Wednesday, April 30, 2014

musing: why i love comics

Found this today.
Pepper and Steve are art buddies, Steve illustrates dinner table arguments and visiting scientific conferences with Thor (so he has a buddy) and Jane (for moral support).
etcetera goodness.
http://americancaptaincomic.tumblr.com/

I think one of the reasons my favorite avenger is Captain America is because he reminds me of my dad. They're both men who don't really understand their respective worlds but they stick to a certain code, a certain set of rules because some days it's the only thing they know how to do.
They take the same comfort in meticulous familiarity.
I think my dad would have done extremely well in the military.

Being able to relate to the marvel universe is something I never realized I did so heavily, but it's taken the place of dance and my intense reading habits as something I can equate to my own life.

I think that is one of the main reasons people love comics. those alternate worlds. People, if you'll allow me to speak for humanity, relate themselves and their lives to the stories they read. It's a natural reaction and a good one. Seems to help ground their uncertainties.
People relate in that way to superheroes. I know I do. Knowing their imperfections makes me love them more and makes me feel less terrible about my own faults.

I love Pepper's endless quest to fill the apartment with good art despite Tony's ambivalence.
I love the fact that Natasha Romanov was a legitimately bad person who swallowed the pill and accepted what she's done, and she relentlessly tries to make herself better.
I love that Bruce Banner takes solace in science even after it so thoroughly betrayed him.

The people of this universe are relatable and impossible in the best ways because they give you a morality to strive for but they don't fault you for taking a while to get there.
I mean for heaven's sake marvel comics have been running since the 30's and there's still trouble popping up around every corner.

Most of all I love that that universe helps me understand that just because there are no aliens in our world doesn't mean we don't have heroes.
And it doesn't mean that you shouldn't try to be one even if you have faults.
Like my dad and the quiet suffering he goes through every day while sticking resolutely, bravely, to the things he knows and the things he's good at doing. It makes him brave in a way I don't think even he understands.

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