June 25, 2006
WHY AMERICANS HATE INTELLECTUALS:
Superheros choose sides in war on terror (Bryant Jordan, 6/25/06, The Army Times)
During World War II, the United States unleashed more than just its military against the Axis powers. In the pages of comic books, a new and timely generation of superheroes — Captain America, the Submariner and the Human Torch — took on the enemy as well.Every soldier who thumbed through the dog-eared pages of a comic knew exactly where the superheroes stood. With them.
In "Civil War," a seven-part comic book series that pits Captain America, Iron Man and other heroes against each other over issues grown of today's war on terrorism, Marvel Comics is throwing out a challenge not only to its pantheon of superheroes, but also to its readers: "Whose side are you on?" [...]
Iron Man, a.k.a. Tony Stark, billionaire industrialist and arms manufacturer, takes the government side.
"Becoming public employees makes perfect sense if it helps people sleep a little easier," Iron Man tells a roof full of superheroes gathered at Fantastic Four headquarters to discuss the pending legislation.
Captain America, who has been wearing the stars and stripes as a uniform and fighting America's enemies for more than 60 years, comes down on the other side.
"Super heroes need to stay above (politics) or Washington starts telling us who the supervillains are," he tells the government's heavily armed "superhuman response unit" sent to sign him up or take him down.
It's important to remember that the only reason a lot of intellectuals artists backed the Allies in WWII was because the Party told them to. Until Hitler attacked the USSR they were sympathetic to the Axis. Posted by Orrin Judd at June 25, 2006 10:11 AM
Let me see if I understand you correctly: You're saying the creators of the Iron Man and the Human Torch are intellectuals?
Posted by: pj at June 25, 2006 11:19 AMOf course, artists are of the intellectual class.
www.brothersjudd.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/reviews.detail/book_id/530
Posted by: oj at June 25, 2006 11:24 AMThey think of themselves as intellectuals, and are willing to do whatever it takes for other intellectuals to accept them, and those are the only criteria that matters.
Posted by: Raoul Ortega at June 25, 2006 12:15 PMWell, Stan Lee isn't what I'd call an intellectual (more like a businessman with some artistic and creative talent) and Jack Kirby's dead. But I don't think old Uncle Stan really has much to say about current Marvel plotlines. I don't remember who's writing the Civil War series, but there are lots and lots of comic book writers who think they are intellectuals of the first order. Hey, look at Frank Miller.
Posted by: Bryan at June 25, 2006 12:43 PMStan Lee thinks he's an intellectual which makes him one.
Posted by: oj at June 25, 2006 12:49 PMUntil Hitler attacked the USSR they (intellectuals, including Democrat politicians, the media, the arts, etc.) were sympathetic to the Axis.
That sentence needs to be engraved in every public square, in every classroom, as the banner in newspapers, etc. I'll be not 2% of our fellow Americans know or understand the implications of that sentence.
Stan Lee also loved the idea of hobnobbing with Clintons back in the 1990s (a situation that led to a slight problem for Hillary), so I've got a pretty good idea where the current story line is headed before reading a single page of the comic.
Posted by: John at June 25, 2006 1:34 PM