One of the most common complaints I’ve seen about comic books these days as I lurk throughout various websites is the darkness of the content.
Longtime collectors often reflect on the more lighthearted, almost silly, eras of the Golden and Silver Ages, especially when juxtaposed to a much more graphic Modern Age in which heroes routinely cross lines they swore never to cross and gratuitous violence permeates mainstream comics on a regular basis.
While we should be careful not to get the pitchforks and torches out and play Seduction of the Innocent with the doomsayers, we can’t say those critics don’t have at least a bit of a point.
After all, in recent years, some stories have been driven by rape, mass slaughter, heroes executing criminals, and so on, and those aren’t just in the “mature line” books; we’re talking Justice League and books like those.
Longtime collectors often reflect on the more lighthearted, almost silly, eras of the Golden and Silver Ages, especially when juxtaposed to a much more graphic Modern Age in which heroes routinely cross lines they swore never to cross and gratuitous violence permeates mainstream comics on a regular basis.
While we should be careful not to get the pitchforks and torches out and play Seduction of the Innocent with the doomsayers, we can’t say those critics don’t have at least a bit of a point.
After all, in recent years, some stories have been driven by rape, mass slaughter, heroes executing criminals, and so on, and those aren’t just in the “mature line” books; we’re talking Justice League and books like those.
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The sexual assault of Sue Dibny drove years of DC stories, for example. |
But it’s not all as bad as they say either, and there are plenty of old school books that are not overly violent.