate-Monger (who was an actual clone of Adolph Hitler), Master Man, and a few others. All of these are characters who are Nazis. And not simply characters Cap fought during the War. These are all characters that still exist in current continuity and plague Captain America in the stories to this day.

 

The only man who has fought the Nazis as much as Captain America is Indiana Jones. Two out of three films (I am not counting Crystal Skull) Doctor Jones was hounded by the minions of the Reich in his adventures. And I do say minions. Besides a few characters, Indy was mostly defeating faceless nameless soldiers. Soldiers that he eliminated by the dozen. There were scenes in those films where Indiana Jones would just gun down four or five Nazis at a time. And that is another reason why Nazis are good villains. They can be killed indiscriminately. Much like zombies, nobody sheds a tear for dead Nazis.

A very simple reason for Nazis being so prevalent in comics is to save time. Your average comic book is only about twenty-two pages. That requires stories to be very economical with the facts they wish to expose about their characters. Trying to establish a villains motivations and nature can take up valuable real estate. However, everyone already has a negative opinion of Nazis. No real explanation is necessary to establish why your character is evil if you slap a swastika on him. It’s pretty much a dead give away they are the bad guy.

"Take that, Hitler!"

It’s sometimes hard to talk about Nazis in a fictional sense. These were real people who committed real atrocities. Part of me feels wrong to put them in any sort of context where what they did can be made light of. But at the same time, what they did is something that should not be forgotten. There place as villains needs to be constantly remembered and if comics can assure that occurs then that should be considered a good thing.

Earth 16: The Best Earth of them All

If you’re not familiar with the Cartoon Network’s series Young Justice, you should be. It’s one of the best iterations of the DC Universe there is outside of the actual comics, and in some cases even then. And in case you couldn’t tell by the title of this blog entry, it takes place on Earth 16 in the DC Multiverse.

The series, like the original comic it gets its name from, revolves around the exploits of younger versions of the Justice League. In essence it is made up of sidekicks. The first members of the team are Robin (Dick Grayson), Kid Flash (Wally West), and a brand new version of Aqualad that had not appeared before in the comics or other cartoons. There was also the inclusion of Speedy, the sidekick of Green Arrow, but he declined to join the group.

Initially the team thinks it is a part of the full fledged Justice League but soon realize they are just being kept out of the line of fire of the more serious threats. Without permission they decide to investigate a fire at a scientific facility. At this facility they discover all manner of cloning experiments including the adolescent clone of what appears to be Superman. After defeating the secretive leaders of the cloning facility and convincing the Superboy (as they take to calling him) that they are not his enemy, the team is confronted by the Justice League. The Justice League agrees that the young team of heroes proved themselves. Under the supervision of Batman and the addition of Miss Martian (the Martian Manhunter’s niece) they become a sort of black ops unit for the Justice League.

As shown in my previous blog (see here), I have a soft spot for sidekicks. So of course a cartoon show completely revolving around a team of them would be right up my alley. But it is more than just that fact that makes this a great show. Judging by the art style and the fact that both this show and the movie use the same actor for Batman, Bruce Greenwood, it can be argued that Young Justice takes place in the same timeline as Batman: Under the Red Hood. If you only ever watch one DC Direct film, it should be this one. It has a compelling story, amazing voice talent and looks amazing. And Young Justice carries on that tradition (though I suspect the Red Hood takes place much later in the timeline).

But besides focusing on characters that I already like, the series also features characters from the broader DC Universe. Even the most obscure heroes and villains get featured airtime in this series. Characters like Icon and Rocket are both prominently featured. There have even been cameos by Lagoon Boy (who is actually a team member in season 2), Sportsmaster, Plastic Man, Guy Gardner, and many many others.

The show is only in its second season yet it has already given a well-rounded view of characters throughout the DC Universe. Season two accelerated the timeline by about five years so we were able to see new versions of characters (Robin becoming Nightwing) and have looming storylines and questions that need to be answered. I only hope this upcoming third season keeps up the good work.

Super Hero Minorities

As a fan, I see the complaint that there is not enough diversity in comics. While I do think there is some validity in that opinion, I think the problem is a different one. It isn’t that there is a lack of diversity in comic book characters; it is that the minority characters are not highlighted often enough. In this entry I am going to take a look at some non-white characters and examine why they do not get more exposure.

The first thing we need to realize is that the earliest comic book writers were for the most part white men. So the lack of diversity is not so much a deliberate act of the writers, but a side effect of a lack of diversity in the writers’ room. Heck, most of Marvel’s characters were the product all of one man, the amazing Stan Lee. The same can be said of characters created in film and television. They are all merely a product of their times. But I have been happy to see a more diverse array of characters come on the scene in the past several decades.

An excellent example of diverse super heroes was the publisher, Milestone Comics. The company was partly owned by DC comics, but initially the stories published under its umbrella were not part of the DC Universe. This company featured super heroes who were, for the most part, African American. Such titles featured were Icon, which featured a Superman-like character; Hardware; Blood Syndicate; and, perhaps the most popular character to be created by the publisher, Static. Static would go on to have his own cartoon show and I am convinced that it is because of his interactions with the Justice League in this show that DC decided to integrate the Milestone Characters into the DC Universe proper.

Of course there were minority characters in the DC Universe before the arrival of the Milestone characters. Steel, who was introduced in the Reign of the Supermen storyline, was a weapons designer named John Henry Irons who decided to build a metal suit of armor to honor the fallen Superman who had once saved John. It was a monumental occasion because he was an African American character who was taking over one of the four Superman titles.

But it’s not just African American characters. DC Comics has also had a number of Hispanic American characters in its ranks. From as far back as Vibe, a Puerto Rican hero, joining the Justice League International to Jaime Reyes, Mexican American, taking over the identity of Blue Beetle. There have even been Native American members in the ranks of the Justice League, in the form of Apache Chief. The list goes on and on with nearly every race, religion and sexual orientation being represented somehow by a DC super hero.

To be sure, DC is not the only company with minority super heroes. Marvel Comics has had many minority characters. Famously there has been The Black Panther who is the king of the fictional African nation of Wakanda. Marvel also deserves credit for creating the X-Men, a group of mutant outcasts, who have been used as allegories by nearly every oppressed minority in our society.

It is surprising that there would be any lack of diversity in comics since the two largest comic book publishers are both located in New York City, one of the most diverse cities in the world. This diverse melting pot both produces the talent that creates these stories and also serves as the background in many cases. In fact, perhaps one of the reasons why Marvel is so diverse is that their Chief Creative Officer is Joe Quesada, a writer and penciller, whose parents were both Cuban immigrants.

Ethnicity though is not the only minority getting representation in comics. Over the past several years more and more gay characters have been introduced into the mainstream. Marvel comics famously had one of its gay characters, Northstar, get married to his long time partner. Beating them to the altar by several years was Apollo and the Midnighter of DC/Wildstorm’s The Authority. Sadly, the recent New 52 reboot broke up the happy couple of crime fighters, though has hinted they may get back together.

And let's not forget the ladies.

Comic books are an American creation and at its core America is supposed to be a melting pot. So it seems only natural that comics would become just as much of a melting pot. As more and more minority writers break into the industry we can hope to see more and more minority characters. And diversity should only be seen as a good thing which will keep comics from ever becoming stale.

Defending Fanboys Everywhere

I am a fanboy. A geek. A nerd. A dweeb. I’ve heard every single label one can give to a sci-fi fan applied to myself at one point or another. And deservedly so. I have collected comic books for more than twenty years. My wardrobe consists mainly of T-shirts with all manner of comic book symbols and emblems on them. I get thrilled and excited for all manner of sci-fi and fantasy. I am a geek. But when I call myself a geek, I am not using it as an insult as those who decide to call me geek do. For me it is a badge of honor. But it seems people everywhere feel the need to demean those who are passionate about the very things I am passionate about. And I find the stigma wholly unnecessary and in many cases a bit hypocritical.

Think of your average sports fan. In our society it is perfectly acceptable to wear the jersey of your favorite team as everyday clothing. No matter how unathletic you may be, you can wear the colors of your favorite team and number of your favorite player. But you’re not on the team. You’re not that player. When a fan screams at their TV, the coach cannot hear them. Why is this not as ridiculous as someone who goes to a convention in  Cosplay? Why is attending a sports game with face paint any less ridiculous than attending a convention in costume? How is fantasy baseball any less delusional than Dungeons and Dragons? It is exactly the same. But when the news reports about a sports game there is little to no commentary on the absurdity of fans. Every story done about comic conventions seems to have some reporter commenting about the people in costume, usually commenting in a mocking tone. Which is somewhat insulting considering the amount of riots and violence associated with sports. As I have witnessed personally in LA, sports fans will riot when their team wins or loses, yet as a fan I have never witnessed a group of Trek fans go nuts on Star Wars fans. It just doesn't happen.

Further showing the hypocrisy is the massive profits made by super hero films. This past summer The Avengers made more than 1.5 billion dollars at the box office. Obviously more than just comic book fans went to see this film. Yet if it weren’t for the fans nurturing these properties for so many years there would have been no Avengers film. Nor Batman. Nor Amazing Spider-Man. These characters are sustained by the fans. It is their desire for a film that causes the studios to move forward with cinematic adaptations. But it is then the non-fan who feels the need to watch these adaptations and belittle the fan culture that birthed them. And as a comic book fan I feel as if these people are invading my territory. These films were made for us, in many cases BY us, and the rest of you are just along for the ride.

"Shiny"

Fanculture is more than just a loose association of people with similar interests. There is a shorthand and shared identity of fans of any sort of genre entertainment. If you use the term “browncoat”, “red shirt”, or “Schumacher” with a regular person, they probably have no idea what they mean. But to a geek, those words are instantly recognizable and have clear and definite meanings that all fans enjoy.  People who are fans of the same TV show can have the same sort of shared cultural background as people who grew up in the same town together. There are references and inside jokes that only someone who shared the experience you did will understand.

 

Deep down everyone is a geek. The term geek is usually used to describe a fan of sci-fi, comics or fantasy but in reality it can just be a term for anyone who is passionate about a certain subject. There are film geeks, TV geeks, music geeks and even sports geeks. Certainly people who watched Lost were just as big a geek as anyone who watched Star Trek. You should acknowledge your geek habits and be proud of them.