(Go out and buy these comics/books, they are amazing)
Cultural Messages Remain the Same Forever, But they are Always Changing
By Alex Ness
April 14, 2025
MESSAGING OVER TIME
A symbol's greatest power is when it can be recognized as such. Longevity of meaning is as much about the look as it is of the excellence information compacted within the message. This could be a cross for Christianity, Crescent moon and star for Islam, a Red Cross for a disaster relief and medical emergency triage, or Coca Cola or Pepsi Cola ads that share Americanism and a sweet beverage. The messages are recognizable banners or standards and the power within the meaning of those experiences.
Over the last 10 millennia humans have become able to build upon developments of the mind far earlier, by building known facts, and growing new ones. However while the present technology is vastly more complicated and purpose driven, it remains a rough equal to simple tool use found by predecessor humans, deep into the past. Our development of language and tools of exchanging communication and use of a messages left for a purpose, have not truly evolved, only matured. There are ways of sending a message that are easily perceived, the shock messages, warnings, and those shared due to an abject need. When the message is important, less depth and complexity is necessary. Messages sent for fun, for duty without emergent need, have the luxury of depths, complexity and even pleasure or anger.
The skull pyramid as shown below, and reproduced in painting, was clearly a warning, and in reality when recreated in deed, was a result, along with demonstration of the warning. Timur the Lame was a leader of an empire that was chiseled from wars and invasions, and elite ability to conquer. The leader demanded that his great victories were meant to be forever known, and had a skull pyramid built before the ruins of cities, nations and the dread his approach led.
The Timurid Empire was found in portions in most of ancient Turkey, Iran, and within the former Soviet regions, known as the "stans". The empire covered was not about great populations, nor did this empire support a solely homogeneous people. Heavier in 3 groups than others, Turk, Persian and Mongol, the smaller ethnic races mixed with the majority groups. These people were brought together under one flag, creating an empire that was great in ability to fight, as well think, and travel for trade. And, despite some slaughters based upon religious outlooks, there were Christians, Muslims, Jews, Zoroastrians, Hindus, Buddhists and many other populations within the empire.
Timur the Lame's empire was not necessarily much known in the present, historically even the most known or known empire, let alone famous empire. Over time it had not followed the ways of Rome, Persia, or even Russia, the British Empire. For terror through conquest, however, it was rightly known as dangerous and worth knowing about, for one's own safety. Wherever Timur the Lame invaded or controlled, he left a large unmistakable message for any other empire and also did so by telling those few who survived an encounter with it not to try challenging the end result.
There are other types of messages, set up to celebrate a victory over a disease or creation of a greater machine, to help all people, it is common to see, anywhere humans go. The Arc of Triumph in Paris is a message of both an expression of greatness and, a memory and respect given for those who died in battle. The monument was called for by Emperor Napoleon and it is about his world, but also celebrates France in war and peace, and of pride in greater France. But you know, victory through pride or victory through terror, seem similar in the desired result.
Religious symbols, are not necessarily bound into nationality, or culture, nor as widespread in ability to cause fear. They reveal an ideal, of something of something greater than war, fear, terror and machines of power. This is about thought, heart felt ideals, and more. Beyond religion there are political symbols, and others that represent less than global thoughts and groupings. This isn't universal in response, some believe, but do so differently, some do not believe but are moved by the idea of good a religion can do, (even if there are religions that have a direct opposite result) and those who do not believe, and hate the cause and the result of religious belief. In fact, the symbols of hate crime or hate groups and religions and cults, of various sorts, seem to have a unique or promoted symbol, so that one knows immediately the allegiance held individually to the group. I am not posting any of the images of those, however, you can certainly list off the many you know, without deep thinking.
When one studies symbols, they might see them in art, see them in jewelry and fashion, and other ways to share ideas found, without being forced on those seeing them. They surround us, even in low awareness, we see them, without trying to see them.
NOW FOR THE FUN STUFF COMICS OF DIFFERENT GENRES!
As a child who loved monsters, I also loved robots. Ultraman and other giant robots are meant to fight dangerous monsters, and by doing so, they are the heroes of the tales. Far different than subject of the current fears of AI and world domination, in the past giant robots were considered the natural response. If in question, we depended on the steel heroes we created, and controlled. In comics, in its genre, monsters and robots are natural rivals. And I return to childhood when I read either or both without the fear of AI of now. Giant robots, smart machines and being enslaved to AI were a lightly perceived threat, in the past. That is, until the release of Metropolis by Fritz Lang and his writing partner Thea Von Harbour. But even there, it was more about humans versus the monsters they create, similar to Frankenstein in ways, and dystopias in the form of paradise.
Please find enclosed an image of Monsters and Robots in comics I liked very much.
(click to enlarge)
DARKER STUFF IN COMICS: CRIME COMICS
Great crime comic writers
Frank Miller, Brian Bendis, Paul Grist, Ed Brubaker, Brian Azzarello, & Steven Grant
Comics and Horror are not the same genre, but there is a mutual story aspect in both. Something horrifying has happened, and how one measures the facts, might make a difference in escaping alive.
But it is more than following a trope or kind of story, the writer is creating a greater story about the events, and makes certain to tell a story that focuses upon the criminal's works, or the detective and cops, PI solving mysteries.
(click to enlarge)
HISTORY's Heroes and Warriors
Brian Wood Frank Miller Stan Sakai Peter Bergting Eric Shanower Ron Marz Bart Sears
As a Historian primarily in interests, I studied history to know as much as I could about everything. Why didn't I teach long? Most professors are people who focused on a single area. I had no single focus, I studied Ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, Medieval Japan, History of the Norse and the Rus, Russia and all Europe, Arthurian Legends, the epics of each culture, and more.
The TPBs shown are all quite fun, entertaining and accurate to a point. I think artist license is an important aspect of telling a story, and very few creatives were eyewitness to all that happened in the past.
(Click image to enlarge.)
I'll be back in a couple weeks. I have much going on. In the meantime, for all your printing needs, Matt at Speed Print Inc. is amazing.
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