Quote Originally Posted by PwrdOn View Post
Superheroes were just conceived as fun, light fare for young kids, but that kind overly simplistic world view from comics is also pretty deeply rooted in most fascist movements. Superheroes represent an ideal vision of how we'd like to see ourselves, and comparing them to the deeply flawed individuals we see in the real world there definitely is an immediate impulse to look down on modern society as corrupt and degenerate next to some nostalgic version of the past. And where I feel like fascists split from reactionaries is that they actually recognize that their conception of a pure society never actually existed in reality, but that rather than simply trying to adhere to traditions as they actually are, they want to forcibly remake society along the lines of what they believe it should have been all along. And superhero comics have always been a great outlet for these sorts of impulses, because the presence of superpowered individuals naturally helps you get around any logical obstacles or contradictions that would make your ideal society unworkable in practice.

So far at least, this hasn't proved to be all that problematic because superhero comics were always dismissed as tripe for kids and sweaty basement dwellers, and not to be taken seriously. But now that superheroes are very much mainstream there is a whole generation of people growing up totally unashamed to wear their fandom as a badge of honor and to celebrate comics as these masterworks of storytelling whose themes have applicability to the real world, and while there may be a handful of stories out there that are thoughtfully written and challenge their readers to question everything they see, the vast majority of comics, particularly the ones that get adapted into films, foist a pretty simplistic world view where problems ultimately get solved by big muscle dudes punching them really hard. And if that kind of ideology really takes hold among the public then we might be in trouble.
The most interesting comics I’ve read are the ones who were challenging my beliefs.

I suppose there are good comics and bad comics and in the same way that social networks tend to bring together like-minded people, the people who are seduced by simple and radical solutions will read the stories that confirm their beliefs.

Texts are considered as speaking to the mind when images are speaking to feelings. Images are certainly the favourite tool of propaganda, there are so effective… There is a responsibility of people who produce them in doing something of quality. This quality can be found in unusual places and can give pause for thought…

About fascism as an historical phenomenon, I recommend “The anatomy of fascism” by Robert O. Paxton…