Occultism in Comic Books

oc·cult/əˈkəlt/

Adjective: Of, involving, or relating to supernatural, mystical, or magical powers or phenomena.

In class today we talked about "remixing." Dr. Burton showed us how some literature can be turned into videos, cartoons, or different types of media. This is "remixing," we've all seen it. Well it even happens in comics. Sometimes, especially Marvel, bridge the gap of supernatural and real. This is a form of "remixing." Some comics have pushed the boundaries of occultism and created some amazing things. Im going to talk about a few of these occult moments where our world and the world of superheroes come together.

Comic book heroes have problems just like we do. That's why we can relate to them, without these every day problems they would be alien to us. They deal with problems that would be hard to deal with in another media form. Problems like:

Alcoholism

The movies have touched on it a bit but in the comics Ironman or Tony Stark has to deal with this problem every day. He is severely alcoholic and it effects him and everyone around him.

Drugs

Their was a series where the Green Arrow and the Green Lantern teamed up and dealt with dark issues like drugs, domestic violence, and racism. This was monumental especially because this all came out in the 70's. Green Arrow eventually found out that his own sidekick was a junkie.

Domestic Violence

Ant-Man is a vital part of the Avengers. But he has an anger issues and when Ant-Man (Hank Pym) hit his wife, he quickly (and still is) one of the most hated heroes. It is amazing to see that after all his heroic efforts he has never been able to live this one moment down. 

Comics also tackle sensitive issues like war, terrorism, and politics.

WWII

This is how Comics made their mark in the 40's. They were a great source of escapism in a trying time. It also raised awareness for War Bonds & Stamps. Instead of Supeman flying over to Germany and capturing Hitler himself (Wish he would have), he was doing "his part" by  buying war bonds. At least Captain America got to give Adolf a few hits.

9/11

When this happened their couldn't have been a more sensitive topic. Most of the superheroes live in New York, (SpiderMan, Fantastic Four, The Avengers, and Daredevil). So of course their world was going to be affected. But the thing I love about these comics is that the "superheroes" failed but the real heroes (Firemen, Policemen, and Paramedics) succeeded. They were the true heroes in real life AND in the comic world. It was a great nod to the real men and women who were the true "super"heroes of that day.

Politics

The above comic happened a month ago. Superman is sick of the decision that America is making and doesn't want to be apart of any country any more. So he does the logical thing and renounces his American citizenship...

Ugh...