Comics

"In every instance good shall triumph over evil and the criminal punished for his misdeeds."

"...if the form is to say something important, rather than just involve itself in the kinetic thrill of drawn characters chasing each other, then we have to think harder."

"I think it’s a rather alarming sign if we’ve got audiences of adults going to see the Avengers movie and delighting in concepts and characters meant to entertain the 12-year-old boys of the 1950s."

"This list of the superhero’s “uses” —which one could lengthen substantially— demonstrates the genre’s appeal (popular, sociocultural, political), its flexible expediency for various ends. An inviting mode of representation, a "costume” easily appropriated and donned, the superhero in recent years has indeed received unprecedented (and long overdue) attention from scholars."

"It is a crucial mistake, a snobs error, to think that illustrated stories aimed at a juvenile audience automatically lack a storytellers genius. Indeed, since juvenile stories need to be stripped down for an inexperienced audience to understand, some approach the elegant simplicity of mythology."

"My main point about films is that I dont like the adaptation process, and I particularly dont like the modern way of comic book film adaptations, where, essentially, the central characters are just franchises that can be worked endlessly to no apparent point. In most cases, the original comic books were far superior to the film."

"Nudity in any form is prohibited, as is indecent or undue exposure."

"The children face problems such as violence, abuse, suicide etc. that medicine can not heal. It will never help these children psychologically and be his support ...? Even when they are in difficulty, in principle they do not speak with adults, or confide about their true intentions. However, expect some serious messages from adults. I will continue to send messages through manga. Children avoid them what force or what they want to impose anything. That is why I will continue to look for those things that [...] inspire their hearts."

"As for some characters being dead and then alive again -- that happens to both genders in comics. Look at Wonder Man. The thing that, to my mind, separates the male and female characters are the sex crimes. Only the female characters are victims of sex crimes; male characters are never subjected to that. (There may be one or two exceptions when the male character was sexually abused as a child, but thats about it.) It is the number and frequency of THAT which troubles me. (...) A female soldier in battle may suffer wounds; thats different than a woman being stalked, kidnapped, and having violence done to her in civilian life. The former incurs the physical damage because of her occupation; the latter, strictly because of her gender. A female cop may be shot because she is a cop, not because she is a female. That, to me, is part of the difference."

"You can go into slow motion or fast motion in a comic book in a way you cant in a movie without drawing attention to it. You can have six panels in a row where the actions are a half second apart, or you can skip years between panels and it just doesnt have the same egregious quality, where, in a movie, Peckinpah slows down the murder and it seems that the body collapse in slow motion; it seems like an entirely different thing when you do that on film and when you do that on the comics page."

"Whether or not they know how to say it, superheroes dont kill because they believe the system needs help, but isnt irreparably broken. We know this for two reasons: one, they talk about it so dang much. Fixing Gotham. Saving Hells Kitchen. And two: If they didnt believe the system was ultimately fixable and desirable, they wouldnt be punching criminals and corrupt officials while befriending the good cops and lawyers. Theyd be tearing that system down. Theyd be Nolans Two-Face, Moores V, theyd be Ras al Ghul or Magneto. Theyd be the Punisher."

"The (Communist) "Daily Worker" of July 13, 1953 said that comics play the conscious role of: "...Brutalizing American youth, the better to prepare them for military service in implementing our governments aims of world domination, and to accept the atrocities now being perpetrated by American soldiers and airmen in Korea under the flag of the United Nations." This article also quotes Gershon Legman (who claims to be a ghost writer for Dr. Fredrick Wertham, the author of a recent bast against comics published in "The Ladies Home Journal"). This same G. Legman, in issue #3 of "Neurotica," published in autumn 1948, said: "The childs natural character...must be distorted to fit civilization . . . fantasy violence will paralyze his resistance, divert his aggression to unreal enemies and frustrations, and in this way prevent him from rebelling against parents and teachers . . . this will siphon off his resistance against society, and prevent revolution."