Holy Terror, Batman
by Mike BaronPart One:
In 2006, I had a minor low pressure area in my brain and conceived a P.R. campaign directed against Islamo-fascism which I posted on Nate Tabor’s “The Conservative Voice.” The results were swift and devastating. Like any other branch of the entertainment industry, liberalism is the default position of most comic book creators and fans.
Liberalism has a long and honorable history in comics, nowhere more apparent than in the groundbreaking Green Lantern/Green Arrow comics by Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams which dealt with drug addiction, the trial of the Chicago Seven, corporate pollution and overpopulation. In “Death Be My Destiny,” O’Neil posited a planet called Maltus where over-population was out of control. Denny was channeling the Reverend Thomas Malthus, a nineteenth-century Brit who predicted a Paul Erlich-like doom. In “The Population Bomb” Erlich predicted: “In the 1970s and 1980s . . . hundreds of millions of people are going to starve to death in spite of any crash programs embarked upon now.”
That didn’t happen. It was a test run for today’s global warming baloney, which many libs take on faith. Comics are jammed with corporate villains and group identity politics.
In the eighties, I worked on adaptations of Timothy Zahn’s “Star Wars” novels for Dark Horse and wrangled an invite to Skywalker Ranch to meet my Skywalker editor. We were sitting in her office when I cheerfully offered a non-ideological observation, “You know,” I said, “I have a theory that “Star Trek” and “Star Wars” are two sides of the same coin. “Star Trek” offers a liberal vision. “Star Wars” offers a conservative…”
That was as far as I got before my editor barked, “I’m a liberal!” I didn’t mean anything by my observation beyond what I’d said, but she was so terrified of being associated in any way shape or form with conservatism that she had to nip that line of logic in the protein pool.
Part Two:
Comic fandom is a raucous free-for-all of often juvenile voices. Who else has time to hang on the web all day fantasizing about John Byrne’s sex life? After I posted my “Manifesto,” Newsarama, an excellent source of comic news, quickly smelled blood and posted the following referring to the manifesto:
“Fans of his work on ‘Nexus,’ ‘Badger,’ ‘Punisher’ and countless other titles may be wondering what Mike Baron has been up to lately. Well, you can check out his latest work over at ‘The Conservative Voice,’ where he posted an essay titled “Manifesto” earlier this week. The first line — “What if the United States launched an all-out public relations blitz to convince the world that Islamofascism must be stopped?” — gives you an idea of the flavor of the essay.
“His proposed PR plan does include comics [Newsarama now quotes from my "Manifesto"]:
Comics: The idiot bastard son of newsprint and yellow ink has become the tail that wags the cultural dog. Half the movies made today are based on comic books. The comic itself is making a comeback thanks to the graphic novel and the rise of Japanese manga. Comics are the preferred reading in most of the civilized world. They account for over half the periodicals sold in Britain and Japan. It is only in the United States where they dwindled and almost died from a combination of cultural and economic factors.
But now they’re back, and being read big time by studio executives. Entertainment Weekly and the New York Times regularly review comic books. With the advent of such works as Art Spiegelman’s Maus and Neil Gaiman’s Sandman series they are once again a serious vehicle for ideas.
We need the kind of comics we produced during World War II, when Superman, the Justice League et al went to bat for America against the Nazis and the Japanese. One character from that era cries out for a new beginning: Captain America. Captain America should be taking the fight to Tehran. Captain America should become the unabashed champion of Western civilization and Judeo/Christian values. Considering Marvel’s diversification, world market, and the eagerness of its owners to hobnob with the beautiful people, this is unlikely.
We need a new Captain America.
Here are the responses from the Newsarama comment section:
1. And here, ladies and gentlemen, is why I don’t want to give Baron any of my money anymore.
2. Okay, Baron is officially a Right-wing nut. It makes so much sense to spread hatred in the U.S. against Muslims? Wow, can’t you see the skinheads torching mosques and saying, “Well, Captain America said it was okay!”
3. After Mr. Baron links to a news segment – which starts as a 60 minutues [sic] clip but then almost seamlessly cuts to somebody trying to prove Palestinians fake their own deaths… After he calls for ridicule of a religion (”…comic books satirizing Ahmadinejad—the dude’s eyes are so close together he’s practically a Cyclops. And Nasrallah—did you ever see a more hapless looking shmuck. He looks like a chipmunk with glasses…”), which can only lead to more misunderstanding and violence… After he inadvertantly [sic] agrees that the Palestinians live under Israeli opression [sic] in this paragraph:
Above all, repeat as often as possible the message that suicide bombing is a crime against humanity, it has no justification, and the people who do it are evil. Point to the example of Tibet, under soul-crushing Chinese rule for decades, yet not a single Tibetan has resorted to violence, let alone suicide bombing.
After all this, he actually says this: “Thank God for Fox News. This is one area where civilization has a leg up.” At which point I stopped reading. Mike Baron’s understanding of the world is equivalent to that of a child. A hateful, spoiled child who does not even understand the propaganda he regurgitates.
4. That’s sad. I feel sorry for Mr. Baron. There’s a sickness running wild in America, and he’s the latest casualty. I hope someday he recovers enough equilibrium to be ashamed of that article.
The following most succinctly summed up the tone of the comments:
’Islamofascism’–Interesting that this bullshit word took all of 2 days to seep so deeply into the public conciousness [sic]. Amero-fascism is what has got me scared.
My favorite response:
Mike Baron being conservative is a new development? Yeah, I seem to recall his introduction to a Punisher collection from the 80s making the case that America needs a real life Punisher, someone willing to completely bypass the legal system and dispense summary justice, etc. Mike Baron’s mother is/was a radical feminist professor at UW-Madison, from what I’ve been told.
My mother was a Professor of Business in the UW School of Business. She also had a TV show for kids called “Bouncy Bunny,” but that’s another story. The most radical thing about Mom was the bright red coat she wore on cold days.
Part Three:
A couple true liberals, including Mike Gold and Jackie Estrada, wrote in to defend my right to pop off. I was saddened but not surprised by the majority of responses. As I mentioned above, liberalism is a fall-back position. It needn’t be examined and explained because it is the dominant culture. It makes people feel good about themselves without effort.
Occasionally a conservative voice breaks through what Emmett Tyrell calls the kultursmog. Frank Miller, creator of “Sin City” and “300,” has always had conservative views and is in fact working on a Batman graphic novel called “Holy Terror” in which Batman defends Gotham City from Al Qaeda.
Miller’s been riding high, with film versions of his “Sin City“ and “300.” His latest film, “The Spirit” (based on the classic comic by Will Eisner) went down in flames on its opening day with some of the worst reviews in history. A certain portion of fandom was waiting with sharpened knives. The schadenfreude on the message boards was thicker than the fog in “Sin City.”
Will this affect “Holy Terror?” I hope not. Frank has said “Holy Terror” is “bound to offend just about everybody.”
Well it won’t offend conservatives, but who counts them?
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58 Comments
The thing about comments, whether it be about comic books, politics, or whatever, if you don’t agree, there is a geronimo type mentality of Hit and run. I feel like it’s (and I realize I’m commenting here) part of a larger issue of wanting to be heard and valued.
I’m glad to have some conservative voices here on Big Hollywood, I hope maybe Chuck Dixon can make an appearance. Who knows, maybe there is space in this universe for conservative comics, as long as everyone is open enough to hear various ideas.
The Dark Knight Returns didn’t feel very conservative to me (all the scenes with Reagan were very demeaning)
Do a comic about Judeo-fascism. It is alive and well in Israel.
What is with this nonsense term “judeo-christian.” This is used by Christians who are to cowed they are ashamed to use the term “Christian” when that applies. This isn’t a nation of people afraid to eat pork, a cheeseburger or turn on a light switch on Saturday. The Judeo-muslims in the Middle East are very foreign to our culture and way of thinking and we have no business being involved in their fight (and if we kept our nose out, we wouldn’t be collapsing as a nation paying for expensive wars and losing our freedoms)
And what is this nonsense about Tehran. Working on the propaganda to get us to fight another war for Israel, I see. Tehran has attacked no-one. Israel has attacked many, including a US ship (which they denied, then lied about and continue to do so like they always do – like their initial denials of using white phosporous on civilians).
“Art Spiegelman’s Maus and Neil Gaiman’s…..”
Oh, what kinds of names are those?
Why won’t you cowards make a comic that put America first? Your cold-war propaganda isn’t going to work any more.
I haven’t seen The Spirit but my daughter did. If anyone wants the opinion of an 16 year old, she said it was great.
Have you ever noticed It’s only liberals and radical muslims that associate Islamofacism with “All Muslims”…hmmm
I have that series of GL/GA comics. Regardless of the politics, they’re worth big bucks now. That said, I’m taking a pass on the Spidey comic with Obama on the cover.
It’s funny that so many comics folks (fans and creators) are liberal given that the general thrust of most comics is to, you know, get the bad guy. Still, I suppose the dark turn in comics over the last several years leaves plenty of room for the characters to anguish over one liberal concern or another.
Mike:
How great to see this from you – I knew you were conservative the first time I ever picked up a copy of Badger (which I love by the way). I am a huge comics fan (my collection numbers a bit over 8000 books, excluding graphic novels) and certainly agree with your general comments.
I think; however, that Alan Moore’s work – consider V for Vendetta or Watchmen – may be more classically liberal than the GL/GA stuff, which was just trying to be relevant in the age of hippies.
I also much comment that I fail to understand the reviews of The Spirit – I loved it! It truly captured the comic, of course, that may have been the problem.
I agree, we need a new Cap, and the JSA needs to be the place from which conservatism grows – think about it.
Tim – January 29th, 2009 at 1:47 pm
“What do you call the storming and taking of OUR embassy in 1979? The phrase you’re looking for, I believe is “act of war.””
You mean when they finally ousted the puppet government we planted there under Operation Ajax? It was assurance that we wouldn’t go in there by force and set it up again. Get the facts. Start by looking up Operation Ajax.
We apparently are enforcing an illegal blockade on Gaza…an act of war…for Israel. We placed an embargo on Japan which is why they attacked us (and that was the intent as expressed in the McCollum memo) Most wars we have been involved in were staged, provoked, etc…. Rarely have you gotten the real story. Look at the Gulf of Tonkin. Most of what you think you know is a lie.
BTW, how many Americans were killed by the Iranians? How many Iranians were killed as a result of Operation Ajax? How many Iranians were killed when we SHOT DOWN THEIR AIRLINER? Forgot about that one, didn’t you? Iran seems like a very peaceful and forgiving nation when you look at how we have treated them. No one has treated us half as bad….except Israel and we PAY them money (so, ask yourself why).
Full Metal Deer Platoon – January 29th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
“Am I the only one completely disgusted with the anti-Semitic comments by Terry?”
I haven’t made any. But your labeling of any criticism of ISRAEL as such has shown your hand. Posting from Haifa, are you?
You guys can’t get your propaganda straight. Sometimes we hear how wonderful and rich Israel is….but they need money from US tax payers???? This has to be the biggest and most unwarrented bailout in history. The country is collapsing but we are giving billions of dollars to Israel so they can make enemies for us by attacking largely unarmed people and commit ethnic cleansing.
No, Operation Ajax is fact.
That’s the problem with comic book message boards; too many Yib Yobs.
And hey, welcome Mike. I’ll read your stuff anytime.
I think; however, that Alan Moore’s work – consider V for Vendetta or Watchmen – may be more classically liberal than the GL/GA stuff, which was just trying to be relevant in the age of hippies.
– I second this.
As a BIG fan of Watchmen – where’s my movie, dangit?
“You just don’t understand. I’m not locked up in here with you. You’re locked up in here with ME.” ~ Rorschach
Hey, I thought your name sounded familiar. Dude, you were brave for even bringing up the “c” word at Skywalker Ranch, although I see your point
.
I know the childish cluelessness of the comics/video game/media fandom. You’re right, liberalism/leftism is a default position for many fans and people in the biz. Not to say all of them don’t come by their views honestly but I’ve noticed many just embrace the left as part of their fannish bonafides.
The difference between comics say 50-60 years ago and now is that at least back then, liberal or not, creators knew they had to play in Peoria. Nowadays, comics have a “we’ve met the enemy and it is us” attitude. The villains are ones acceptable to leftists while real villains (oh, I don’t know, Al Qaeda for instance) are ignored out of political correctness or because acknowledging Islamic extremism means you support Bush, and that’s not acceptable.
Full Metal Deer Platoon, Terry is a lefty. That’s where most anti-semitism lives today. As for the anti-arab comments, would you have been upset during WW2 if someone said bad things about the Germans?
Bill – January 29th, 2009 at 2:30 pm
Terry:
“The re-establishment six decadesd ago of the hereditary king after his deposition by the dictator (yes, he was) Mossadegh is not a permanent excuse for the daily atrocities of the barbarian psychopaths who rule in Teheran.”
Oh, please tell us what atrocities you speak of that affect Americans committed in Tehran.
And those barracks that were blown up, were they in the US? Or was it part of our occupation of another country? How many barracks of foreign troops are in the US?
Mike, I’ve always been a fan of your writing. Nexus and Badger are two of my faves from the 80s. I’m glad to hear you’ve got common sense. Don’t give up, don’t back down.
Terry:
Its pretty weak that you have to bring up WW2 to defend Iran. Obviously you have no idea why we initiated an embargo on Japan in the first place. Silly me, you probably do but you don’t want to bring it up because then the US won’t look like the aggressors.
One more for the good guys!!!!
Mike, great article!!! As a once avid comic collector and reader it warms my heart to see some one in the biz actually taking a stand and exposing the liberal ideology that is running rampant in comics today. Like others in the post, I really don’t know where the industry went wrong. Wasn’t it just a few years ago that the country was awash in sadness after the 9/11 attacks? Wasn’t it the comic industry that was on the forefront on the war on terror? Remember all the “hero” art from both Marvel and DC honoring the fire and policemen who gave there lives in service.
I would like to say that it’s money, coporate greed or big business but anyone who is a conservative in the entertainment, music, comic and videogame industry knows the real answer. Pop culture’s love affair with liberalism. Something that in my younger years I help promote and now in my elder years am reaping the benefits. Is dissent and challenging the powers that be ever justified? Yes, especially if the cause is just and honorable. Still, when you do challenge the “establishment” yet become the very thing you abhore and fought against then somewhere along the way you became lost. I for one wait for the day when the good guys are good guys and the bad guys are not just misunderstood. Hopefully, guys like Mike will be able to set the industry on the “right” track.
I think that the best of *anything* is usually work that gives multiple viewpoints expression. And I think that “messages” are most effective when delivered under the radar.
It’s not a recent thing, though, this strange discomfort with the concepts of good and evil, with black and white. I see it in the old comic books, too, when the villain taunts the hero with his own darkness, “You’ll be just like me!” or “We’re very much the same, you and I.” and the hero is thrown into a dither. Or when the villain presents the no-win scenario and puts the result on the hero, “Will you save Lois Lane, or this bus load of children? Who will YOU let die, Superman?”
Joker did that in the Dark Knight, and Batman chose wrong, but he *chose* and it was clear from the get-go that he did not agonize over who to save. (As I remember it.) Firefly had an episode where the villain was about to make Zoe choose and she doesn’t even let him finish the sentence and chooses Wash. It was refreshing. In both cases there was moral clarity… Batman had to save the girl, and Harvey Dent agreed with that priority. Zoe had to save the civilian first… no question, no angst, no hesitation.
I wish I could remember the particulars, but Ultraviolet had a bit at the end, too, that defied the old expectations that the hero has to angst over the possibility that killing the villain threatens her identity.
Colby – January 29th, 2009 at 2:46 pm
Terry:
“Its pretty weak that you have to bring up WW2 to defend Iran.”
It is pretty weak that “historical perspective” is lost on you.
Wow! This is really cool. I’m a huge comic book fan, and it’s really nice to hear about conservatives in the industry. I always knew about Frank Miller, but I’m not the hugest fan of his. I’d heard of you, but never really persued your stuff. I’ll make it a priotity now though!
I was a huge fan of Nexus and The Badger in the 80’s. Some of the best written comic books published at the time.
Terry,
In all of your threadjacking and constantly picking the bone of “Israel sucks” you never ever tell people of my particular ancestry what we need to do to make us acceptable to you. Do we need to join Stormfront (which I can’t do because I definitely ain’t Aryan)? Do we need to denounce all Israelis (which I can’t do because they are my friends)? Or do we just need to die?
Or perhaps you’d feel more comfortable on Stormfront and I won’t have to read your crackpot theories anymore…. Or maybe you should stick to the subject of the posts instead of constantly bringing up your insecurities around Israelis and your pretty much blatant hatred of all things Israeli?
Terry the Tehran Stooge –
It is a matter of a court judgment that Tehran (Ayatollah Khameni, Supreme Leader, then President Rafsanjani, and the head of the IRGC) bombed Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia killing 17 US Servicemen. In fact, the court found the regime guilty and ordered their assets seized where ever they coud be found to pay the judgment. This is a verdict in a US court of law.
It is a matter of Argentinian court judgments that the same regime blew up the Israeli Embassy and the Jewish Cultural Center in Buenos Aires in 1994. Just yesterday your pal Nutjob said the Holocaust both didn’t exist and that he would be certain to finish Hitler’s job.
Leftism is a haven for notorious anti-Semites and Muslim appeasers, not surprising since the Muslim world whole-hearted adopted Hitler and the Third Reich. Mein Kampf is a best-seller in Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Algeria, and is one of the few Western books translated into Arabic, Persian, and Pashtun.
Muslims are a polygamous group, which leaves most men without wives and on recourse save Jihad and either dying a martyr or conquest of the infidel (to kill him and seize his women as sex slaves). This is the history of Islam and Muslims. It is why it is never about us, always about them. Some men are drawn to the “Big Man” and Supreme Leader, be it the Ayatollah, various terrorist leaders who kill people, or Adolf Hitler (apparently, your pal and hero).
The vast majority of these people who need to crawl at the boot of a Big Man are on the Left. Constantly fawning over some tin-pot killer who managed to seize power and dole out a few pathetic goodies while he loots the treasury.
To all you Liberals out there: You own Terry. He’s one of yours. He pretty accurately represents what your ideology and worldview amounts to, boiled down to it’s essense. You’d find the same sentiments expressed in Code Pink, Moveon, any speech by Rosie O’Donnell, and heck most Liberal comics writers.
Mark Stein(sp), a conservative writer, had a great story about Captain America in which he discusses the changes the character has made from the silver age to the atomic age. He discusses how Captain America was a becon of patriotism and then becomes a crusader for social causes. He recounts a Captain America cover where the sentinel of liberty walks through a neighborhood filled with urban plight and decries the entire situation. “I should have done more” is the quote on the cover.
I have not read the “civil war” series but from what I have heard the comic once again has good ole Cap in the role of Social Crusader. Something that too me is counter to everything the character should stand for and believe in. Just my opinion.
Terry,
Alex Jones just called. He wants his schtick back.
Lotta mobys showed up this week. Also, lots of first-post lefty outrage, as if some folks are hitting the rss refresh like a lab rat with a crack lever ready to diss.
I wonder why…
Terry: take your threadjacking where it’s wanted. Which is probably nowhere, though you can try Kos.
Mike, I too find it astounding how comics have gone from “as long as it’s a good story” to lockstep liberalism in the last 25 years. But it’s always been an issue. 20 years ago I remember Cat Yronwode complaining about a panel in “The Dirty Pair” where Shasti was bending over a bed showing her underwear under her short skirt. Cat ranted to me for ten minutes about how this was degrading to women and a passive posture that invites men to rape, blah blah blah. When I pointed out the fact that Shasti was using her “charms” to distract a guy that she killed with a knife two panels later, she found that to be of no importance.
When I wrote “Terminator: Hunters and Killers” many years later, there was a scene where the stealth terminators infiltrate a rebel base and one of the first things they do is kill the guard dogs, before going on to slaughter men, women, and children. The response from the licensing liaison? “Don’t show the dogs being killed.” Oy vey.
Translating manga was quite enjoyable since the stories are only rarely contaminated by politics at all, much less PC politics. Oddly, the manga artists seem to think their task is to write entertainment, not “change the world.” What a concept.
Speaking to the leftyism of comic book message boards… I was on one board where one the regulars very loudly and very angrily deffended the plausibility of a Marvel storyline where the people decide to trust known-supervillain Norman Osborne with…I dunno, fighting other supervillians or something. Anyways, this guy’s argument? George Bush. Becuase people elected George Bush, then people are stupid enough to embrase a mentally-unstable murderer. He made that arguement with a straight face (I assume) and with as much vitrol as you can put on the internet. Until then, I half assumed that Bush Derangement Syndrome was just a characterature that we on the right joked about….
Mike -
Bring in, man!
I don’t think one needs to be right wing to see the left for the mind-numbed robots they are (and want us all to be). The overwhelming difference between the modern liberal and what was classically liberal is downright scary.
John Wright – January 29th, 2009 at 7:10 pm
“You are not the only one.”
Well, I love his posts.
Alex – January 29th, 2009 at 4:30 pm
“…If the USA was just trying to get a war started, why did it take an attack on one of our military bases for this “sleeping giant” to get moving?”
Well, you may recall prominent Americans like Lindbergh were opposed to American involvement in the war. Most Americans were. That is why the attack was necessary. FDR was pushing the limits for a long time before that with Lend-Lease, etc… Basically hoping for an attack for an excuse to declare war.
Look in the Lusitania incident prior to WWI, too. We have discovered that was all a big show, too. As munitions were discovered in the wreckage. Plus the Germans ran an AD IN THE PAPERS saying not to board the ship because it was sailing into a battle zone. The US sent it along with its sacrifices – US citizens. War is big business and can’t let a few innocent lives get in the way of starting wars, right? It was also whipped up by outright lies printed in the media about German atrocities. This is fact and can be found with a simple internet search.
“And, if that was the case that we were seeking war, it was the hero of liberalism FDR and his left-leaning congress that was looking for it.”
There is no “left” or “right” the way you surely think of them. FDR, Wilson, the Bushes, etc… They are all dyed-in-the-wool globalist kooks who scoff at the very notion of the US existing as a sovereign nation. Read “None Dare Call it Treason” and “The Creature from Jekyll Island.” The sheer ignorance of the American public about what is really going on is astounding.
“And, Judeo-Christian, the shared beliefs of the Jewish and Christian faiths stemming from the old testament.”
Do you think Muslims reject the Old Testament? It is the “Hebrews” that reject the New Testament, but Muslims that accept both. So, where does that leave you and your prejudices, hmmmmm?
Mike, thanks for casting more light on the Left’s tyranny.
As I recall the tone of fan letters in your books from Pacific to Marvel, the fan base loved you. Until you came out of the conservative closet.
For what it’s worth, the first time I ran across the phrase “Islamofascist” was in Howard Chaykin’s “American Flagg”, circa 1982…
Tommy the Anti-Terry – January 29th, 2009 at 4:08 pm
Terry,
“Go tell some guys getting blown up and shot at by Iranians that Tehran isn’t hunting Americans.”
Where is this happening? In the US? No, in the US you are in much greater danger of being shot at by Mexicans or Blacks. So, when do we destroy Mexico and Africa?
“And go ask the men and women of Iraq voting in HUGE NUMBERS whether or not they are happy that America stepped in.”
LOL! You guys really are suckers for shows, aren’t you? Yeah, they get to vote for 1 or 2 different American stooges. Just like in the US – we have no choices in elections.
“I tell you what, you make the statements and I’ll bring a video camera and we can go visit a Marine base, K? I’ll ask you one more thing about these “religion of piece” chumps: if we laid down our weapons and said we wanted to work it out, do you think they would just come chat or try to blow us up? If they laid down their arms and said they wanted to talk would we wipe them out? Yeah, we’d be dead.”
Work WHAT out? How much land of theirs we can steal? Hey, WE are in THEIR land. How would…strike that…how WILL you like it WHEN Chinese troops are in our streets and raping women, eh? Hmmm, you think that male:female ratio over there isn’t an explosion waiting to happen? They already have our money. They are keeping us afloat with LOANS (loans we take out to invade countries for Israel). They OWN large portions of THIS country.
I just read this week, I think on Comic Book Resources, that DC said they would no longer publish “Holy Terror, Batman.” The article also said that Frank Miller hoped to put it out but it may be with a character other than Batman.
[...] original post here: Holy Terror, Batman « to do with the kids | StarWars.com | Cuddly Bantha Craft They go to this planet full of [...]
Alex – January 29th, 2009 at 9:47 pm
“I have studied American History, it’s actually a favorite subject of mine. The Lusitania incident was a tragedy, but I do not apologize for the WWI gov’t trying to discretely help a besieged country.”
“Help” one government (why not help the Germans?) by jeopardizing the lives of Americans for an excuse for war?
No, the Rothchilds who funded both sides of the war should be studied, not the Knights Templar in this case. You aren’t going to get much truth out of so-called history texts.
[...] students in the Madison Metropolitan School District. The club typically has about 12 to 15 Holy Terror, Batman – bighollywood.breitbart.com 01/29/2009 by Mike Baron Part One:In 2006, I had a minor low pressure [...]
cool article. I always loved Baron’s work on the Punisher and the Flash (he was the first writer to tackle the Wally West Flash IIRC)
It surprises me how many conservatives have found work at DC lately. Mike Baron (i think he did an issue of Justice League Unlimited recently)
Chuck Dixon, Bill Willinglam, Frank Miller (not exactly a Republican although he supported the Iraq war. He seems to subscribe to the Christopher Hitchens wing of conservatism)
While Marvel has consistently forced left wing garbage down its readers throats, DC seems to be a little more “Fair and balanced” for lack of a better term.
Wimpy or not, DC has the right to determine which tales are told with the characters they own, and probably did not relish the idea of wackjobs tossing bomb at their offices. DC also almost never sets stories in the ‘real’ world, hence there is a Metropolis but no Boston. Northstar…did you name yourself after the 1st openly gay superhero? Just curious. I read Marvel’s Civil War, in which the pro-registration side (the government) won, but IMHO, making all superheroes basically cops essentially took all the fun out of superheroes. Last summer’s insane gas prices essentially killed my comics habit, so after suffering through the awful Infinite Crisis I skipped Final Crisis altogether, and completely lost interest in Secret Invasion. From what I gather, the villains are essentially in charge in both universes. Oy. I think the problem with modern comics isn’t so much liberalism/politicizing as lack of good, simple, concise storytelling. Modern authors are trying way too hard to ‘elevate’ the material when it really doesn’t need it. (nor does a saga need to be told over so many parts!) The comics we read were written for kids. Modern writers are trying to write pretentiously for other adults, and, being adults, we call b*s*t on most of it.
Silly Mike Baron…
Did you really think you could espouse conservative ideas on the Internet and not receive a relentless stream of both personal and professional attacks?
Just remember this:
Dissent is patriotic…if you are a liberal.
[...] [Commentary] Mike Baron, conservative martyr Link: Big Hollywood [...]
The think you have to understand is that the naysayers on the Left are going to make LOT of noise on what the amazing Ashton Kutcher calls the “Interweb”. This effete corp of impudent snobs (thanks, Spiro, for coming up with that description) make it their life’s work to shout down any opinion other than their own. You can give up or keep going. What’ll it be?
I loved your writing on The Flash, Mr. Baron! Lot’s of LOL moments.
Outstanding post! Thanks for having the courage to write about it.
PIGMAN is coming…..
STOP FEEDING THE TROLLS, PLEASE! “Terry,” who probably posts under other names as well, is only here to cause trouble. He posts asinine comments on every thread. He has no interest in the specific topic, nor does he distinguish between topics. He just looks for something to cause trouble about, and then dives in. He posts at least five times in every thread, usually way off topic. Stop responding to him. I hope for his sake that he receives accolades and rewards back in some private snake-nest of a forum in some dark corner of the Internet reserved for liberal net-activists whose noble goal is to undermine conservative websites through trolling, false representation, and deceit. But please, don’t give him that reward here. It’s not about liberal and conservative. It’s about civility and honesty.
I like how this comments thread not only rivals the partisan douchebaggery mentioned about the one at Newsarama, but shames in it in the level of vehemency.
*applause*
Anybody here know Dwight Decker?
Comic books used to be made by real men – adults who had raised themselves up out of ghettos and knew the value of individual effort. The generation that included Jack Kirby and Curt Swan had been to war, as well. They had fought evil face to face. They were patriots.
Also, comics used to be aimed at children. These adults realized that children need heroes and positive role models and sought to instill the values of civilization through simple and enjoyable stories and art.
In the late 60’s and 70’s the industry was taken over by comic nerds of the baby boomer generation. Knowing nothing of reality, yet filled with a sense of somehow being oppressed; lacking the judgement to think for themselves on any philosophical level, they simply following the cultural trends of the time which were uniformly anti-Capitalist, anti-individualist, and otherwise Lefitst.
The trends spiraled downward from there to the point we are today – Nihilistic violence and empty, directionless cynicism and out and out leftist propaganda have rendered comics unsuitable for children of any age.
When comparing the comic books of today to the work of past greats such as Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, Hal Foster and Frank Frazetta, Curt Swan and Russ Manning it is clear that the benevolent sense of life that once dominated the industry has been murdered by creeping Nihilism disguised as trendy relevance.
One last observation, despite little snippets of conservative or pro-freedom content in his work, Frank Miller has played a major role in the degradation of the medium. His work as a writer has sensationalized violence and reveled in cynicism. The comic “300″ is unreadable, poorly drawn drek and “Sin City” is pure perverse sadism served up as pop entertainment. He is not someone anyone who champions individual freedom should look to as a potential savior of the industry.
[...] example, Mike Baron discusses how comics, like other entertainment fields, is swamped with liberals and how unthinking they are. [...]
Hey Larry!
BADGER MOVIE!
(ps Great writing Mike, as always.)
[...] glad to see Breitbart’s new blog Big Hollywood has lots of comic book coverage. I got into comics a few years ago. Always making fun of Aquaman, I got curious of what exactly did [...]
Welcome Mr. Baron. Love your stuff. I still hold up Nexus as the single greatest monthly comic ever. My OMBRTL (obscure Mike Baron reference tag line) is “Gonna get me an underground bunker!” Just ask my wife.
“And what is this nonsense about Tehran. Working on the propaganda to get us to fight another war for Israel, I see. Tehran has attacked no-one. Israel has attacked many, including a US ship (which they denied, then lied about and continue to do so like they always do – like their initial denials of using white phosporous on civilians).
“Art Spiegelman’s Maus and Neil Gaiman’s…..”
Oh, what kinds of names are those?
Why won’t you cowards make a comic that put America first? Your cold-war propaganda isn’t going to work any more.”
um, let’s see here, terry doesn’t like jews and claims that Tehran hasn’t attacked anybody??? how about all them terrorist attacks since their b.s. revolution, and ask the iraqi’s how they like all those shiites comin in and attacking and murdering, but oh, wait, i guess that terry is right, only Jews kill people, not muslims who are in 14 of world’s 15 hotspot. YOUR ARE SO RIGHT TERRY. ZEIG HIEL!! HIEL TERRY!!!
As well the Judeo-Christian ethic is a cultural and moral tradition, most notably seen in the BIBLE. but i don’t know if that is a book that terry may have heard off.
PS – Hats off to Mike Baron.
“Oh, please tell us what atrocities you speak of that affect Americans committed in Tehran.
And those barracks that were blown up, were they in the US? Or was it part of our occupation of another country? How many barracks of foreign troops are in the US?”
- um, has terry looked at the history of Lebanon at all? They were there as a stablizing force during a civil war and almost half their country being occupied by Syria and the PLO. And I guess to goose stepping Terry only American lives count. So what does that make the rest of NATO on Terry’s count system. OH, they are allies, duh, they only half count??>? what about the Countless Arab lives the Iranians have murdered, usually by targetting them too.
[...] and honorable history in comics, nowhere more apparent than in the groundbreaking Gre source: Holy Terror, Batman, Big [...]
[...] Mike Baron: When comic book fan boys start calling you "immature" you’ve probably hit rock bottom. [...]
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