Superheroes: The Modern American Epic and Neobaroque Narrative

The Ethics of the Superhero and the Paradox of Power

• The Superhero Code of Ethics: Despite having the power to remake the world in their own image and likeness, superheroes generally resist the temptation to grandeur. Instead, they content themselves with reforming the old world gradually alongside other inhabitants of Earth.

• Philosophy of Governance: This adherence to the "American way of life" is built on the fundamental lesson that the government of a free country is based on the consent of the governed, rather than the decision of the strongest.

• The Myth and the Epic: There are deep parallels between superheroes and mythical heroes, necessitating an examination of the relationship between superhero comics and the literary genre of the epic.

Defining the Epic Narrative Genre

• Theoretical Outline (Sergio Zatti): In his study II modo epico (translated as The Quest for Epic: From Ariosto to Tasso), Zatti identifies an event as "epic" when it:

  • $1$ Establishes a relationship to the sublimity of archetypes and models of the past.

  • $2$ Connects contingent determinations to ancient values more or less explicitly.

  • $3$ Is infused with a heroic vision of the world.

  • $4$ Forms part of the historical memory of a collective.

• Structure and Aims according to Zatti:

  • $5$ It is a narrative poem of significant length.

  • $6$ It depicts a single heroic figure or community using high language.

  • $7$ It deals with historical events, such as war or conquest.

  • $8$ It involves a heroic quest.

  • $9$ it involves some other significant mythical or legendary endeavor.

• Narrative Design and Traits:

  • $10$ Typically long and elaborate in design.

  • $11$ Episodic in sequence.

  • $12$ Inclusion of a council of gods.

  • $13$ Inclusion of a catalogue of warriors.

  • $14$ Katabasis, or descent into the underworld.

  • $15$ Prophetic dreams.

  • $16$ Ekphrastic digression on magnificently forged weapons.

  • $17$ Representation of sacrifice or religious rituals.

  • $18$ Battles between armies and duels between heroes.

  • $19$ Descriptions of games and contests.

  • $20$ Accounts of fantastic adventures with superior forces and powers.

The Superhero Genre as a Direct Heir to the Epic Traditions

• Relationship to Archetypes: The superhero universe is charged with the struggle between basic forces of the human soul (life/death, war/peace, good/evil). It frequently utilizes the concept of hubris and universal archetypes such as the voyage, the frontier, honor, and duty.

• Connection to Ancient Values: Superheroes relate to traditional American values such as freedom, independence, initiative, and courage ("the home of the brave").

• The Heroic Vision: The genre is defined by the idea that heroes walk among us and that human fate is dictated by courage and spirit.

• Historical Memory: Superheroes act as living representatives of national values. The long duration of publication allows the genre to bridge the past and present. For example, Steve Rogers (Captain America) fought Nazis in the $1940s$, was frozen, and revived in the $1960s$ to continue the fight.

• Scale and Metatext: The narrative universes of Marvel and DC represent the largest metatext in human history. Dozens of authors have worked on these for $75$ years, coordinating thousands of characters across millions of pages.

• War and Historical Events: Superheroes often interact with real history (WWII, the Cold War) or allegorical transpositions (alien invasions as stand-ins for geopolitical conflicts). An example is Captain America becoming Nomad following the Watergate scandal.

• Heroic Quests and Mythology: Superheroes often hunt for elusive objects to save the world. Many are modern versions of myths; Wonder Woman involves the war between Hercules and the Amazons, while Thor retells the Ragnarok (Twilight of the Gods) from Norse mythology.

• Elaborate Design and Cliffhangers: Even within smaller story arcs, comics interweave complex plots and utilize the "cliffhanger" to maintain serial momentum.

• The Council of Gods: This is seen literally in Thor (Asgardian councils) or symbolically when superteams like the Justice League meet. The JLA met on a satellite ($1970$ to $1984$), on the moon ($1994$ to $2005$), and later in Washington, D.C., to decide the fate of humanity.

Specific Epic Narrative Traits in Superheroes

• Catalogue of Warriors: Superhero comics often use large illustrations with captions to introduce numerous characters and their powers, mitigating confusion for new readers. This binds the action to a "historical continuum."

• Katabasis (The Underworld Descent):

  • Explicit: A hero goes to a supernatural underworld (e.g., New X-Men characters trapped in Limbo in $2007$ as a rite of passage, or Wolverine defeating the Angel of Death in Purgatory between $2007$ and $2008$).

  • Implicit: Characters miraculously returning from death as a consequence of serial publishing strategies.

• Prophetic Dreams vs. Free Will: In epics, prophecy ensures a providential plan. In superhero comics, which value secular individual freedom, prophecies often have a negative, ominous tone. Superman chooses to defy Arion’s prophecy in Camelot Falls, where he was told his heroism would cause human extinction, preferring to fight both present and future catastrophe.

• Ekphrasis (Forged Weapons): Evocative descriptions/displays of objects of wonder. Examples include:

  • Mjolnir (Thor's hammer): Displayed for admiration on a $1983$ cover.

  • Wonder Woman's lasso.

  • Technological sublimity: Jack Kirby's graphic rendering of a Fantastic Four supercannon in $1962$, emphasized through extreme foreshortening.

• Games and Contests: Throughout the genre's history, games have been a staple:

  • $1950s/1960s$: Charity benefits, athletic competitions, or Superman boxing Muhammad Ali.

  • Modern serious contests: Contest of Champions ($1982$) where cosmic entities use heroes as pawns; Secret Wars ($1984-1985$); Marvel Versus DC ($1990s$); and World War Hulk, featuring gladiatorial fights in Madison Square Garden.

The Superhero as the American "Epic of the Present"

• Chronicle into Myth: Just as the Odyssey transformed the Trojan War into myth, the superhero genre refines contemporary events (Great Depression, WWII, $9/11$) into clear-cut conflicts, such as Captain America versus Red Skull representing WWII.

• The Cult of the Present: American culture emphasizes constant self-reaffirmation and social mobility. Superheroes reflect this through:

  • Evolutionary Arcs: Characters change costumes (Spider-Man in red/blue vs. black/white) or identities (Azrael as Batman) without being annihilated.

  • Multiple Identities: Alternating between a regular person and a hero reflects the American ability to seek personal redefinition in a vast geography.

  • Flexibility and Transformation: Characters like Plastic Man, Elongated Man, Mister Fantastic, or Beast Boy symbolize the risk and opportunity of reinventing oneself.

• Mythical Presents: The decades of stories create an ensemble of "mythical presents," where each story arc is absolute and foundational.

Superheroes and the Neobaroque

• Defining Neobaroque: A contemporary resurgence of seventeenth-century baroque sensibilities, favoring instability, polydimensionality, and mutability over the equilibrium of the Renaissance.

• The Passage from Totality to Fragment: In the $1600s$, scientific discoveries (Galileo) and wars caused a loss of systematicity. Similarly, in the second half of the twentieth century, the proliferation of information and media has undermined unified ideologies.

• Macrotext as Labyrinth: The Marvel and DC universes are so vast that no single reader or author can master the whole. Each issue expands the map but also increases complexity and the risk of narrative contradiction.

• Retroactive Continuity (Retcons): The past is constantly rewritten. For example, Clark Kent’s Earth parents:

  • $1938$: Found by a driver, raised in an orphanage.

  • $1939$: Adopted by Mary Kent and an unnamed husband (who die when Clark is an adult).

  • $1963$: Mary becomes Martha, husband is Jonathan; both die when Clark is an adolescent.

  • $1986$: Both are alive and guiding him as an adult.

  • $2003/2011$: Variations in age and timing of death based on TV shows like Smallville and reboots.

• The Multiverse Solution: DC introduced a multiverse to explain contradictions (e.g., Martha and Mary both exist on different planes). The $1985$ catastrophe (Crisis on Infinite Earths) attempted to unify these into one universe, though the tendency toward fragmentation remains.

The Penchant for Citation and Intertextuality

• The Art of Citation: Like baroque literature (Adonis by Giambattista Marino), superhero comics are a "library of citations."

  • Literature: William Blake's verses used in Kraven's Last Hunt.

  • Visual Art: Michelangelo’s Pieta referenced in Captain Marvel’s death; the Iwo Jima flag raising referenced in Invasion!; Pop Art connections (Warhol and Lichtenstein style paintings in a $2008$ Spider-Man story featuring Paperdoll).

  • Comics Referring to Comics: Johnny Storm reading Hulk issue $1$ in Fantastic Four issue $5$ ($1962$). In She-Hulk, Jenny Walters consults previous Marvel comics as authenticated legal documents because they record historical events approved by the Comics Code.

• Visual Remakes: The $2007$ Injustice League opening mirrored the $2006$ Justice League of America opening, substituting villains for heroes.

• Doubling: Two Iron Man/Doctor Doom time travel adventures ($1981$ and $1989$) used compositionally related panels to create a sense of "vertiginous doubling."

Loss of the Center and Authorial Polyphony

• Centrifugality: The serial nature means any story is a temporary focus, but there is no single keystone for the entire macrotext.

• A Collective Work: There is no single "Author." Writers and artists (Grant Morrison, Neil Gaiman, Garth Ennis) add their own "voice" (Quality X), leading to a polyphony of styles.

• Stylistic Significance: The length of Batman's ears or the jaggedness of his chest symbol changes the character's perception.

• Experimental Narratives:

  • Two-Face Strikes Twice ($1993$): Parallel stories in $1940s$ and contemporary styles.

  • $2005$ Fantastic Four: Flashbacks to Sue Richards and Black Panther drawn in the style of Jack Kirby.

  • Mister Mxyzptlk showing Superman a daughter in styles of Frank Miller, Bruce Timm, and Bill Watterson (author of Calvin and Hobbes).

• Commemorative Multi-Artist Issues: Superman #400 ($1984$) and Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #0 ($1994$) used multiple artists to show the hero as a figure of public imagination and folklore belonging to everyone.

Conclusion: The Synthesis of Epic and Neobaroque

• Genre Junction: The superhero comic is "neobaroque narrated in epic form."

• American Plurality: It reflects modern American society’s tolerance for diverse cultures, religions, and ethnicities (e.g., the Avengers including machines, giants, gods, and historical figures like Captain America).

• Rejection of "Purity": The superhero epic celebrates organic integration and the superhuman effort to free society from the nefarious concept of purity.