Surely each creator will try to impart a little bit of themselves on any iconic character they get a chance to write. That's a given.

What gives me pause is that Willingham seems to be attempting to blur the lines between patriotism and heroism. Don't get me wrong, patriotism is good, but a smug nationalist attitude that ridicules long time allies like France, is pretty disgusting. If France is such a turn off for conservatives, shouldn't we give them back the Statue of Liberty?

"At least my crass and corrupted Elemental heroes still fought, albeit imperfectly, for the clear good, against the clear evil."

I guess they fought for the "clear(ly) good" Elementals Sex Special that depicts dolphin / human sex. I can's say for sure, but I'm betting Mr. Willingham is a big fan of Ayn Rand…

http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/14035.html

I love the new Power Pack. As delightful as the rest of the Marvel Adventures line is, it suffers from a continuity problem – it is not the continuity which I grew up with. I'm thoroughly enjoying Booster Gold. Both of these are complex, and enjoy consistently clean art. There is no gratuitous vulgarity or gore. The stakes are high, and meaningful. The consequences of failure are endured and overcome. I've also recently acquired "Mail Order Ninja" – having enjoyed a brief conversation with writer Josh Elder at a con – and found it to be of the same order of drama and literary merit. I mention this because Mr Elder made it clear that while the book was eventually marketed toward a younger crowd, it was conceived for the enjoyment of himself and his adult friends. I would imagine these two readerships overlap more than anyone wants to admit; certainly I am enjoying sharing these books with my children.

I am looking forward to the new run on JSA, and you can tell DC that I – as a fairly average consumer – would buy both the regular issues of All-Ages Kamandi and the collected trades. My kids are still learning to read books gently…..

Heros are just as heroic as they ever were, it’s just been shown that uberpatriotism isn’t a good idea. It’s a lead in to bigotry as we see in our every day lives: Two planes crash in NY and suddenly anyone who LOOKS middle eastern is victimised, a school is accidentally blown up by a mutant and suddenly I have Sentinels outside my window.

The Heros havn’t failed you. You have failed *us*. With your greed, racism, sexism, specisim. Is America worth fighting for anymore? More and more I start to wonder “Is Magneto right?”

In your piece above you said…..

“What can I say? When I was young and foolish I was young and foolish.”

I just want to remind you of the plane trip you took to the Chicago Comic Con in July of 1992. Remember how you took a a $400 voucher to take a later flight (8 hours) in first class because of the tornadoes?

Remember the guy with the portfolio who rented the car and took you to the BEST tittie bars in Dallas/Ft Worth to kill the time?

That was me!!!!

I agree with your analysis of today’s
dark and gritty” super-heroes, but to be honest, those of us who have been into the “traditional” comic book superheroes since the ’70’s really appreciate the more adult slants on comics…..it’s the very thing that made me fall in love with the Elementals when you were creating them.

It’s why Watchmen is on the Times’ top 100 best novel list. It’s why Battlestar Galactica is a fan favorite. Dark and introspective will always attract the “jaded” fan more-so than jingolism and national pride.

Let’s face it, when I go to my comics shop, I never see young kids buying comics….It’s all old guys like you and me. We have lost the Y generation to video games and I-pods. Your efforts, while admirable, will be wasted. We’re ALL too jaded, just looking for that next artistic “high.”

To put it bluntly, there are far fewer of us who still truly believe that the “American Way” is worth defending. Whether it has been a conscience editorial decision on the part of Warner Brothers et. al., or just a financial decision based on sales, “dark reality” seems to resonate with us “older” readers.

Idealism appears dead in the closing years of the 2000’s. I do wish you luck in reviving it. We could all certainly benefit from such a trend.

Still, you might be better off just relaxing and sketching strippers on cocktail napkins in exchange for lap dances.

Always a fan,
Scott

gsgresham33@yahoo.com