Last week's poll from the Lester & Charlie Institute of Forward Thinking!
The political world is reeling from the whopping KAPOW! that GOP House Majority Leader Eric Cantor just got from a Tea-Party insurgent in the Virginia primary.
How could this happen? How could one of the most powerful conservative jokers in Washington suddenly find himself without a job? Was Cantor "too calculating"? "Ambitious"? "Disconnected"?
Well, don't mind us, but if being calculating, ambitious, and disconnected were likely criteria for a politician getting voted out of office, we imagine there would be no need for anyone ever to discuss term limits.
No, there's something else. Perhaps Cantor was simply too Jewish? Conspiracy theories abound, including one that says that Virginia's "open primary" attracted too many Democrats willing to cross party lines just to give Eric Cantor a big fat THWAPP! (Never mind that, given the Tea Party nut who won, this whole thing is like cheering the Riddler for defeating the Penguin.)
While the rest of the media sort this out, we have another story about shadowy liberals to bring to your attention. See, it's not just the GOP Majority Leader who's going to have trouble finding a job soon. It's also comic book writers.
But not just random comic book writers. Conservative ones. And, trust us, it's not because conservatives aren't good storytellers. (See: FOX News.)
A little backstory: A long, long time ago (1954), comic book publishers in America united to create the "Comics Code Authority" in response to the fear (perpetuated by a much-debunked tome, Seduction of the Innocent) that comics were turning America's youth into juvenile delinquents. Eventually (the 1990s), those delinquents had grown up and taken over and the Code was tossed out. Publishers were once again able to go with more difficult stories with complex, conflicted heroes.
In other words, comics were allowed to be interesting again. But a couple of established comic book writers fear that this return to "moral relativism" not only ruined the medium -- it cost them their jobs.
In an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal this week, writer Chuck Dixon and artist Paul Rivoche decry the "moral ambiguity and leftist ideology" that have made superheroes "no different from the criminals they battle." Superman became "less patriotic," and Batman became "dark and ambiguous."
These conservative writers and illustrators have "truth, justice and the American way" kinds of stories that they say are less ambiguous. But those doggone liberals won't let them tell their stories! Holy vast liberal conspiracy, Batman!
So what's up with this? Have comic books simply matured as a medium in telling more gripping stories with more interesting heroes and villains? Or is this really evidence of a conspiracy?
Either way, we're all for free speech. And we think these conservative comic book writers should be heard! Bring it on! In the big, wide multi-verse, there should be room for everyone. So tell us your stories!
We can only wonder what conservative comic book titles we've been missing out on all this time. Take the poll and tell us what do YOU think!
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