Whether it be Marvel’s “Champions” which introduced a variety of different super powered teenaged individuals with an equal amount of variety when it comes to their racial backgrounds or the introduction of a female Iron Man for a new generation of Marvel comic readers, or DC Comics giving Superman a different outlook to the planet he calls home in the comics as well as the Man of Steel and Batman vs Superman movies. While comic readers sometimes read about these extraordinary individuals to take a break from reality, they often tend to reflect the reality that we the audience lives in.
This is a thought provoking topic, it is very broad though because comics have been around for decades. I recommend narrowing the scope to really develop a detailed arguement. Looking at the current decade may be a little too difficult, i think it would be really interesting to analyse superheros that were developed in the noughties since most audiences can relate, and the feeling of the era is still fresh in many peoples minds. Obviously detail major turning points of the decade as a focal point i.e. 9/11, war on terror etc – Iliasbakalla7 years ago
I think this is an interesting question, but needs to be narrowed. There are still a lot of current superhero storylines in the comics that are doing nothing but reiterating the status-quo and don't necessarily resonate as well with a modern audience. Perhaps what you are specifically wanting to discuss would be the reflection of mainstream heavy franchise linked superheroes. It is also worth noting the comics, like any form of literature, will always reflect the times they are written in as nothing is written in a vacuum - just look at Watchmen. – SaraiMW7 years ago
Analyse the dynamic between heroes and villains and how those interactions carry the story or if they're bad, how they are a detriment to the plot.
I think that this would need to be narrowed in a bit, just because we can't consider every hero/villain pair in anime at once. A good direction to go here might be to either focus in on a small number of series (maybe even just one) and analyze the relationships there, or to break the types of hero/villain relationships into larger archetypes/categories, find some solid examples in anime that emulate each of those classifications, and use them to help define each category by example. – crpreble9 years ago
Great idea, but it would be nice if you provide some instances of where this dynamic exists. How did you come about this topic? Was there a particular work that you read that inspired this thread of thought. One of my favorite relationships to examine is that of God and Satan in Milton's Paradise Lost. The reason being, who is to say who is the true hero? The definition of a hero is one who falls, and then rises. Satan is the epitome of this as he is cast from Heaven to the depths of hell, only to visit the earthly realm and entice Eve to sample the fruit from the tree of knowledge, thus leading to the implementation of original sin, and the fall of mankind. Some of the most interesting hero/villain relationships to explore are the ones where the distinction between the two are less defined. – danielle5779 years ago
This could be a series of articles about different universes and/or different types of relationships. I feel that this could be interesting in terms of, say, the different Batman villains. But that would be a different article than talking about the relationship between Aizen and Ichigo in Bleach or Darren Cross and Scott Lang in Ant Man. – nsiegel9 years ago
Well there has to be a theme like any story. You have a good guy and bad guy and within those personas there underlies a story who overall contributes as to a balance of the main storyline as a whole. – richardperez9 years ago
This is interesting, I would take the dynamic between heroes and villains from such a broad scale to just focusing on a few characters, like Thor and Loki, because they are also enemies but have a familial relationship. – emilyinmannyc9 years ago
This is a great topic, but needs to be more specific. Maybe draw similarities between a couple villain and hero characters and evaluate the patterns of how the relationship dynamic effects the plot and other characters, etc. – Morgan R. Muller9 years ago
