On Hope

Marvel versus DC. The debate rages on (in spite of any efforts to the contrary.) And, again, in a DC-dominated comics blogosphere, I feel the foolish need to reassess why Marvel appeals to me. It's probably so much bullshit, but I think... I think this is why. At least, it is today.

It's about hope. Not the hope of the civilian on the ground cheering on the hero who's flying in to save the day for the umpteenth time, ogling (depending on your tastes) Green Lantern or Power Girl. You know, the "It's a bird, it's a plane" civilian. That can be fun and all, but... it seems like that's DC hope.

I tend to prefer Marvel-style hope. The hope that the world will go on, that things will go back to the way they were before Tony Stark unmasked (for the umpteenth time, I hear), before Hawkeye sort of died, before the New Warriors screwed up.* I don't want to be a civilian on the ground admiring iconic greatness; I want to get inside the heroes' heads and hearts, into their hopes: that they will live to fight another day; that their lost friends will return; that the civilians will let them do their jobs; and that Damage Control will clean up afterwards.

DC hope versus Marvel hope. It's the hope of the sanctimonious mayoral millionaire archer versus the hope of the archer who rose from a life of poverty and petty thievery to earn his status.

It's the hope of the god-gifted Amazon princess that she can live up to the works of her predecessor versus the hope of the woman warrior that she can simply be good enough to protect her people.

It's the hope for utopia versus the hope for survival. The hope that the multiverse will endure without shattering.

It's a hope for the underdog we know will win.

Yes. That kind of hope.

*Yes, I have been reading '80s reprints and back issues. Why do you ask?

On DC and Marvel

The first computer I ever knew was a Mac. An Apple IIE. It was a nice little computer that came to be a fixture in my brother's room when my dad upgraded to an IBM. My brother and I had a great time with that little Apple. Sure, we learned about the IBM, too, how to access stuff like Carmen Sandiago and Bolo Adventures using DOS. WordPerfect, too. But we spent a lot of time on the Apple, playing Gertrude's Puzzles and a text version of Zork. I also came close to mastering Aquanoid. Well, as close to mastering a computer game I ever come.

Nowadays, I use Windows-based PCs at work, school, and home. Guess it was kind of inevitable, given that they're everywhere. That has a tendency to give me this odd little feeling of inferiority, this feeling that, gosh, I should be using a Mac. Or, at the very least, a Linux-based PC.

But I don't, because PCs are what I'm now comfortable with. So it goes.

Now, I bring this up because I feel approximately the same way about the DC multiverse. Surely, the first superhero I ever knew of, as an American, was Superman. Surely it was. I mean, I don't remember, but the odds are excellent.

The first superhero I probably knew of was DC, but eventually I ended up learning about Marvel characters, too, through X-Men and Spider-Man cartoons. Oh, I watched that Batman cartoon as well, but it was awful dark. X-Men was easily my favorite. (And I still have a soft spot in my heart for Rogue.)

I drifted away from DC, from Superman and Batman (neither of whom I ever cared much about), and found my comfort zone in the Marvel universe. At least, when it came to superhero fantasy, I did. (Mind, this was back when the only comics I ever read were the daily strips in the newspaper.)

But I still feel that odd feeling of inferiority, as someone who prefers Marvel over DC. (It's baseless, but it's there.) Which is why I'm trying out a few titles. Just to see. If only to learn what all the fuss is about. It's not easy to get in the right mindset, but nobody ever said it would be easy. Who knows? While I can't see reading DC over Marvel (anymore than I can picture myself trading in my Dell for a Mac), maybe I'll find some part, some pocket of the DC 'verse that I enjoy, that I can feel. Or maybe not, it's hard to say. All I can do is try. Next on the agenda is HAWKGIRL and CATWOMAN. The previews look interesting. That's a good sign, right?

Heck, today is full of good signs. You see, I'm typing this on a Mac.