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A SHOW OF HANDS: A Cautionary Tale of Heroes in Exile

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spaceplayer

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From SuperheroBabylon.blogspot.com:

A SHOW OF HANDS: A Cautionary Tale of Heroism in Exile (pdf)

About the story:

This is a short graphic story based on a larger project written by myself and Landon Erp with the working title of SYMPHONY OF BABYLON. The story is larger than what we can complete at this time, (a full time artist is still needed), but it is a story I would like to see finished one day. A SHOW OF HANDS is a "synopsis" of sorts, a "poetic condensation," if you will. I felt that the story needed to be told NOW, and this version is offered as a means to keep the larger story alive until it is one day finished. It also is meant to be a "throwing down of the gauntlet," a message that heroes are not meant to be sacrificed, whether politically, artistically, economically, or socially. It is a defense and a tribute to the real-life heroes who inspire us to achieve on our own.

Shine on!

Joe Maurone

superherobabylon.blogspot.com

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  • 3 weeks later...

I am confused by one part of the comic. At one point, you appear to attribute 9/11 to either rock and roll music, nihilism, or postmodernism. I'm pretty sure none of those things were responsible for it, or not directly so at any rate. Maybe (probably) I've misread you. Could you clear that up?

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I am confused by one part of the comic. At one point, you appear to attribute 9/11 to either rock and roll music, nihilism, or postmodernism. I'm pretty sure none of those things were responsible for it, or not directly so at any rate. Maybe (probably) I've misread you. Could you clear that up?

Hi, thanks for reading, and no problem.

Short answer: If those "artists" didn't fly those planes, they at least cleared the airspace and invited destruction through "engraved invitation."

Long answer:

Notice the symbolism on that page. The dollar sign and cross for the rappers, the pentagram and anarchy symbols for the rockers. Notice the ghosts of Charles Manson and Tony Montana behind each. Notice the embrace of anarchy and anti-capitalism in the WTC protester, notice the terrorist actions on both sides. Notice that despite the different means and values (one embraces money while wearing the cross and wielding guns, the other rejects capitalism but argues for political change), they converge on the same image: two rappers blowing up the world trade center, which is on fire.

You may not know this, but on Sept. 11, two albums were released that day with the Twin Towers on fire: Dream Theater's LIVE SCENES FROM NEW YORK and the rap album PARTY MUSIC by Coup. This is on that page, two guys in front of the towers with a detonator as it explodes. (Also that year, a concert tour promotion said "destroying America, one city at a time...").

This is a quote from the Coup camp:

"The image, says the duo, was intended as a metaphor for the effect music can have on a corrupt system."

"There's been a whitewash in the media over the past couple days over what the U.S.'s role in the world is, and the fact that they kill hundreds of thousands of people per year to protect profit. Now how can I get to the point where I could be saying that on the world stage, and interrupt the lies that CBS, CNN, NBC, and everyone is saying? In my view, that [would be] by keeping the cover. Not because I think by looking at the cover you get all of this message that I'm telling you, but as a way to have a platform to interrupt the stream of lies that are being told right now."

About the Coup: "The Coup, part of the sub-genre of political hip hop, is politically radical and Marxist in their music, and align themselves with other radical hip-hop groups like Dead Prez. Their music is characterized by electronic sounds and bass-driven backbeats overlaid by humorous, cynical and sometimes violent lyrics criticizing capitalism, American politics, pimping as a form of patriarchal exploitation, and police brutality, among other things."

And if you're wondering why I replaced comic book villains with artists, well, in the 90's, comic-book antiheroes were popular (Spawn and the Punisher, for example) and spiderman villains like Venom and Carnage were popular as well. This could never have been the case in previous decades (well, maybe during prohibition.) This was not just comics, Captain America would have found himself at odds with the culture that was "destroying America, one city at a time.) The artists here were a "spawn" of the larger change in the culture after Reagan that opened the doors for an event like 9.11.

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