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I’m off to New Orleans this week to build houses for spring break. I was given an aluminum water bottle to make sure I don’t die while over there. The trouble is so was everyone else in the class. I decided to better differentiate mine from there’s, I would spruce mine up a bit. Here’s my attempt at drawing the Green Hornet Logo.

And the other side:

An analysis of William Blake’s The Tyger and its role in comic books.

In doing my research for this blog, I’ve been rereading some of my comics and I’ve come across something interested. The poem “The Tyger” by William Blake seems to be a favorite of comic book writers. I found it in Watchmen, Hellboy, Punisher, and Spider-man. I became interested as to why this was so I decided to do a little digging. I spoke with two CSULB professors to help with my research: Dr. Tim Caron, and Dr. Patricia Seyburn-Little. The following is my analysis of the poem and its relation to comic books.

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright 
In the forests of the night, 
What immortal hand or eye 
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

This first stanza represents much of the ideas present in most superhero comics. The phrase “fearful symmetry” has to do with the duality and balance in nature. Good vs. Evil, Just vs. Unjust, Predator vs. Prey. In comics, there is also a sort-of-balancing act, Super Heroes vs. Super Villains, not just in their battles but in their existence. Would the Joker exist without batman or vice versa? As we can see in the recent even “Death of the Family,” we know the joker is reliant on batman for his existence. Joker’s plan’s purpose is to remove the distractions from batman’s life in order for him to become a better batman for joke to fight. In Frank Miller’s “The Dark Knight Returns,” it is not until Joker hears about the return of batman that he himself returns.  

In what distant deeps or skies 
Burnt the fire of thine eyes? 
On what wings dare he aspire? 
What the hand dare sieze the fire?

This stanza sets the creation of the tyger as a supernatural and cosmic event. It is created from different parts collected from the vast reaches of existence by a creator. This ties in with the supernatural nature of superheroes. Where did  they come from? What vast reaches of space did their powers come from and who gave them to them?

And what shoulder, & what art. 
Could twist the sinews of thy heart? 
And when thy heart began to beat, 
What dread hand? & what dread feet?

What the hammer? what the chain? 
In what furnace was thy brain? 
What the anvil? what dread grasp 
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

These two stanzas refer to a creator and the process of creation. The hammer, the chain, the furnace and the anvil, refers to a forging process. In the Punisher MAX one-shot issue titled “The Tyger,” Frank Castle takes this stanza and provides us with a different meaning. The work putting into his creation isn’t by a creator but by circumstance. He was created through the tragedies he endured as a child, in Vietnam, and when his family was murdered.

When the stars threw down their spears, 
And watered heaven with their tears, 
Did he smile his work to see? 
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?

This stanza raises the question that the entire poem tries to answer. Did the creator that made this dangerous predator also make its prey? How could two entire opposites have been made by the same being? This brings us back to the idea of fearful symmetry. Can we say someone like The Punisher and someone like the great boy scout Captain America were cut from the same cloth? This also applies when we think about the X-men. The main conflict involving the X-men is that of Mutants vs. Non-Mutants. Mutants are treated as freaks and as something to be feared if they are allowed to coexist with non-mutants. Were they created from the same source? Who is the predator, the super-powerful mutants or the strength in numbers non-mutants?

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright

In the forests of the night, 

What immortal hand or eye 
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

In the end it turns out Blake has a lot to do with comics. Not only are comic books connected with his poem but it turns out his poem can be connected with comics. Blake put pictures and words together, which is the basic form of a comic. so while I didn’t really know this going in, William Blake is very much ingrained into the comic book world.

Superman: Red Son has been on my to read list for a while now and I’ve finally found the time to get to it. Written by Mark Millar (Kick-ass, Wanted, and The Authority) it is a different take on the Superman Mythos. What if Superman had landed the Soviet Union instead of in America?

                It is a very interesting concept. Superman has always been America’s Boy Scout fighting for Truth, Justice, and the American Way. This comic attempts to answer the question of nature vs. nurture. Would be raised in the Soviet Union cause him to become a different man.

                Millar does a great job of writing Superman. While his ideals might be different he is still recognizable as the man of steel. Superman’s intention is only to do good deeds, and in this comic he is doing it in the only way he knows how, by spreading communism throughout the world.

Superman has never been interested in taking over the world, even though he could do so in moments and he retains that in this comic. He only takes control when he sees his people suffer and realizes he can do more good fixing the system than saving individuals, although there is no shortage in of heroic deeds throughout the book. 

Millar does not turn Superman into a ruthless warlord or conqueror but communism under superman spreads voluntarily. He even forgoes the invasion of the United States, which along with Chile is the last holdout against communism and on the verge of collapse, because, to him, it would be wrong to force others into his beliefs. Instead he insists on sending aid to the poverty stricken United States.

This wouldn’t be a Superman book without Lex Luthor. Lex plays Superman’s arch nemesis and is determined on bringing the man of steel down. He is also married to Lois Lane. This is one of the many cameos made throughout the comic that I think was done well. Others were not as lucky. Batman himself has his origin tweaked and becomes a rebel fighter against Superman’s regime. While Superman and Wonder Woman received amazing looking costume redesigns, Batman put on a Russian hat and called it a day.

I would have also liked to have seen more of the costumed heroes of the D.C Universe. Where were the other members of the Justice League? The Green Lantern becomes a main plot point as well as Wonder Woman, but what about Flash, Green Arrow, or Martian Manhunter. Barry Allen and Oliver Queen do get a small mention in one panel as working for the Daily Planet, but you’d think that they’d be busier than ever with the entire country collapsing.

There were also some references that could have been completely deleted. Superman at one point talks about an alternate universe where he and Lois Lane had gotten married instead and people wrote books about it and it had become the greatest selling book in history. It felt a little too heavy handed to me.

Overall the book was an enjoyable read and the ending was unpredictable. The epilogue though was a bit much. It felt tacked on as if the writer felt the book needed some twist. It was also unpredictable but not because of good storytelling. It came like a sucker punch and I feel cheapened the book.

Warning: Spoiler Below.

That is a warning that is often posted when discussing new movies, TV shows, and even books to avoid fans from being spoiled by a plot point or twist, so why is it that Comic Book fans don’t get the same courtesy. For those of you not up to date in the comic book world, (Seriously though, spoilers ahead), in the new issue Batman Inc. #8 current robin and son to batman, Damian Wayne is killed.

                This should have been a surprise. Distressing to comic book fans though, it wasn’t. It was reported on by various news websites. Not only did they report his death, but they reported who would kill him and how he would take his last breath.  Two days before the issue was to be released, MSN, The NY Post, and Fox News, covered the story. If this happened to a movie, there would be outrage. Imagine finding out the plot twist in star wars two days before it was released in theaters.

The reason for this is what makes comic book culture so different from all other forms of media. Unlike, film or TV, comic books have what’s known as a speculator market. People believe that big events like these will make these comic books worth something in the future. This causes all these big event issues to be bought up quickly and in mass and creates more money for the publishers. More controversy means more speculators means more money, while the true comic books fans are left out to dry. If they do not have the comic series already on their pull list (a list of comics that your local comic shop will pull off the shelves and save you a copy) then they will either have to pay ridiculously inflated prices online, currently Batman Inc. #8 is going for $25 online, or wait until it is reprinted and miss out on reading it.

Not only do comic book fans have to miss out on the surprises of an upcoming event, but they have to wait out on reading it too because speculators do not understand that deaths are never permanent in comics. Everything always goes back to normal, even prices.