The Four Color Media Monitor

An article first published in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that says one thing well enough:

It's impossible to go to comic books for pure escapism. Characters and story lines increasingly reflect the social and political complexities of our lives. Characters struggle with debt, bad marriages, their sexuality, social status and fear of sudden and inexplicable loss just like ordinary mortals.

Of course, that's just the tip of the iceberg. Nowadays, the above problems have gotten to the point of being presented in a most alarmingly biased light, and multiplied so badly, and the writers have almost completely refused to let up, if at all, that it's little wonder nobody can go to comics for escapism. That's exactly what today's writers, in all their obsessive personal biases, have either forgotten, or just refuse to take into consideration. Come to think of it, this article doesn't make much of an effort to better them either. Especially when it says the following bummer at the end:

Longtime character Spider-Man is caught in the middle and has to decide whether to obey or flee. The series is thick with compelling arguments for both sides.

Oh yeah, I'll bet. Please, do tell me about it, Post-Gazette.

"We're not trying to take a side," said Dan Buckley, Marvel president. "We're not trying to tell a political story. We're trying to tell a superhero story."

Sigh. Again, please do tell me about it. Buckley proves himself little better than William Jemas ever was when he was the company head.