TripleOT: A Different World

I know I should be breaking down the NBA Finals and going over the particulars of Game 3 and predictions for tonight's game; however, my attention was diverted Tuesday night by Encore's Comic Book lineup. I really tried to turn away from Spider Man 3, Ghost Rider and Comic's Unbound, a well put together, two hour documentary of how comic books have become the goldmine Hollywood uses to create blockbuster jewels, but I couldn't.

So, after releasing my younger D-Con, it got me to ask the question: Do I love comics more than I do sports??? Could it be?

Well...yes.

Aside from the fact that I've waited my whole life to see the Sandman, Magneto, Nightcrawler, Iron Man and the Silver Surfer truly portrayed on the big screen, I love the fact that comic books are social commentary...YES, THEY ARE!

Here's Bill, to break it down for you...

If that's too cryptic, lets get literal...Comics have helped champion the minority. DC Comics created the first woman character in Wonder Woman in 1941 while Marvel Comics created Power Man in 1972.

At the time of their inception, these characters werent used as cannon fodder; they were legitimate heroes with strong story lines, quality art, and a subsequently strong fan base.

However, some titles spoke out in a more subtle fashion. I'll just zero in on one:

The Uncanny X-Men

The X-Men were introduced in 1963. They were a group of five young people with special abilities called mutants. Each member, Cyclops, Beast, Ice-Man, Angel and Marvel Girl was taught how to use their powers by Professor Charles Xavier.

Creator, Stan Lee expressed that these individuals were shunned because they were different, they were discriminated against, ostracised, and shown unfair treatment because of their abilities and sometimes, their apperance. Now, if you keep in mind that this magazine was kicked off during the middle of the civil rights movement, you'll start to see a parallel between them and a certain race of people in the Southern United States.

Further, each of the X-Men, save Marvel Girl, were given either biblical or mythilogical names: Angel, Beast, Cyclops and Iceman. Besides Angel, these are the names of some of the most notorious antagonists in classic literature. And lastly, they were called mutants, which is usually tagged to an individual who is deformed, unsightly, and exxagerated. Finally, their teacher, Professor Charles Xavier was a parapalegic, who until 1990 had absolutely ZERO rights in this country.

Lee was successful in turning the tables on labels, and stereotypes in X-Men by giving some of the worst names to characters, then portraying them as decent, sincere and noble people; thereby, showing the current generation (baby boomers) how stupid segregation, bigotry and discrimination was.

Marvel then took it a step further with Giant Sized X-Men #1 featuring new mutants like Colossus, Nightcrawler, Sunfire, Thunderbird and Storm.

Understand that each of these characters hailed from countries or belonged to nationalities that, at the time, were counter to American culture.

Colossus was from the then Soviet Union, who the U.S. was currently engaged in the Cold War with.

Nightcrawler and Sunfire were from Germany and Japan respectively, countries that were allies in World War II; which at the time of this magazine's publication had ended only 30 years prior.

Storm was Kenyan, but grew up in Egypt, a country, with a precarious relationship with the U.S. throughout the seventies and eighties.

And lastly Thunderbird, who was Native American. Consider how huge it was for Marvel to push this envelope. Understanding the plight of the American Indian, the media charicature, and defemation of American Indian culture, Marvel created a legitimate hero in a fantastic hero group.

Through the years, The X-Men storylines have spoken out against many of the social ills that plague society: genocide, racism, discrimination, profiling, and classism.

And there are more examples in the comic world, but I'll stop here. Artists/Writers/Activists like Stan Lee, Jack "King" Kirby, Neal Adams and others taught an entire generation tolerance without them knowing they were learning a lesson.

So, the next time you see a comic book and notice one of the heroes, throw one of them in Wikipedia and research them, or pick up a couple of magazines and read between the lines to see how writers and artists use their medium to speak out against the powers that be.