Marvel vs. D.C., Spiderman vs. Superman: The Great Comic Divide

My first job was bussing tables in the Mountain Man restaurant in Estes Park, Colorado. The waitresses were usually pretty generous with sharing tip money. When you're 14, twelve bucks goes a long way (at least it did then). Anytime I had some cash in my pocket I'd buy the latest Spiderman comic. This lasted for a few years. Then I sort of forgot about Spidey, until the movies came out.

Little did I know how seriously sociological your choice in super heroes can be. I always liked Spiderman because behind the mask, he was a real guy. Superman, on the other hand, wasn't even human. And when he was, he was Clark Kent, a bumbling awkward guy. The difference in the two heroes is partly explained by the difference between Marvel Comics and DC comics. Or as this article by Hank Stuever in Saturday's Washington Post put it:

• DC Comics, led by Superman, was for people who adored the fantasy, the Ubermensch triumphant. These readers loved skyscrapers and archvillains and sidekicks, billowing flags, unerring ethical strength.
  Marvel, led by Spider-Man, was a place for the smart but troubled reader, the deeply weird. They loved the night, the underground, accidents in the lab. All that dialogue, so many thought balloons! The heroes always on some emotional ledge, and the hubris of it all -- a grittiness that came with saving the world.
  DC was about younger kids in back yards, wearing bath towel capes, leaping from treehouses.
  Marvel was about older kids in basements, possibly stoned, deconstructing Thor.
  DC invented places to go -- Metropolis, Gotham City, Paradise Island.
  In the Marvel universe, New York is New York, and it's nothing but trouble.
  DC: It was always the Fourth of July.
  Marvel: It was always Halloween.
  DC: Comic books are a wonderful escape.
  Marvel: Comic books are a dark refuge.

Marvel creator Stan Lee says the guys at DC comics never understood why readers loved Marvel:

• They didn't see what the reason was, why we were suddenly getting all these readers. It was right in front of them. It was the personal problems our heroes had. When they weren't in costume they could have been you and me; they had to make a living.

Stan Lee. What a genius. Heros can only be heros because they are normal first. This reminded me of something G.K. Chesterton wrote in Orthodoxy. Emphasis added is mine.

• It is true that some speak lightly and loosely of insanity as in itself attractive. But a moment's thought will show that if disease is beautiful, it is generally some one else's disease. A blind man may be picturesque; but it requires two eyes to see the picture. And similarly even the wildest poetry of insanity can only be enjoyed by the sane. To the insane man his insanity is quite prosaic, because it is quite true. A man who thinks himself a chicken is to himself as ordinary as a chicken. A man who thinks he is a bit of glass is to himself as dull as a bit of glass. It is the homogeneity of his mind which makes him dull, and which makes him mad. It is only because we see the irony of his idea that we think him even amusing; it is only because he does not see the irony of his idea that he is put in Hanwell [an insane asylum] at all. In short, oddities only strike ordinary people. Oddities do not strike odd people. This is why ordinary people have a much more exciting time; while odd people are always complaining of the dullness of life.This is also why the new novels die so quickly, and why the old fairy tales endure for ever. The old fairy tale makes the hero a normal human boy; it is his adventures that are startling; they startle him because he is normal. But in the modern psychological novel the hero is abnormal; the centre is not central. Hence the fiercest adventures fail to affect him adequately, and the book is monotonous. You can make a story out of a hero among dragons; but not out of a dragon among dragons. The fairy tale discusses what a sane man will do in a mad world. The sober realistic novel of to-day discusses what an essential lunatic will do in a dull world.

Contrarian investors are sane men in a mad world, unwilling to go along with the fantasy, willing to call it for what it is, and be amazed, delighted, or appalled at the public's willing suspension of disbelief.

By the way, an interesting thing has happened to Spider man lately. Marvel has produced a new series called "Civil War." In the series, the government requires the superheroes to be registered and regulated and essentially act as Federal employees. The government also categorizes the superheroes as "living weapons of mass destruction" that must be accounted for.

Captain America is down on the idea of having to register and identify himself. But Spidey, aka Peter Parker goes along and "outs" himself to the press and the public. . He takes his mask off in Times Square and says to the press, "I'm proud of who I am and I'm here right now to prove it."

Hmm. What to make of this? Is Spiderman saying that there are times in the world where you have to take a stand for what you believe, and give up the security of hiding behind a mask? If that's true, then that means he's also saying that it's time for everyone to start acting like a hero instead of depending on heroes. It's time for everyone to make a sacrifice.

So who are you? Superman or Clark Kent? Before you answer, one more thought. In this article Jake Tapper quotes a character from Quintin Tarantino's Kill Bill movies.

• "An essential characteristic of the superhero mythology is, there's the superhero, and there's the alter ego," Bill says. "Batman is actually Bruce Wayne. Spider-Man is actually Peter Parker. When he wakes up in the morning, he's Peter Parker. He has to put on a costume to become Spider-Man. And it is in that characteristic that Superman stands alone. Superman did not become Superman -- Superman was born Superman.
  Bill adds, "When Superman wakes up in the morning, he's Superman. His alter ego is Clark Kent. His outfit with the big red 'S' -- that's the blanket he was wrapped in as a baby when the Kents found him. Those are his clothes. What Kent wears -- the glasses, the business suit -- that's the costume. That's the costume Superman wears to blend in with us. Clark Kent is how Superman views us. And what are the characteristics of Clark Kent? He's weak. He's unsure of himself. He's a coward. Clark Kent is Superman's critique on the whole human race."

Is Spiderman still a hero when he's just Peter Parker? Yes. If Superman was never really human, can he still be a hero? No. A messiah or savior, possibly. A very talented extra-terrestrial for sure. But he's not a hero anymore than ET is a hero, or Alf.

P.S. Yeah, I know, an awful lot of analysis of pop culture. But it's the only culture we have these days, so it will have to do....unless you want to talk about why the most popular shows on television, like Big Brother and various Idol programs sound like they've come straight out of a communist utopia...did you want to talk about that?