The Four Color Media Monitor

After finding this sugary left-leaning review of Warren Ellis' Black Summer and a few other politicized books on Comicon, I think I may have to be careful about assuming that they're better than Newsarama. For as this ludicrous review of Ellis' latest anti-war dreck tells us, the Pulse's politics are way too liberal. The commentator begins by saying:

These last seven years certainly qualify as interesting, to say the least. We’ve had the 9/11 attacks and their ensuing chaos, Hurricane Katrina, the Afghanistan War, and the interminable Iraq War II. Blood continues to flow. Not since the 60s, when mobs of Americans were protesting the Vietnam War, has the United States been so divided internally. President George W. Bush will definitely be leaving a legacy…but probably not the one he expects to leave. I’ve heard people saying “Worst president ever,” and I’ve had students as young as 13 telling me how “dumb” the president is. It’s truly a blessing to live in a country where we have the right to express our opinions about Those In Charge and the mistakes they make.

So he's a teacher, is he? And he even lets partisan politics take place in his classroom? Personally, I think that's a bad idea, though not nearly as bad as the reviewer is being with his own anti-war bias.

Of course there are things worth disagreeing with the current administration about. But it shouldn't be for the wrong reasons. Are we supposed to allow the al Qaeda and other terrorist scum to roam free in Iraq? Exactly what isn't being addressed here.

Black Summer began with an issue #0 that was one of the most shocking single issues published in years. In this essential preview to the 7-issue series, superhero John Horus storms the White House and executes the President. Minutes later, Horus goes live on national television to explain why he has done this: Because the Commander-in-Chief had committed severe criminal actions including election fraud and starting an unnecessary, illegal war for the benefit of his oil conglomerate cronies. Superheroes enforce the law, Horus reasons, so he had to do this. How could any self-respecting hero stand aside and let his entire country be run by criminals?

While it makes a certain sense in a psychotic way, it’s also a justification for cold-blooded murder. Horus could probably have removed and incarcerated the Prez and his confederates, but instead he went for blood…and he got it…he’s covered in it as he addresses the stunned nation.

If it really is a justification for cold-blooded murder, then plot for Black Summer sounds truly disgusting and offensive.

Worst: if this is an allegory to the Iraq war, they fail to ask any serious questions about what Saddam had done in the years before being overthrown, and why the US president's actions are worse than what the dictator of the country had done before the war?

To make matters still worse, the reviewer signals his own leftist leanings when he says that:

Hardcore Republican readers probably dropped this comic into the nearest trash can…while those who have long been angered, frustrated, and ashamed of the way things have gone in this country were probably cheering on this fictional avenger. Especially when they consider how much blood has been shed on both sides by the ongoing conflict in Iraq…the phrase “blood for blood” comes to mind, and this seems to be the philosophy that drives John Horus to murder.

I'm confused. Aren't the actions of the enemy country's army what should be angering the book's villain, John Horus? The reviewer is actually insulting even his own side by suggesting that the liberals are so frustrated, they'll be literally willing to condone what this Ellis-created monster has done. Just how does he know that they really want that to happen? Or, is he doing the right thing to make it sound as though he doesn't care if they take the risk of condoning violence against American politicians?

Warren Ellis had been going through a low-key period for several years before this comic was published…shying away from all things superhero-related. But with Black Summer and Marvel’s Thunderbolts, he came back with a big, bloody bang. This was the Ellis who gathered thousands of hardcore fans with his late-90s and early 00’s comics. His work has fangs again…he’s not pulling any punches. He’s turning superhero conventions on their head, or throwing them out the door completely. And John Horus executing the President was only the beginning of the dark, gory action-fest that is Black Summer.

Wow, just what the world needs: gore galore, without any positive purpose or meaning. And that tells me that Thunderbolts is probably even worse off now than when Kurt Busiek and Fabian Niecieza were writing it. Better stay away.

Beginning in issue #1, Ellis reveals the backstory for Horus and his world. We meet The Seven Guns, a group of superheroes created by extreme body modification experiments. Each of these heroes is basically a cyborg with built-in killing technology of frightening power. Describing themselves as an “extralegal civil defense team,” the Guns served the public for years, fighting corruption and other modern evils. One of them, Tom Blacksmith, eventually defected to work for the CIA, faking his own death. The group’s founder, Tom Noir, lost his leg in an explosion and retired, which effectively disbanded the group. Tom wallows in a haze of alcohol and self-pity, and it takes the homicidal actions of John Horus (and an attempt on his own life) to stir him from his self-induced retirement.

On orders from the CIA, Blacksmith sets out to murder the Seven Guns, his former companions. When he fails to murder Tom Noir, the rest of the Guns begin to reunite, and now they’ve all been targeted by the U.S. government—even though none of them had anything to do with John Horus’ act of political murder. All it takes is one super-powered crazy to convince the government that the Seven Guns must die. You can hardly blame them, all things considered. Especially in these days of “The War on Terror,” where the most common response to threats is violence.

Do I sense that the reviewer is saying that even a pre-emptive strike against terrorists is wrong? The reviewer puts war on terrorism in quotation marks. If he wants to criticize Bush, he should acknowledge that Bush is zigzagging, whereas in some places he's fighting terrorism and in others he's helping it, such as helping the "palestinian authority" and Fatah. It seems that the reviewer and many of the left are confused about what's really going on. And Ellis also seems to have a simplistic understanding of what's going on.

All of the Guns activate their enhancements by using keywords…a clever nod back to Shazam and Miracle Man…but all their powers are theoretically possible thanks to Ellis’ spot-on scientific research and clever extrapolation. Ellis, like Grant Morrison, likes to look at the real possibilities of superhuman enhancement and theorize exactly how someone could become empowered. The result is hero characters who are closer to hard-science creations than your typical superheroes. It’s all far closer to reality than Batman or Spider-Man could ever be.

Is it realistic when you ignore whatever evil the dictator of the Iraq-like country was committing, perhaps even going so far as to act like he doesn't even exist? Sorry, but, I don't think that's very close to reality at all.

There may be some people who say comics should avoid political issues and anything that has to do with the “real world.” Well, for those people there are plenty of comics published every month that will satisfy their desires. They should definitely not read Black Summer. However, those who want bold, thought-provoking comics that ask hard questions and make you think about tough issues—all while delivering kick-ass pulp excitement—owe it to themselves to seek out this book.

To some people the idea of a political comic book is laughable and absurd. But this is the 21st Century, brothers and sisters. Everything is political…

Comics never sold better than they did during World War II, when Captain America was punching out Hitler and kicking the asses of the Nazis every month. Frank Miller’s Elektra Assassin offered some biting Reagan-era satire in the late 80s. Alan Moore has never shied away from political statements in his work. Morrison’s The Invisibles definitely crossed some political ground, albeit with a psychedelic-surreal twist. Marvel’s recent Civil War spotlighted some very real issues in American politics, as filtered through the fictional conflict of Captain America vs. Iron Man—a battle of ideologies that turned deadly.

In fact, I submit to you, Noble Readers, that comics have a duty to confront political issues, as well as other important aspects of the society that spawned them. Any art form that refuses to acknowledge the reality of human experience is doomed. Good art should shake you up, and make you think.

Comics can be a mirror for what’s going on in the hearts and minds of the public, a platform every bit as powerful as film, or prose novels. Artists have a responsibility to challenge prevailing thought and inspire creative debate in those who read their works.

I'm so sorry, but this is really dishonest and too removed from the bigger picture of what things are like behind the scenes in most comic book publishers.

1]I don't think comics should avoid political issues. However, I would be much more welcome to the idea if conservatism were allowed its fair share of the spotlight. And that's something that's either been marginalized, or totally suppressed.

2]When Capt. America first premiered, nobody was denying the the nazis were evil, and that they were causing mass murder and destruction. When Manuel Noriega was the dictator of Panama, nobody denied that he had caused misery for the people under his suppression. Unlike Black Summer, where, under the perfect disguise of moral equivalence, they seem to be acting as though it's only America's fault, and that the president only lied as a cover for greed. A question could be asked as to why the US and the rest of the western world overlooked Saddam Hussein's crimes for so many years.

3]Comics may have a duty to confront political issues, but they also have a duty to be honest, and IMO, the industry also have a duty to respect the rights of conservatives who want to have their fair share of the spotlight. I don't see it happening here.

4]Black Summer isn't exactly acknowledging reality of human experience, and it's only being a mirror of what the left thinks.

5]"Artists"? What about the writers?

Labels: moonbat writers, politics, violence