Super-Heroes-on-Social-Order

Justice

DIANA. And for you, Harbinger Prime, Nemesis will be a particular hell. For she binds and burns in proportion to your sins… and your soul shines bright with the blood of the innocent. The burn you feel, Harbinger… Know that it is the result of the pain you have wrought on others. All you are feeling, you have earned. Accept Nemesis’s judgement of you.

Technocracy

KAL-EL. In the cities worked the klerics of the science league. Harnessing the energies of the red sun and the planet itself to fuel their insatiable hunger… for progress… at all costs.

TEACHER. You… wrote this? Yourself? That’s… Kal, the luminarium contains all knowledge of the science league from throughout Kryptonian history and can answer any question we might ever possibly ask.

Animal Man. Grant Morrison. www.dc.com . www.hoopladigital.com . dc.fandom.com . 1988. Accessed Mar 5, 2023.

Snapshots

He took himself into the desert. And rose up. And went into the presence of God. And God spoke unto Crafty saying, “You must be punished for this rebellion against my will. Nevertheless, I am a good God and my judgment will be tempered with mercy.” Much afraid, Crafty spoke saying, “I will bear any punishment that will bring peace to the world.” “Then you must spend eternity in the hell above,” said God. “While you live and bear the suffering of the world, I will make peace among the beasts. That is my judgment.”

Kingdom Come (1996). Mark Waid; Alex Ross. www.dc.com . www.hoopladigital.com . dc.fandom.com . Accessed Mar 4, 2023.

Snapshots

The world Wesley left is filled not with his heroes… but with their children and grandchildren. They number in the nameless thousands … progeny of the past, inspired by the legends of those who came before if not the morals. They no longer fight for the right. They fight simply to fight, their only foes each other. The superhumans boast that they’ve all but eliminated the super-villains of yesteryear.

Societal Critique

CLARK. Bored with how little they actually know, people tend to fill in the blanks with beliefs that make the world a more exciting place for them. What they lack in knowledge, they make up for with conviction.

The Riddler: Year One. Paul Dano; Stevan Subic. www.dc.com . www.hoopladigital.com . batman.fandom.com . 2023.

EDWARD. Do they deserve a chance? How do they go on in a city that tells them day after day that they are fractured and broken… that there is not way out or up?

Batman: Vol. 1: Their Dark Designs. James Tynion IV; Guillem March; Tomeu Morey. www.dc.com . www.hoopladigital.com .

Snapshots

[Batman] It happened in the little moments. I’d sketch on the edge of a napkin, or at the corner of a page in an old casebook. A familiar building, but with an unfamiliar number of floors. The city skyline with a few added skyscrapers. There was always some minor detail altered. Alfred called them my little Gothams. He said that they were designs for the city that lived in my head. A better city, without all the pain and horror. A city that didn’t need a Batman. He would say, “What if you didn’t put on that suit tonight? What if you gathered all those sketches and started building something that could last? You have a design for Gotham City, Master Bruce. Isn’t it time the world saw it?”