Top 10 Most Political Comic Book Characters (5-1)

Top 10 Most Political Comic Book Characters (5-1)

The top most political characters in industry...in my opinion.

Feature Opinion
By TheUnknown - Jan 03, 2009 12:01 AM EST
Filed Under: Other

For Numbers 10-6 CLICK HERE.

5. Magneto (or X-Men)
This guy only wants a radical social reform. All of his actions, are extremely drastic, but have one purpose- to be accepted into society. Magneto’s search for reform mirrors several social revolutions such as civil rights movements. His leadership has been compared to that of Malcolm X and other prominent hardcore social reformers. Another more modern example could be gay/lesbian social reformation and their struggle, minus the awesome powers. The mutants just want to be accepted into society, either peacefully like Prof. Xavier or not, like Magneto.

4. Red Skull

He has been a Nazi. He has been a communist. He is a villain based on a political ideology.

3. V
Alan Moore’s character is possibly the truest anarchist in any comic book. His constant crusade to destroy the government is his main goal. The original series consisted of anarchy vs. fascism theme; plus Moore described himself as anarchist once. The Wachowski Brother’s V has been criticized for being a more liberal then anarchist. The film seemed to mirror liberalism vs. neo-conservatism theme, making it more ‘relevant’ for today’s people. Still, V’s motives were always politically-driven.

2. Superman

Not my favorite, but I think he is the ideal hero. Representing so much more then what he is, the fictional kryptonian is a modern example of the literary character that parallels ancient to modern drama. A literal illegal alien who embodies all what America is. He is truly a character who assimilated into American culture and so much that he is willing to defend it with his life. His colors are reminiscent of the American flag, and he is usually shown holding the flag. When he died his casket was covered with the flag!! Aside from the fact that he is an American Jesus, he can also be seen as the ideal immigrant. After America’s immigration influx of the 20th century, there were groups that were being discriminated. If it weren’t the Germans, then the Irish, if it weren’t the Italians, then the Jews- Sups came right after that. This guy represents the ideal citizen with “truth, justice, and the American way.”

1. Captain America
First of all, he is the walking flag. He has America in him name. He fought Nazism and Communism (democracy’s biggest enemies). What makes him the most political is that although he has embodied forms of American ideology, he represents ALL American ideology. There is no doubt that his conception was created for a sole anti-Nazi purpose. A year before the U.S’s involvement in WWII, the newly created American was punching Hitler in the face. His WWII birth resulted in the biggest ally for the Allied Powers. After the comic book popularity declined, Cap was fighting America’s next enemy- communism. After some really odd stories (fake Steve Rogers), it was prevalent that America was not the perfect country the comics were depicting. One of his major political alterations was during the social issues of the 1970s. In a time when the U.S. was facing new social revivals the government was facing problems of its own, such as Nixon’s Watergate Scandal. Cap did fight alongside the first African-American hero, the Falcon, but he was no match for the embarrassment of the U.S. government. Steve Rogers, the man that was created by the government, who fought for the government, was now facing an internal dilemma. After creating a different identity, Rogers finally decided that Captain America could be used as a symbol for American ideals and beliefs, and not the American government. The Vietnam War era changed the way American citizens view their government, Rogers was no different. Instead of the patriot fighting for America, he fought for change in poverty, racism, and corruption. He has been the most nationalistic character, but recently he has been more of a democratic figure, then an American nationalistic. In Civil War he opposed federal mandatory registration and joins the Anti-Registration movement. The registration act is an absolute move to right-wing politics, a huge change from civil liberties, even for super powered beings. This quasi-fascist move would have certainly sparked opposition from small-town American guys like Rogers. With his Thomas Paine quotes, he became everything the American foundation was about, freedom to protest, freedom to believe in what he wants, and human rights. Cap’s Allied Power birth has changed from an American nationalist, to a democratic crusader, all he needs is the American constitution as a cape. His death seems to represent a debate outside the comic book universe. The ideal American is now dead, not because of Nazism, Communism, or even terrorism, but because of an internal imbalance between freedom and security. If Steve Rogers ever returns he would definitely reignite truth, justice, and liberty for all.
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IonParallax
IonParallax - 1/3/2009, 9:50 PM
Freakin' awesome. Bravo sir. Aside from an excellent list; You have picked, in my opinion, the perfect choice for the #1 most political figure in comic book history. You have done an excellent job in giving reasons and not just being one of those "because, he just is..." guys.

Excellent article, very well articulated and explained. The Red Skull was short and to the point, just as his explanation should be. The Magneto/Malcolm X reference is a good one.

I think you should have added Xavier as well for the counterpart/Martin Luther King Jr. aspect to Magneto's X aspect. But that doesn't take away one bit from the list as a whole. Excellent job and I would love to see more of these types of articles.

Well done.

LegionarioXIX
LegionarioXIX - 1/3/2009, 10:19 PM
I like your choices. I always thought the Green Arrow was one of the more political characters as well. In a way, I feel that even Batman is a highly political character as well..he just represents a different type of politics..more independent I guess.
Matowar
Matowar - 1/3/2009, 11:00 PM
Nice article and quite interesting. You should do more top ten lists. Your next should be top ten comic couples, that would be interesting.
siggisuperman
siggisuperman - 1/3/2009, 11:47 PM
captain america represents what america has been, and was once. A great proud nation that was a shining example to others. Thats how we in europe used to see them... now captain americas death represents how America has changed. Wars fought for the sole reason of fighting wars for profit. America has changed to the point where captain america is unable to represent it. It's my hope that with a new president america can once again be worthy of a noble representitive like cap. Then maybe we can get a new one... maybe an african american one ;)
MarkCassidy
MarkCassidy - 1/4/2009, 10:56 AM
great list..i would have had the Question in there somwer myself but you could apply a political stance to alot of characters really..maybe not as a part of their personalities and of course it depends on the writer. ..oh yeah id put swamp thing in there too!
version4
version4 - 1/4/2009, 11:39 AM
I agree with ion on the Magneto archetype. I think Magneto and Xavier have to go hand in hand. Its the Malcolm/Martin relationship... both are necessary to the evolution of the movement.

I love this list though, and #1 is a great choice. I think Cap stands for the basic ideals of America; freedom, justice, liberty. gtrman has a great point in that Cap isn't just a government pawn.
don1
don1 - 1/4/2009, 12:35 PM
what a joy to read.keep up the great insight.
TomAq
TomAq - 1/4/2009, 4:38 PM
Hmm, quite a bit of registration hoop-jumping, grunch grunch...

I know he's not exactly the best-known character, but how about Prez Rickard? Even I know him only from Sandman, and I had to look him up on Wikipedia to see that it was issue #54. But the story Gaiman wrote is a lot more memorable than the minutiae.

For that matter, Alan Moore's and Neil Gaiman's respective takes on Miracleman seem quite political to me in terms of the choices the character makes, all but declaring himself God; "not a parallel world; not an imaginary story..."

Just a few thoughts on a very interesting list and discussion. Thanks.
rushr
rushr - 1/4/2009, 6:30 PM
check out my first piece of writing on the spidey 4 rumors at http://www.comicbookmovie.com/spider-man_movies/news/?a=5795
rushr
rushr - 1/4/2009, 6:31 PM
please comment thanks!!!
rUsHr
iNsaneMilesy
iNsaneMilesy - 1/4/2009, 7:58 PM
Dunno bout the Superman one. Ive always seen him as above earths conflicts. But then again i dont like superman.
IonParallax
IonParallax - 1/5/2009, 12:17 PM
go to the News tab and check out "World of WeaponXX" i want to see how many people we can name in the picture. I think i'm up to about 85 in the comments, plus a few I purposely left out for others.
Spock
Spock - 1/5/2009, 4:17 PM
I've seen these on Mania.com, used to be comics2film.com. But good post none the less.
skylarscar
skylarscar - 1/6/2009, 10:06 PM
It's strange but Civil War's super hero registration seemed more of a Liberal movement to me, I have been under the impression my whole life that conservative ideas were more for less regulation and control over what people could do and how much privacy they have. Though I'm sure they were trying to reflect the Patriot Act but I don't know anyone who's privacy has been compromised because of it and regulating finances and keeping tabs on suspected terrorists isn't quite as drastic as "Civil War" was. I'm sure Marvel meant for it to reflect poorly on conservatives, but strangely enough everyone I know who is sorry Steve Rogers is dead is mostly conservative.
Zhivago
Zhivago - 1/16/2009, 12:50 PM
You write that Captain America fought "Nazism and Communism (democracy’s biggest enemies)" I have to disagree. Communism is an economic system, while democracy is a social system. Communism has historically been associated with dictatorships, but then so has capitalism, the real enemy of communism. It is entirely possible to have a democratic communist state. Nazism is also not necessarily an enemy of democracy, because it was voted into power by free elections. Also, anti-semitism and racism were rampant in the U.S. during the 1930's and early 1940's, so Nazism had nothing about it that would disqualify it from being a valid U.S. political party at that time.

I submit that the system of U.S. government is not a democracy at all, but a republic, whose leaders even today will thwart efforts at making it more democratic (third party candidates? not a chance). I do aggree with your assessment that Cap started out nationalist, because he fought the enemies of the U.S. but later turned into a fighter for the ideals of liberty.

I would agree with "gtrman", V was really about freeing people's mind, not just freeing them to make a limited amount of choices every few years. I would say only V was really a champion of democracy.
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