Our Comicbook Conflict

I have not actually spoke about my boyhood comic book obsession in well over 15 years. It is as if after I started reading Shakespearian plays like “King Lear” and “Macbeth” in high school my fascination for my masked avengers appeared as if it were trickling away. The only way for me to explain this switch was simply these new dramatic conflicts in these plays began to speak to my adolescence in a much deeper manner than Professor X or Magneto could ever convey.

However, before my innocence was so quickly snatched away I would save my allowance penny for penny, hustle to the store for release date, read it front to back exactly 6 times then cautiously place it under my mattress to rid it of any trace of creases; this was an ongoing procedure that kept me out of a lot of trouble growing up in Scarborough.

By the time I hit my twenties, my collection had long become a memory and music and girls had taken over like heroin.  The one thing that has always stayed fresh on tips of my tongue is my affinity to towards Marvel Comics and my loathing of DC superheroes; and this is where Lights and I became like Anakin and Darth Vader.

Judging by the imagery in the video February Air, her Wonder Woman style armbands, and her innocent confession during the interview it was plain to see that Lights was from the other side: that strange group of individuals that opted to cheer for the likes of Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Aquaman and the impenetrable, yet galling, Superman. I myself have always reveled in universe of Marvel Comics and superheroes like Spiderman, X-Men, Iron Man and even antagonists like Magneto and Green Goblin.

There has always been rivalry and debate between the two types of readers and Lights and I are definitely no exception to the rule. For me, Marvel Comics has undeniably been superior mainly because of its breadth of high-end characters that contain unique attributes, which are not only identifiable, but also relatable; Peter was a kid who struggled through financial troubles, while Wolverine was a test subject of the U.S. army. The Marvel comics also created storylines which seemed a bit more palpable than those of DC. The fictional backdrops of Gotham City and Metropolis always felt distant and somewhat disconnected, whereas Marvel successfully managed to interconnect its worlds with our reality, like the Vietnam War or intertwine them with prevalent social issues.

All in all, I had a great time recollecting with Lights over our collective “geekhood”, but was just sadly disappointed at her adulation over the dark side: DC Comics. I have seen these schoolyard dispute result in fisticuffs; however I proud to say that those years of my life have ended and I can conduct mature and tranquil dialogue with the enemy.

Sway
Toronto, March 2009