By Alex Ness
October 20, 2022
“You’re too young to remember it,” Verity's mother said, “but we were expecting nuclear war all the time, really, up into my early thirties. Later, all of that felt unreal. But the feeling that things became basically okay turns out to have actually been what was unreal.” William Gibson
I try to be both serious and not serious here. While I treat works that we read for pleasure or enjoyment seriously, the real world is often at arm's length, for the reason that politics, current events and history often divide us, depress us, or obscure the point of the media shown.
But recent events in Ukraine suggest that the world is nearing a catastrophic and final conflict, with Russian aggression aimed at challenging the West in the form of Nato, and Ukraine. As such I don't want to post about that issue specifically, but to show, quickly, some images of how the West comic book series treat Russians, how they interpret Russia, at least over the last 40 years, and why it is important to understand, that Americans and Western Europeans view Russia, and prior to Russia of Yeltsin and Putin, the Soviet Union.
I am not suggesting anything about the war, about the leaders, or about America's thoughts and behavior regarding. I just found it important to acknowledge the Russian choices and impact upon the world, and hope that it all ends better than it looks to end, at this time.
BATMAN and KGBeast
The KGB cybernetically and otherwise enhanced a KGB assassin, and when he is to face Batman, he proves more than dangerous, being more than a match for Batman. The character is not a stereotype of a vicious beast, however he is named, but he is an elite warrior with reasons for his actions.
CRIMSON DYNAMO
The Crimson Dynamo has a varied background as far as who wore the armor, but the character, whoever is within the armor, is an adversary of the US hero Iron Man, and fights through much of the Cold War over international issues, not criminal ones. The series shown below was by John Jackson Miller who gave a look towards a young man who finds the armor, and uses it for purposes that are personal, not international or anti West. It is a really fun read, and it is sad that Marvel canceled the publishing wing Epic, where the work appeared, since it seemed, to me at least, a viable and interesting option.
Graphic novels
There have been a number of graphic novels featuring Russia and the Soviet Union, of mixed varieties, as there isn't a single artist creating them. But of the four shown, Tin Tin was a work that presented a look at other countries, and in this case the USSR, from a reporter viewpoint, and gave a pov that was new and interesting, rather than to use stereotypes or tropes. The Black Widow is a great character, in ways, being a sexy Soviet spy who leaves the orbit of the USSR to help the West. Other graphic novels are of the sort the remaining to present, which are instructive with a narrow and mostly non fictional narrative.
MOTHER RUSSIA
This series is rather fun, but kind of silly too. It features a Russian woman who fights while carrying her babe. Therefore, it is a case a real Mother Russia. Available through two different publishers, Fubar and Alterna. I think it deserves to be read, and is a fun clever work, and one that probably should receive a sequel... The art and story entertain.
THE RED STAR
This work is well worth searching for. I enjoyed it for the art and concept, perhaps more than the issue by issue story. It considers a world where the Soviet Union did not collapse, and it considers the legacy therefore of what had happened to keep it alive, and what might have happened if it endured. It has a look inspired by anime, but it is not chained to that, and the writing is good, and not comic bookesque, rather it is modern and tells stories episodically but not over dramatically. The series has layers, and I'd enjoy more stories from the creative team.
SUPERMAN: RED SON
This was a series that I really enjoyed. Superman Red Son, by Mark Miller and Dave Johnson considers the impact upon the world of DC superheroes had Kal El landed in the Ukraine of that world's USSR, and how he'd have been used as a hero of the Soviet Union as the ultimate hero of labor. I enjoyed it greatly and think that it is really good, but it does make use of the tropes and stereotypes rather freely. So, you might think it limited or gimmicky. However, the ending and story told actually presents a way to see the story from new eyes, and appreciation of the myth of Superman, and the myths of the world that we live upon.
SKULL & BONES
Ed Hannigan is a talented creative artist and writer, who did the art chores for Green Arrow, when Mike Grell wrote it, and so, I bought this work out of loyalty to that work. It tells a dark story, around the time of the fall of USSR, of a need for heroes and revelation of secrets that were toxic to the survival of the state and people of the Soviet Union. This was less about the adventures of a hero, but the desperate acts of true patriot, who fought for his people, or even smaller scale, his friends and neighbors. As much as I liked it, and found it worthwhile, it hasn't lingered in my memory. That might mean it wasn't a classic, but what it surely was, was worth my time reading and my money to buy it.
The comics shown below are good to great, enjoyable each and every one of them, but beyond that, they are shown to depict how the West displays heroes from the perspective of the Soviet Union and Soviet people. It is an exaggeration perhaps, since comic book covers are meant to immediately influence the possible buyer into buying the product, as to take a subject and present it to tell them, exactly what they, the potential reader is looking to first buy, and then read.
MY LINKS:
My Poetry blog with 5000+ poems: AlexNessPoetry.Blogspot.Com
My published Work: AlexNessPoetry.Blogspot.Com/2007/01/My-Work.html
An Amazon Author Page: Amazon.com/author/AlexNess
Cthulhu Based Horror: CthulhuDarkness.Blogspot.Com
Atlantis & Lost Worlds: AlexNessLostWorlds.Blogspot.Com
Sales: Poplitiko.Blogspot.Com/2022/06/for-sale.html
If interested in purchase of my works, write to me at AlexanderNess63@gmail.com and inquire about the various books I've written. Not all remain in print, in fact, about half are in print still. But I do have author copies to sell, so, please feel free to inquire...
About Getting Reviews from Me
I can be found on Facebook, Twitter or through email Alexanderness63@gmail.com. I accept hard copies, so when you inquire at any of these places, I'll follow through by telling you my street address. If you send hard copies for review I will always review them, but if you prefer to send pdf or ebooks to my email, I will review these at my discretion. I don't share my pdf/ebooks, so you can avoid worry that I'd dispense them for free to others.
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