Man I hate Superman!

Man I hate Superman!

There I’ve said it, but the so called outside pant wearing alien is not the sole target/object of my displeasure; I equally can’t stand Bugs Bunny, Captain America, Commander Mark from “Battle of the Planets” and any of the several “do-gooder” “I’m better than you” types that cartoons and comics have regaled us with over the years.

Does this mean I don’t like comic strips or cartoon characters? Far from it! Truth be told, I’m arguably one of the few thirty somethings (make that 40) from the 70s who was (and remains) truly captivated by the medium as a means of artistic expression, literary communication and personal endeavour. My hat goes off to geniuses like Bob Kane, Stan Lee, Dennis O’Neill, Marv Wolfman, Frank Miller and a thousand other names (I either can’t recall or you couldn’t relate to or identify with) who have been gracious enough to gift us with the ruinations of their timeless imagination/s.

So what’s my beef with “big blue”? What axe do I have to grind with the infernally annoying, carrot chewing rabbit?

Where do I begin? Is it the fact that unrealistically Bugs Bunny supposedly outsmarts every single person EVERY single time? Or that Superman who supposedly is the “greatest” super powered hero (depending on which writer/artist team is writing the story), yet still struggles to defeat average villains with a single punch? Is it the “anything you can do, I can do better” attitude of these animated actors? Or their penchant for appearing smarter than everyone else, even when it’s fairly evident that’s not the case? (Yes, Superman I’m looking at you).

I think the bottom-line is inconsistency; agreed comics and cartoons, the animated genre may appeal to certain kinds of individuals, but it still doesn’t mean our quest for fantasy requires we be lied to or taken entirely for fools (some element of logic still presumably exists in the animated universe). We just hope that someone else will use that self-same medium to tell the stories others would rather read off the pages of a book or in front of the silver screen.

My favourite costumed character of all time remains Batman. Forged out of tragedy, he has no super powers to speak of, but relies on his genius level intellect, his out of this planet detective ability and his mastery of every form of martial arts. He is hard as nails and mean as a bull. The Dark Knight makes mistakes, gets beaten, gets broken, but remains true to himself; he remains human. 

And for all his loquacious ramblings, so does Daffy Duck, the irrepressible Looney toon. Honourable mentions to Jason from the ‘Battle of the Planets”, and every other “number 2” who’s had to lumber under the weight of idiocy or self-righteousness of some idealistic “hero”, I believe in you guys, and if it’s any consolation, you made my childhood dreams come alive.

/Maverick