The 15 minutes of the world's attention has shifted, so people probably don't care about things like Wonder Woman's new costume. But I'm finding a recurring theme in comments both from the creators and the commenters-- it's also the same spirit of the age that brings about similar comments about costumes and designs that are appearing over the last five or even ten years. More recently, with media like Heroes or Kick-Ass, this is even more acute. What is this that I'm talking about? It's about realism and super-heroes.
But who says our superheroes need to be realistic? Why do costumes in a printed comic book have to be created with ideas of functionality in the real world and/or being able to express these costumes in a movie later? Instead, I've always thought that the whole point of superheroes in comic books was that it was a "magical realism," a fantasy, a metaphorical expression of power and responsibility.
In Renaissance art, you have symbolic expressions-- those round gold circles behind the heads of painted figures aren't REAL. People didn't walk around with gold circles glued behind their bald spots. Those halos are meant to be symbols that represent the saints' holiness. In comic book art, we've lost this symbolic element. Costumes used to be about larger than life men and women, with costumes and logos (which are literally symbols on the figures' chests!) Flashy powers, bright colored capes, simple alliterative names, and more, they were all metaphors for the experience of fighting for what:s right, striving against impossible odds, and overcoming villainous forces of nature.
What was so great about Marvel Comics' Silver Age was that this symbolic metaphor was mirrored to a reality of flawed and human characters. So the Marvel universe became a "magical realism" universe, where the world was "real" but there was always a bit of "magic" somewhere in there and could be experienced as a moment that disrupted the realism. Time passed, and it became even more explicit in things like Kurt Busiek's Marvels series, as the all-too-human Phil Sheldon was the narrator who could experience the magical realism of four-color heroes around him.
Nowadays, we've come so far to tie heroes to the "real world" that we are in danger of losing this magical reality. After all, these heroes were, in the full meaning of the term, exceptional. Iconic.
So don't worry if capes aren't practical, if a costume wouldn't translate to a movie, or if it would impede someone's moment.
But who says our superheroes need to be realistic? Why do costumes in a printed comic book have to be created with ideas of functionality in the real world and/or being able to express these costumes in a movie later? Instead, I've always thought that the whole point of superheroes in comic books was that it was a "magical realism," a fantasy, a metaphorical expression of power and responsibility.
In Renaissance art, you have symbolic expressions-- those round gold circles behind the heads of painted figures aren't REAL. People didn't walk around with gold circles glued behind their bald spots. Those halos are meant to be symbols that represent the saints' holiness. In comic book art, we've lost this symbolic element. Costumes used to be about larger than life men and women, with costumes and logos (which are literally symbols on the figures' chests!) Flashy powers, bright colored capes, simple alliterative names, and more, they were all metaphors for the experience of fighting for what:s right, striving against impossible odds, and overcoming villainous forces of nature.
What was so great about Marvel Comics' Silver Age was that this symbolic metaphor was mirrored to a reality of flawed and human characters. So the Marvel universe became a "magical realism" universe, where the world was "real" but there was always a bit of "magic" somewhere in there and could be experienced as a moment that disrupted the realism. Time passed, and it became even more explicit in things like Kurt Busiek's Marvels series, as the all-too-human Phil Sheldon was the narrator who could experience the magical realism of four-color heroes around him.
Nowadays, we've come so far to tie heroes to the "real world" that we are in danger of losing this magical reality. After all, these heroes were, in the full meaning of the term, exceptional. Iconic.
So don't worry if capes aren't practical, if a costume wouldn't translate to a movie, or if it would impede someone's moment.
Also, I don't like Wonder Woman's new jacket.
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