© 2009 G.N. Jacobs
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So where are all the heroes?
How bad does a city or country have to get before Batman becomes an acceptable response? Throughout the 60s and 70s, New York became almost unlivable: trash, other pollution, crime and traffic exploded. Many cities endured similar trends; some never recovered.
Batman, or rather his trademark acceptable clones, never appeared. Neither did Superman, Spider-man, Green Lantern, or anyone else from the 4-color pages of our collective youth. Allowing that we really don’t know enough science for an irradiated spider to create anything more interesting than a puddle of radioactive spider goo, we should at least have seen a vigilante style hero: all gadgets and training. It must be a fear of looking stupid in spandex.
You’d think that a Batman would arise from the rubble of a society where even when the crime rate drops the citizens huddle in fear. We’re not worried about ATM robberies per se so much as we look over our shoulders for the robber high on Ice, carrying an AK-47 and an almost serial killer like attitude and serious delusions of grandeur. In short, as our criminals have gotten fewer thanks to demographics and aggressive policing that constantly tests the line of constitutionality, the bad guys went crazy. We’re dealing with the Joker in all but name.
Perhaps, the media needs to take their hits. The story of the sick nutbar who ate his eyeball will go higher above the fold than a regular crime story or the space devoted to nuns doing their jobs in bad neighborhoods. We love blaming the media for encouraging the increasingly grandiose blackness in our souls. If we didn’t have a small touch of the Joker or the eyeball eater in us, the North Hollywood Bank Shootout or the Virginia Tech Slaughter wouldn’t make it above the fold.
True, there are plenty of good people who teach, protect, build, heal and contribute and they all do it without resorting to occasionally garish costumes. However, what goes wrong goes wrong spectacularly. Thirty-year Ponzi schemes soak $50 billion out of our economy. Banks fail to the tune of billions stolen at the push of a button. And our killers seem to compete against each other and TV stars for headline inches.
So if our bad guys seem inspired by comic books to destroy with style, where are the competing examples of heroes equally inspired by comic books? Actually, there are some. A Google search of World Superhero Registry brings up some eye popping results.
So, yes, there are costumed heroes running around doing good (we hope). At the moment, no superhero has actually thrown down with any kind of criminal, or such incidents have not been reported. This squirrelly relationship with the media was demonstrated by Razorhawk’s recent interview on Fox.
Razorhawk, a Minneapolis superhero, appeared on a Fox morning show in a yellow and blue costume that covered up his stocky frame well. I have no problem with eccentrics getting their 15 minutes. But, I do have a problem with his handling on the show.
BREAK FOR PART 2 (Breathe man!)
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