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Banned from the DCMBs since 2002. 15000+ posts
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 15,367 Likes: 14 |
Quote:
the G-man said:
I think, to some extent, DC and Marvel (and especially Ellis, Millar and Bendis) have already jumped on the "rip off the Authority" bandwagon (though, to be fair to Ellis and Millar, they are essentially ripping themselves off, so its not quite so bad).
The whole JLA mindwiping debacle and the JSA plot with Black Adam taking over a country (and having some JSA'ers think it was a good idea) seem to be right out of the Authority playbook. At the same time, what are "Civil War" and "the Ultimates" if not attempts at imposing "Authority-style" sensibilities on more mainstream Marvel fare?
Not really, because its not as if any real difference occurs from either of those titles/stories (JSA or Civil War). Its not as if Black Adam deposed Mugabe and now runs Zimbabwe. Similarly, V for Vendetta was set in a future totalitarian England, not 1980s thatcher's England, which was obviously when it was written.
I think what the Authority did was take the suspension of belief beyond just thinking a man can fly, or see through walls, or can change the course of mighty rivers, and stretch it. Now you also have to suspend your belief that an altruistic, hyperpotent human would not also bring about fundamental change to present, clear injustice in the world. You have to buy into a Morrison Superman view of superheroes - its pure fantastic escapism, without a shred of realism. Otherwise, the structure collapes.
Another example occurs to me: in JLA: A League of One, the Justice League deliberate intervening somewhere in Africa (from memory) and Superman says something like how they'll take guidance from the UN, as usual. Why Superman isn't guided by his own sense of justice isn't clear other than its a perpetuation of the illusion of reality, a plot device to explain their grossly negligent inaction in the face of evil and despair - that for some reason, not necessarily a good one, the four horsemen of the apocalypse haven't been stopped dead in their tracks throughout the world by this assembly of unstoppable superheroes.
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