This has not been a particularly easy article to write. My train of thought sort of spider-webbed into several different directions once I started really thinking about what I wanted it to be and it’s been difficult to cattle it back into one main goal. So, I’m going to present the three main ideas that make up my confusingly messy thoughts:
1. Will The Real Ant-Man Please Stand Up?
If you’re familiar with our website, then you know that we do a weekly mailbag article called “From The Nerdery” where we answer nerd related questions that we get from followers of our Facebook and Twitter pages. Last Friday, one of the questions was, “In your opinions, who are the worst (for whatever reason) characters created in the DC/Marvel universes?” I was a dick and said Aquaman and made fun of him for talking to fish (But, we’ll get into that more later on). My good friend, and fellow 4LN contributor, Cody said Ant-Man; Which, I’ll admit, stung a little. Ant-Man is a character that’s close to my heart. He was one of the original Avengers and I guess that legacy is just sentimental to me. I’ve always been a fan of Hank Pym, even going so far as to name my daughter after him (Her middle name is Pym, and I technically could reason that she’s actually named after Janet Pym, or Wasp). His assessment was this:
“He is the land version of Aquaman. These are his powers (directly quoted from Marvel) “Has the ability to shrink to roughly the size of an ant, also can communicate telepathically with insects, and (as Ant-Man) can punch with as much force as a normal sized person” If I were picking a team of super heroes, I’d definitely want this guy. He can punch as hard as me, and can talk to roaches! Awesome.”
And you know what… he’s not wrong. That is a pretty fair criticism of the Ant-Man suit. My argument against Aquaman has always been that, I don’t believe he can do anything that another hero can’t do more effectively (except talk to fish), so I have a difficult time seeing what he ultimately contributes as a superhero. In complete fairness, I have to admit the fact that the Ant-Man suit basically only allows the wearer to shrink down to the size of an ant but retain the strength of a regular sized human man. All the while, the Ant-Man helmet allows for the wearer to communicate with ants. It’s pretty much the same as my criticism of Aquaman, and that’s such a bummer. However, when the Ant-Man helmet comes off, all you have left is Hank Pym… just a brilliant scientist with genius-level intelligence who invented the Ant-Man suit, as well as the Giant-man suit and Wasp’s suit. That’s all. He invents costumes that can give normal people superhero powers. He also discovered, and was able to manipulate, a cluster of subatomic particles that can increase or decrease the size and mass of objects or living things. He called these Pym Particles. Then there’s his work on A.I. (Not that terrible Steven Spielberg movie). Hank Pym invented Ultron. Ultron is probably the most dangerous foe the Avengers ever faced. He evolved into a hatred of humanity and set his sights on destroying it. Hank Pym CREATED artificial intelligence that evolved and grew beyond humanity’s ability to control it. Arguably, he’s more of a God than Thor could ever even hope to be. This brings me to my next thought-point…
2. Brains, and Braun, and Masks, and Capes
There are a lot of characters that if you take away the costume and the powers, they still bring a lot to the table as far as their ability to contribute to a superhero team or just superherodom in general (That’s a word, right?). First up: Reed Richards, otherwise known as “Mr. Fantastic”. As Mr. Fantastic, his abilities include: “Extreme superhuman elasticity, malleability, shape-shifting, and endurance / Near immunity to most physical assaults by blunt force, piercing/stabbing, cutting/slashing, electricity / Fighting experience / and virtually immune to psychic powers.” But as Reed Richards, he’s a brilliant scientist that studied at, among other schools, Harvard and Colombia, and is an expert in other dimensions and how to travel between them. There are at least 4 fantastic things in there to be impressed by. (See what I did there? Get it? Cause he’s a member of the Fantas… aww screw it.)
Another guy we forget about a lot is Bruce Banner. The Hulk gets a lot of attention because of how explosive he is, and Banner often catches a bad rap of being the sad-sack host to the big green machine. But what we miss about Bruce is that the Hulk wouldn’t even exist if it wasn’t for him. The guy is an expert in gamma radiation, as well as about half-dozen other areas of scientific research. It’s even been said that his intellect level is so extraordinary that it can’t be determined by any intelligence assessment. Sure, Hulk is a loose-cannon who’s damn-near impervious to any onslaught that can be thought-up to bring against him, but isn’t it more important that Bruce Banner could, theoretically, invent a way solve the worlds energy crisis or the melting of the polar ice caps? Aren’t these the kinds of traits that we want our kids to admire when they read comic books? There’s absolutely nothing wrong with kids being excited about how Superman could punch a hole through someone’s face, or how Luke Cage could break a guy in half with one hand, but I think it’s important that children are exposed to characters that don’t need to use their brute strength in order to offer something valuable to society. Not every kid is going to be the fastest, or the strongest, or the toughest. Sometimes kids are just better at math, or science, or academics in general, and those kids deserve comic book characters that can inspire them to think big and pursue ideas that sound crazy to most people. This brings me to the caboose of my train of thought…
1. Grown Up Comic Book Geeks Are Jerks
(I tried to think of a more clever title here, but I felt honesty was the best policy)
When we were kids, we read comic books with such wide-eyed wonder. We devoured every page like it was a package of Dunkaroos. Every superpower was amazing and we wanted to have it! When you would swing from a rope you’d pretend to be Batman swinging from his Bat-grappling gun, or Spiderman swinging from his webs. When you ran really fast, you were The Flash. When you picked up something big you were The Hulk, getting ready to destroy everything in your way. When you jumped off of something you’d pretend for a split second that you were Superman, flying through the air to recuse Lois Lane from Lex Luthor. And when you’d go swimming… you were Aquaman. Because it was awesome that Aquaman was the king of Atlantis! And that pool was YOUR Atlantis for those few hours a day. But now, we’re just dicks (I’m including myself in this). We’re cruel about the characters because we’re older now and we need our characters to meet us where we’re at. We want a sense of reality from our comic books and the characters within. We need a Batman whose arsenal is technologically probable. We need an Iron Man that is scientifically possible. We want to remove the fantastical elements from our superheroes and make them exactly like us. We’re trying to eliminate imagination. Yes, our children need to admire characters that are smart and gifted, but they need to be able to cherish the ridiculousness of a character that can stretch his arms really far, or can turn into a big green monster, or can shrink down to the size of an ant, or can talk to fish. Innovation and Imagination are one in the same. You need brilliant characters to bring life to the supernatural elements. I’m not saying that these more real versions of our favorite comic characters are bad. I love seeing them interpreted in new ways. I think new interpretation is always a good thing. The inspirational balance between real and fantasy exists, but we have to be intentional about allowing it to grow.
I’m not trying to be a chastising schoolmarm here. I just began to recognize the disenfranchised attitude toward superheroes that I’ve been encouraging in my oldest son, and I realized that it’s not fair to him. I want him to love the characters for what they are AND for what he wants them to be. I don’t want him to dislike a character just because I’ve had a crappy attitude toward them. I want my kids to appreciate the creativity that goes into creating and writing comic books. I suppose this brings me back to my first point… Ant-Man, Hank Pym. He is, in my opinion, everything that’s right with superheroes. He so perfectly blends science and fiction (there’s got to be an easier way to say that…?). He’s every bit a brilliant mind as he is an astonishing superhero. He’s more than a costumed vigilante, and he’s more than a lab-geek. He’s proof that people can do GIANT things that matter, without superhuman abilities. He embodies innovative imagination, and I think it would be amazing to see a new generation of comic book readers shed complacency, and allow themselves to be inspired by that.
So, what do you think? Are we nerds becoming too cynical as we age? Or should our expectation of evolving characters be accepted as a necessary evolution?