What I have against comic books, particularly the superhero kind, is the constant theme that good will triumph over evil, and good vs. evil can always be reduced to one good guy and one bad guy.

Once you accept this simplistic theory of morality and justice, anything is okay to aid the good and defeat the bad. Too many people are conditioned to think in these absolute terms and seek, or passively accept, absolute solutions that involve violence.

Saddam Hussein: bad, evil. Solution: kill him.

"conditioned...."

That one word speaks volumes about you, Arlington. If only persons like you, one of nature's nobility, could just be in charge, and the proles could be kept from thinking (which heaven knows they can't do at all), what a glad sweet song life would be.

I guess you're used to dealing with intelligent people who believe thinking is exclusively the province of the smart. Hence, they read Beowulf in Olde English and assume everyone else reads comix, or doesn't read at all. The consequence, to some degree, is that we're marketing more and more of everything, not just comic books, based on the idea that we need to sell things to the "proles" to keep them happy and consuming. Well, I suppose people will become what we expect them to become, to a large degree. This is the conditioning to which I refer. Obviously, you've read Orwell, and probably not in comic book format. What do you suggest to keep 1984 from becoming reality?

Arlington, what 'indoctrinating' comic books are you referring to? I don't read superhero books very often any more, but the recent storylines I've heard about are nothing like the 'trust the man' world you're describing.

Arlington:

I just don't think people are that stupid. And if they are, worse things will happen to them than believing in the triumph of good over evil.

Sure, I believe in that, too. But I also believe you have to struggle to make it happen. Spiderman is probably not going to swing down on his web and stop the neighborhood pedophile from molesting the little girl (or boy) standing at the bus stop. I do think too much indulgence in fantasy makes people believe "someone else" will take care of problems.

Arlington,

You don't say whether or not you currently read comics, only that you're not crazy about superhero comics.

As my generation of comic readers has aged, comics have matured and the "simplistic theory of morality" you describe has become less and less prevalent. Comics such as DMZ, Scalped, Darevdevil, and Criminal feature characters that are conflicted, complex, and light years away from the two-dimensional "good guys" and "bad guys" you're imagining. Good doesn't always win, and Bad is no longer exclusive to villains.

But fear not, today's kids don't read anyway. Politicians and concerned citizens such as yourself have found other media forms to scapegoat: TV, rap music, video games, and the Internet. Who knows what we can blame for damaging our youth ten years from now...

As people stop reading, though, it probably won't be comics.

Your opinions seem to be derived from vague notions about comics, rather than actual stories in comics (most of which don't star superheroes) that appear in newsstands today.

What you're really railing against, as far as I can see, is lazy writing. Having a protagonist defeat an antagonist in a graphic and usually violent manor is one of the oldest stories, and not one of the best.

I'm assuming once the copyrights on most of the major superheroes pass into public domain, and these companies no longer have a vested monetary interest in publishing basically the same story over and over again, we'll see some much more interesting and complex superheroes on the shelves.

Obviously you haven't read comics for a while.

So, an acceptable way to take care of problems is to criticize an entire genre without bothering to familiarize yourself with its basics?

Speaking of smart, Old English is spelled without the "e." Take it from a medievalist... and a "prole"!

You're obviously over-generalising about a genre with which you have no experience. Comics can often be subversive and deeply intelligent. Like the Junius manuscript of Beowulf, they've changed Western culture, whether you like it or not. So, in sum, do some research before ranting if you want to take on the role of superior scholarly being. The British Library, FYI, has both Old English manuscripts AND comic books!

What do you suggest to keep 1984 from becoming reality?

1984's day has come and gone; even the Maoists are turning into consumers.

Think Brave New World, and you'll be a lot closer to reality.

I realize (or should it be realise?) Old English is spelled without an "e" on the ende. I'm making funne of certain people who take inordinate pride in their intelligence and looke downe on others.

Arlington, I don't think you've read comic books much, if at all. So your opinion seems naive at best, prejudiced at worst. The theme that good will triumph over evil is pervasive in all media, from fairy tales to TV crime dramas.

I understand that the world we live in doesn't exist with many moral absolutes and should rarely be approached with violent and absolute solutions.

But moral absolutes make for good stories. Snow White has an EVIL step-mother. Red Riding Hood is chased by the Big BAD Wolf. And violence is an exciting and dramatic element in many stories that involve conflict. And without conflict you don't have much of a story.

Most superhero comics are much more complex than what you imagine. There is a broad spectrum of superhero stories in an even broader spectrum of comics. Many of them you might find morally objectionable. But some of them are intelligent, literary, complex and profound. These works are not worthy of being trivialized, marginalized or dismissed out of hand because of some uninformed bias against the genre.

If you are interested in expanding your world view about Superhero Comics, I would suggest starting with Alan Moore's, "Watchmen." This graphic novel is critically acclaimed, fun and just a really good read. It was written more than twenty years ago, but is being made into a major motion picture that is due out in early 2009. So if you read it now, you will be ahead of the pop culture curve. The story deals directly with the themes of moral ambiguity and the evil of absolute solutions.

I think that Americana is steeped in good vs evil. Try reading some Manga. They have no absolutes really, and aren't afraid of killing off their main characters (for good) lol,

Hellsing is great, Ororin,

For superheroes I like the Green Arrow, yeah good/evil but at least he has great dialogue, (Kurt Swann, Kevin Smith).

Age of Apocolypse was fun, great colors.

But besides Comic Novels, there are Graphic Novels:

Seth

Transmetropolitan

Lost Girls

The Preacher

Sandman

All are thought provoking.