Flawed Heroism and the Apokolips By: Matt Reed A question I am always asked by other comic book fans is what my favorite comics are. This is always something of a task for me. Mainly because I always seem to change up the list. Unlike wolverines’ claws, it is not as firm as adamantium. Given this current apocalyptic trend that has seemed to enthrall so many. Between the most recent films, and even so many of the television shows, I’ve come to realize that some of my favorite comics, the ones that always seem to make it on the list, are in some way apocalyptic. Comics like The Walking Dead, Judge Dredd, Fist of the North Star, and The Dark Night Returns. These comics have some overarching characteristic that I find intriguing in a hero: uncompromising resolve. A protagonist with this passion to protect those who cannot protect themselves is weaved into the whole cavalcade of flaws, strengths and emotions that make each character so unlike the next but all similar at the same time. The main characters of two of my favorite comics are both men backed by having a badge. This gives their decisions a little more weight when people look to them for leadership. Rick Grimes of The Walking Dead wants to protect his people, his son and though he is nowhere near perfect he takes on the responsibility as best he can. His character is deeply flawed with the emotions that come attached to killing living people who have succumbed to the savagery necessary to survive the horrors of a world ravaged with a zombie virus. At some point he has to decide that the argument that they are acting savagely because of the situation they are in is no longer valid. To allow someone to harm you or your family because they were “only trying to survive” doesnt work when you are trying to survive. In his eponymous titled comic, Judge Dredd is the other badge wearing hero that looks to protect something. In his case that would be the law. Dredd lives in a world where almost everyone is in some way a criminal and he has to pass judgment on those who break the law. It is a burden he carries with his big gold badge and lawgiver (his gun). Both of these men will kill if deemed necessary, it may affect Rick more but that’s only because he knows humanity as it was before the zombies started eating people. Dredd doesnt have that emotional attachment to humanity, which isnt always a positive. He will not take into account extenuating circumstances because in his mind, life is black and white, either you obey the law or you don’t. Like Rick and Dredd, the character Kenshiro in the Japanese manga Fist of the North Star will also kill people in his apocalyptic world. A cross between Bruce Lee and Mad Max, Kenshiro is a dangerous martial artist who wields an ancient assassin martial art known as Hokuto Shin Ken and he uses it to protect weak and helpless people who are being taken advantage of by the thugs of his world. He bares the weight of his dead comrades and enemies, some of which were his own family and killed by his own fist. One of the most pivotal moments in the comic is when Kenshiro faces a character who is one of his brothers, a man named Raoh, who is gigantic in stature and a lot stronger than Kenshiro. Only through the use of his fallen comrades’ martial arts styles and the perfection of his own style does he defeat Raoh and actually ride off into the sunset with his wife whom he thought was dead throughout the whole comic. Kenshiro has not lived a life that lends him to give in to pleas made by those who have done the same evils that plague Rick and Dredds world. The man unlike the three previous heroes is Batman. Batman is only different because he will not kill his enemies. The strict code that he has led his life by forbids the use of lethal force; everything up until that point however, is fair game. The comic that deals with this apocalyptic theme is called The Dark Knight Returns. In this comic by Frank Miller, Batman is aged and grizzled. Nearly sixty years old, he dons his bat cowl once more after a ten year retirement and faces down the new and old villains of his now dystopian Gotham. One of the major ones is the leader of a gang called the mutants who savagely beats Batman the first time they meet. Still, through all the violence and years of brutality he has seen, dealt and, been dealt he only uses rubber bullets. It’s not until he again meets his arch-nemeses the psychotic, evil and manic, serial-killer-clown, The Joker that he allows death to defeat an opponent. Batman knows that the Joker’s death is the only way to end all the senseless murder and destruction. It’s the only time he ever “crosses the line” as Batman puts it. These characters are flawed and imperfect people. They have been through a metaphorical hell and come back scarred. Despite that, they still have something in their character that is redeemable, in my opinion, and that is what makes them some of my favorite characters. Each one, though different, acts selflessly. They take on the weight of doing the dirty work that innocent people would normally have to deal with and they are rewarded by being feared. Uncompromising resolve is a harsh weapon to wield but they do for the people they protect and I find that admirable in a hero. (Originally published by The Griffin Roar newspaper)
Posted on: Sat, 13 Sep 2014 14:36:59 +0000
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