100+ Definitions 28

Invincible #28

Low-Frequency Listener (L-FL):  This issue begins from the ending of issue 27, where a Viltrumite threatens Mark and his step-mother and brother.  Mark and his new family flee, and Nolan defeats the pursuing Viltrumite and safely hides his latest wife and son.  Nolan and Mark discover that the remaining two Viltrumites destroyed the city and killed thousands.  The story also touches on the Immortal confessing the heartache of watching loved ones die to Black Samson.  The Immortal notes that his relationship with Dupli-Kate is changing his point of view.  Mauler creates a new clone; Amanda worries about Mark’s absence, and Mark’s mother looks through family photos and tosses out a bottle of alcohol instead of drinking it.

Invincible #28 (I#28):  These events reveal yet another definition for “superhero.”  Despite possessing extraordinary powers, a superbeing endures the same emotional and moral confrontations faced by normal human beings; superheroes face and respond to these confrontations to some benefit based (usually) upon their character and will rather than their superpowers. 

L-FL:  With this definition, super powers work as the Macguffin and the choices of the character serve as a model, or at least the arena of the true contest, for readers.

I#28: It is that reaction to an ethical choice, to observe how a superhero responds to provocation and purposeless slaughter, that lurks in Mark’s question when both he and Nolan discover thousands slaughtered; Mark’s question is “Dad?”

100+ Definitions 27

Invincible #27

Invincible #27 (I#27):  My serial begins with the assault of Omnipotus the World Shaper attacking the heroes of Earth and receiving defeat at the fists of Black Samson.  The story also slides to another sector of space where Mark and his father discuss Nolan’s rationale for raising a new family. During this dialectic between father and son, three Viltrumites arrive to hunt down and kill Nolan.  Invincible takes his father’s new wife and child to safety, but a Viltrumite warrior finds them.  The issue ends on a tense cliffhanger.  

Low-Frequency Listener : And how would superhero be defined from this issue?

I#27: This issue presents the idea of a superhero as one who is prepared and able to immediately act in order to protect others. So, to find out if Invincible is able to protect his new family, either read issue 28, find a synopsis on line, or return to this blog tomorrow.  Be curious, “if you are not—you will die.”

100+ Definitions 26

Invincible #26

Low-Frequency Listener (L-FL):  Issue 26 has its gutters in the stars, so here is the issue itself to tell you the plot, dear reader.

Invincible #26 (I#26):  Mark recognizes his father, Nolan, and the two talk.  Nolan explains that he has started a new life on a new planet with a new wife and a new child.  This issue also shows Mark’s mother preparing for her real estate exam and receiving a visit by Cecil.  Robot (of the Guardians of the Globe) visits with the mutant-tank baby who talks of moving their mysterious plan onto phase two.

L-FL: So, how does this issue define a superhero?

I#26: This issue notes that a superhero doesn’t carry grudges and accepts people and their choices.

L-FL:  In our final essay taken from the anthology What is a Superhero, edited by Robin S. Rosenberg and Peter Coogan, we look at Tom DeFalco’s “Superheroes are Made” for another definition of  “superhero.”  DeFalco defines a superhero as “someone who shows great strength, courage, or some other admirable trait.”  In regards to the purpose of the superhero, DeFalco notes, “Superheroes also present us with idealized versions of ourselves.…They show us that no problem, no matter how great, no matter how overwhelming, is truly insurmountable.  That’s why we love our superheroes.  They never accept defeat.  If they can always find a way to succeed, so can we.  Although we might never possess super-strength, courage, honor and any other admirable trait is always within our grasp.  We just have to believe in ourselves.”  Such thinking supports Wordsworth’s line “the child is father of the man.”

I#26: And if Wordsworth’s line holds true, then the superhero comic, that…is your little brother.”

100+ Definitions 25

Invincible #25

Low-Frequency Listener (L-FL): The comic opens with Mark Grayson (Invincible’s alter ego) buying comics at his comic shop and then leaving to help Rex Splode fight a race of octopus aliens.  After the battle, Rex discovers his girlfriend Dupli-Kate is fooling around with the Immortal.  Mark works on school work in his dorm room and goes with William (his best friend and roommate) to check with the Dean about the disappearance of their friend Rick Sheridan whom they haven’t seen for a week.  Mark and William discover that their old high school principal is now the dean of the college. Mark then visits his mom for lunch.  During lunch, Science Dog (the star of Mark’s favorite comic-book character) appears at Mark’s house.  Science Dog reveals that his appearance is a disguise for an insectoid-alien that has traveled to Earth to ask Invincible for help in defending their planet, which is located in an uncharted section of space. Mark agrees to help the aliens even though it will take him away from Earth for almost two weeks and despite the strong protestations of Cecil.  The journey to the alien’s home world takes at six days.  When he reaches the alien world, Mark discovers that his father is the leader  of the planet.

Invincible #25 (I#25): These events suggest a definition that a superhero is a powerful individual who goes against authority to act in a just manner and honor the requests for aid from any supplicant, no matter if that that action has any immediate benefit to the individual or his/her social group.

L-FL: In his essay, “Making the World a Better Place,” Jeph Loeb, writer of many comics and television shows, notes that “superheroes are people with powers and abilities beyond those of mortal men.”  In regards to some consequence of superhero stories, Loeb writes that “superheroes inspire people.”  Loeb concludes his essay with the comment, “The time needed to think about the human condition is often slipping away.  What superhero stories do, when they’re told well, is make us slow down and think about the situations that we’re in and the people that we’re affecting—at least, the best stories do.  This is why, more than ever, it’s a time for heroes.  If we take that pause and really look at our lives and seek to be both inspired and inspirational—and a little less self-absorbed—we can make the world a much better place than it currently is.  At least, I hope we can.”

I#25: Well, hey, thanks for hogging the majority of the space in this posting.  I’m looking like some laconic comic book, but you’re looking well.

100+ Definitions 24

Invincible #24

Low-Frequency Listener (L-FL): Kurt Busiek, author of the comic Astro City and a bunch of books at Marvel, DC, and Dark Horse notes (in the essay listed below) that “A superhero is a hero writ large.” He also writes, “Superheroes are metaphors, and you can pour anything into them. Superheroes are something writ large, and that something depends on what you want to write large.”  These ideas provide a useful lens in considering the events in the 24^th issue of Invincible.

Invincible #24 (I#24):  Art, a superhero costume designer and family friend of the Graysons, advises Mark to spend more time with his Mom.  Upon a visit, Mark learns she’s studying real estate and receives a lecture about guarding his secret identity.  Angstrom Levy obtains geographic knowledge of multiple dimensions from the machine the Mauler clones constructed.  Invincible attacks, the machine explodes, and a bunch of Mauler clones from other dimensions are killed and Angstrom Levy is disfigured and swears vengeance against Invincible.

A superhero definition is: A superhero is a being who accepts this station and powers.  Desiring to increase these powers (rather than master them) transforms them into monsters.

L-FL: In the essay “The Importance of Context: Robin Hood is Out and Buffy is In” by Kurt Busiek writes “The question of what constitutes a superhero is, I think, more a philosophical question than a literal one, because when you look for a literal definition—Why is Batman a superhero and James Bond not a superhero?  Or is James Bond a superhero?  What is the definition?  Where are the hard-line boundaries?—you get lost in a mire of contradictions.  My feeling has always been that “superhero” is one of those vague terms that have certain hallmarks, and a character ho has enough of those hallmarks is a superhero.  But “enough” is a nebulous term, and not everyone’s going to agree on which characters fall where.  Still, there are a couple of different ways of looking at the question.”

“The primary hallmarks of the superhero are superpowers, costume, code name, secret identity, heroic ongoing mission, and superhero milieu.  If the character has three of those six, he or she is probably a superhero.” 

I#24:  “Jerk.”

100+ Definitions 23

Invincible #23

Low-Frequency Listener (L-FL): Issue twenty-three of Invincible was written by Robert Kirkman, drawn by Ryan Ottley, colored by Bill Crabtree, lettered by Rus Wooton, and inspired by Cory Walker.  Here’s what happens.

Invincible #23 (I#23): The issue begins with Mark and Amber having sex, and since they turned out the lights instead of having 24 pages of dark panels, readers instead follow Allen the Alien.  Allen’s origin story (the only successful genetically created superhero of the Unopan society) is told.  Allen returns to headquarters of the Coalition of Planets to inform them that a Viltrumite (Omni-Man) abandoned his post and another Viltrumite (Invincible) possesses no loyalties to Viltrum.  Allen sleeps with and then has breakfast with his alien girlfriend and is beaten up by two Viltrum warriors.  Surprisingly, Allen lives only to learn there is a traitor in the Council of Planets.   The issue closes with Mark leaving Amber’s dorm in the morning.

L-FL: There’s a lot of un-depicted love in this issue. Richard Reynolds wrote “Heroes and the Superculture” where he put down the idea that “The superhero narrative was the first (and arguably, so far, the only) new myth to express the expansion of human action and identity in the post-industrial age.”  Reynolds goes on to state, “…[T]he superhero’s extended powers and complex identity now mirror more than even the era in which we live.  Ordinary people now have superpowers.  The gifts of digital technology have enabled millions to experience their own ‘confrontation with the fantastic.’  Average human beings may now engage with consequences of creating multiple identities and encircle the planet—if they wish to—with their virtual presence.  Celebrities and members o the global superculture enact these same processes at an even higher level of power and visibility.  Within this celebrity-and communications-obsessed culture, the superhero can now be seen as the key protagonist in a vast cycle of mythology that has evolved to express and mediate this unprecedented expansion of human action and identity.”

I#23: From the pages of my story, I’d cast a superhero as a powerful being who works to support and continue the social norms while simultaneously operating outside of those norms and bending and breaking the norms as desired.  So with that definition, readers, may your comic (or your lover) welcome every morning with the admission that “last night was perfect.”

100+ Definitions 22

Invincible #22

Invincible #22 (I#22): Multiple plot lines appear and advanced in this issue, some of which slowly begin ooze together.  Mark and his college friends exit a movie in the book’s opening.  Amber leaves her friends and finds Mark in her dorm room.  Cecil summons Invincible, and Mark leaves Amber (by jumping through a window).  The college campus settings are abandoned so readers can see Atom Eve revitalize barren land, and Angstrom Levy  learn that the Mauler Twins (the blue clones) have finished their work.  The Pentagon continues surveillance of the Mauler Twins’s work place.

The issue depicts the talk Amber has with her girlfriend about Mark’s erratic behavior and discovery that Mark is Invincible.  Mark’s Mom talks with Art, the superhero costume designer, and both admit they miss Omni-Man, then this plot stream is left for the Guardians of the Globe headquarters where Monster Girl notes that Robot is not acting as its normal self.  The Martian shape-shifter astronaut poser is fired from his job; Mark admits he’s Invincible to Amber, and D.A. Sinclair (a creepy evil scientist) works on turning Mark’s friend into a Reaniman.

Low-Frequency Listener (L-FL): From the events and structure of this issue, what definition of superhero arises?

I#22: A superhero is one around whose life extremely bizarre and activities connect; when dealing with one immediate concern, multiple other situations requiring the intervention of a superhero are underway.

L-FL: Author of Ink-Stained Amazons and Cinematic Warriors: Superwomen in Modern Mythology, Jennifer K. Staller wrote the article “What is a Female Superhero.”  In the conclusion to her article, Staller states “a superwoman has the potential to inspire girls and women to stand up, be strong, support others, and most important believe in themselves.”

I#22: This definition still has Atom Eve remaining a superhero with her conscious choice to alter the scope and methods of her superheroics and to abandon her costume.  It certainly is more inspiring and socially beneficial than D.A Sinclar building "the first in an army of killing machines."

100+ Definitions 21

Invincible # 21

The Low-Frequency Listener (L-FL): In the article “The Experience of the Superhero: A Phenomenological Definition” by Dr. Dana Anderson, he uses “the visceral experience one has of `superheroes’ in the world,” for his phenomenological definition.  Anderson comments:

“…we need to keep in mind that collective experiences, like that of the superhero, are actually a sum of many individual encounters.  Each superhero starts as an idea, is translated onto paper in drawings and words, and is then published.  As the first issue or strip reaches out into the world, primary relationships are formed with readers.  Over time, if the superhero is successful, a collective relationship begins to form between him or her and an audience that stretches across time.  As readers experience him or her, this gestalt relationship begins to form around those encounters, generating a group dynamic through which the superhero evolves into an icon.  The superhero needs a consistent audience, supported by a distribution system and enormous numbers of unique reading experiences, in order fro this process to be possible.  I think that one of the things that separate a superhero from an ordinary hero is the fact of this gestalt, group experience.”

Invincible #21 (I#21):  My issue shows Invincible tracking down Darkwing, a member of the past Guardians of the Globe killed by Omni-Man, in Midnight City, a city in eternal darkness from a magic spell and abandoned by the government.  Invincible discovers Darkwing’s sidekick adopted the superhero mantle and is killing criminals in Midnight City.  After a swift journey into a shadow realm, Invincible apprehends the new Darkwing and brings him to the Pentagon.  The issue ends with Robot getting tampered with by a mutant baby in a mechanical amniotic sack.

L-FL: Weird, but it leads to the superhero definition of a being who adheres to a code of ethics while helping other super-beings adhere to this ethical code in any setting. 

I#21: That works for one definition, for the other possibilities, let’s get started.

100+ Definitions 20

Invincible # 20

The Low-Frequency Listener (L-FL): This June’s Friday brings forth the twentieth issue of the superhero comic Invincible for consideration of its offerings in defining “superhero.”

Invincible #20 (I#20): In my issue, Atom Eve decides to apply her powers in ways other than being a superhero.  Mark has dinner with his Mom about the recent events in their lives.  Late in the issue, Mark moves into college, has his first day of classes, and defeats another zombie robot that last appeared in issue six.  Amber, finally fed up with Mark’s lateness and absences, Amber leaves Mark.

L-FL: In “Superheroes and the Modern(ist) Age” by Hallmark editor and professor of American literature at the University of Central Missouri, Alex Boney puts forth his own ideas about the “superhero.”  Boney states “The superhero comic book, replete with mad scientists, crooks, and murderers, also accepts the fallen state and difficulties of the modern world.  If a form of despair emerged from those early stories, it was the same sense of despair that emerged from modernist literature as a whole—a fear that the modern world was moving too quickly and that too many fundamental parts of humanity were being lost in the process.  The superhero was intended to provide a remedy to this fear…the superhero creators tried to forge characters who could transcend the limitations of contemporary existence and stave off the chaos of the modern world.”

I#20: That relates to the definition that comes from my pages; an individual who employs extra-ordinary powers individually on their own terms rather than a more pragmatic greatest good for the greatest number of people.

L-FL: Would you say this approach contains some nobility?

I#20: It does in these dead pages, but let’s see what happens when I use a live subject.

100+ Definitions 19

Invincible #19

Low-Frequency Listener (L-FL):  The trend of invincible superhero definitions continues with Invincible issue 19.

Invincible #19 (I#19):  Readers learn one of the astronauts returning from the Mars voyage in issue 18 is a Martian shape-shifter masquerading as a human.  Atom Eve breaks up with her boyfriend (Mark’s best friend) and Titan (a supervillain who can turn his skin to stone) seeks Invincible’s help to overthrow the crime cartel of Machine Head.  After battling a team of six supervillains hired by Machine Head, and with some help from the Guardians of the Globe, Machine Head and his villains are defeated.  The final page reveals that instead of becoming a hero, Titan positions himself to assume the role of Machine Head as the crime cartel’s leader.

L-FL: A. David Lewis, a professor of religion and literature at Boston University, wrote an article titled “Save the Day.” In this article, Lewis states of superheroes:

 “'Heroes die, but legends live forever’—that is, heroes can die, but there is a class above the hero, that of the legendary superhero, whose members can bypass permanent death.  This draws a sharp distinction between the hero and the superhero, and that is a subtle yet important difference. …

“In short, a superhero is a super-empowered hero, one who not only risks death to defend others but has the ability to beat it as well.  This ability to evade permanent dead is the unspoken, widespread power wielded by superheroes, and it is practically definitional.   It finds its sources, where else, but in the origin of the superhero genre and the American cultural consciousness."

I#19: I define superhero as a powered individual willing to take a chance to trust the word and reform of others.

L-FL: So, do you think the “dead” heroes in Invincible will return?

I#19:  Yes…yes they will.