|
|
Article: Comics tragedy: Is the superhero invulnerable? (Culture & Reviews).
- Article from:
- Reason
- Article date:
- May 1, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Reason Foundation. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
In the climactic moment of Michael Chabon's recent novel, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, a character dressed as a comic book superhero called The Escapist shuts down the Empire State Building by threatening to leap from its 86th floor observation deck. In Chris Ware's new graphic novel, Jimmy Corrigan, The Smartest Kid on Earth, a character in a generic superhero costume leaps to his death from a tall building before the shocked eyes of the eponymous protagonist.
In both works, the superhero--that absurdly evocative, ridiculously outfitted icon of Truth, Justice, and the American Way--takes a fall. Although the superhero defines the comic book form ...