Saturday, May 23, 2009
Comic Art
SO BAD, THEY'RE GOOD
OK, you are a war driven race of shape-shifters, typically at war with the Kree, but you need the earth to continue your quest. Eveytime you try to take earth, you get your butt kicked by four geeks charged up on cosmic rays called the Fantastic Four. What do you do?
Why, what anyone else would do, you genetically engineer one of your own to have the powers of all four of the FF, and call him the Super Skrull. Perhaps the biggest perpetual loser in all of comicdom, Super Skrull gets beaten more regularly that Buddy Rich's set.
So, if this guy is such a loser. why does he not just go away? Well, in my opinion, despite the claims to lameness that are being made about all the old school gimmicky comic book stuff (Composite Superman comes to mind) people like this stuff.
Despite the maturation of comics of the last few decades and the extraordinarily adult nature of some titles like Watchmen, comics are not intended to be "literature" in the sense of Shakespeare. They are intended to be fun, escapist, and just a little bit childish. Like good children's books they can examine very serious topics, themes, and issues, but they need to do so with a light touch and a goofy air.
Super Skrull is nothing if not goofy. He does supply a avenue to explore the nature of being a perpetual loser.
And then there is that amazing gimmick. The visuals are astounding. Why else would they have repackaged it in the last FF movie?
OK, you are a war driven race of shape-shifters, typically at war with the Kree, but you need the earth to continue your quest. Eveytime you try to take earth, you get your butt kicked by four geeks charged up on cosmic rays called the Fantastic Four. What do you do?Why, what anyone else would do, you genetically engineer one of your own to have the powers of all four of the FF, and call him the Super Skrull. Perhaps the biggest perpetual loser in all of comicdom, Super Skrull gets beaten more regularly that Buddy Rich's set.
So, if this guy is such a loser. why does he not just go away? Well, in my opinion, despite the claims to lameness that are being made about all the old school gimmicky comic book stuff (Composite Superman comes to mind) people like this stuff.Despite the maturation of comics of the last few decades and the extraordinarily adult nature of some titles like Watchmen, comics are not intended to be "literature" in the sense of Shakespeare. They are intended to be fun, escapist, and just a little bit childish. Like good children's books they can examine very serious topics, themes, and issues, but they need to do so with a light touch and a goofy air.
Super Skrull is nothing if not goofy. He does supply a avenue to explore the nature of being a perpetual loser.
And then there is that amazing gimmick. The visuals are astounding. Why else would they have repackaged it in the last FF movie?
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