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Scot plans to make Batman hang up cape
BATMAN, the Caped Crusader, faces losing his trademark cape and winged mask, and Superman could swap his red tights for a sober dress suit.
The Scots writer behind the world's most famous superheroes believes his square-jawed characters, who dress up to fight evil masterminds of crime, are no longer relevant after the September 11 attacks.
End of an era: Batman and Robin will lose their costumes
From now on they will espouse pacifism and fight the perils of global capitalism, discrimination and religious fundamentalism in the everyday garb of the man in the street.
Grant Morrison, from Glasgow, has already agreed to dress down Marvel Comics' main characters: Spiderman, the X-Men and the Fantastic Four. He now expects to do the same for DC Comics, creator of Batman and Superman, which employs him as a strip writer.
Superman, alias mild-mannered, bespectacled journalist Clark Kent, has to find an enclosed space, usually a telephone kiosk, before transforming himself into the tights-wearing, kryptonite-allergic Man of Steel.
Millionaire recluse Bruce Wayne uses the cover of the Batcave before emerging as the Caped Crusader. Under proposed changes, both would fight battles against their enemies in normal, work-a-day clothes.
"The real heroes in the world are those guys who ran into the collapsing buildings of the World Trade Center trying to save lives," said Morrison.
"Spiderman wasn't there and Superman wasn't there. Those firemen in oilskins and helmets were there, not superhumans in costumes.
Squaring up: Millar says feel-good factor won't work
He added: "In the wake of September 11, violent superhumans are not enough anymore. We should be putting the current international developments in context rather than just having wrestling matches between colourful characters.
"I've already started writing X-Men as a pacifist comic. They don't believe in violence. They want to change the world in other ways. I don't think there will be as much fisticuffs anymore. I always thought that was rubbish anyway. I'm more into the philosophical basis of comics, the ideas they explore."
Joe Quesada, the editor-in-chief of Marvel, believes the time for colourfully costumed superheroes is over.
"The de-costuming of heroes is a trend we've been heading towards at Marvel this year and that you may see more of in 2002. Not every hero will reveal their identity, but some will," he said.
"Marvel's heroes have always been much more powered down than our competitors', so they deal with threats and life on a much more human level."
Marvel is also reviewing how it depicts "baddies" in its comic strips. Executives believe there is little need to invent clichéd characters when Osama Bin Laden has all the characteristics of a classic comic book villain.
"The world's real No 1 super villain is a charismatic, exotic madman who has his own headquarters in a cave," said Morrison.
"How close is the real world coming to the comic world? We were talking about crazy madmen launching attacks on the world years ago."
However, Mark Millar, another leading Scottish writer who has penned scripts including The Authority, and is known for his brutal stories, believes the move away from comic book violence will only be temporary.
Millar, who is currently re-vamping classic Marvel characters The Hulk, Thor and Captain America, said that in the short term, "feel-good" comic books will dominate, but the public's desire for violent escapism will return.
"A more likely scenario [than it disappearing completely] is evolution and maturation - as well as the action, we're now going to see the consequences of the action, and that's no bad thing," he said.
"They are about to become a lot more empathetic and the characters will be forced to be more three-dimensional. As a writer, I think that can only be a positive thing."
David Sweeney, the curator of a new exhibition of comic book pictures at the Glasgow School of Art and an expert in graphic novels, said: "It's interesting Grant has decided this because whatever he does, he sets the trends that others follow." |
