The Superhero Dilemma: Corruption of American Myths

Superheroes are so much more than powerful beings in colorful costumes, they are modern American myths. While DC and Marvel comics’ biggest characters used to be looked at as idyllic figures, superheroes aren’t considered as squeaky clean as they once were. The classic Spider-Man line "with great power comes great responsibility" doesn't hit the same way after books like Watchmen and Civil War have already shown audiences that heroes aren’t always perfect. There’s nothing wrong with subversive storytelling, but the more characters like Batman and Captain America slowly get dirtied up, the harder it becomes to distinguish their inspirational qualities from more deranged “superheroes” like Mark Millar’s Kick-Ass or the Punisher. With economic destruction and a pandemic causing ongoing distress in people’s lives, superheroes need to be re-examined in order to became the social titans they once were.

0:00 Introduction-"With great power, comes great responsibility."
2:47 That Dark Knight (Returns) and his One Man War on Crime
7:00 Infinite Crisis' Corruption of Batman
9:46 Punisher- Don't Call me a Superhero
15:16 Mark Millar: Superhero Corrupter in Chief
17:13 Canonization of Kick-Ass
20:09 Iron Man and Mister Fantastic: War Criminals
21:56 The Reign of Mark Millar
25:52 Conclusion- Defund the Green Lantern Corps and Make Superheroes Relevant Again

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Tracks:

Black Panther- Nicolas Barbedienne
Orphans of Krypton- Trent Raznor and Brent ATticus
Carrie Kelly… Robin- Christopher Drake
A Good Life… Good Enough- Christopher Drake
Justice (Batman’s Theme)- Matthew Harwood
The Punisher: Main Theme - cover by BeyondTheGuitar
The Punisher: Frank’s Choice - cover by BeyondTheGuitar
kudasai - technicolor
I Miss You Both- Ilan Eshkeri, John Murphy
Rather Unfortunate Conclusion- Henry Jackman
Meditate- Earthgang
Fake Names- Freddie Gibbs/Madlib
Baby Baby - Lord Finesse