One of my favorite
stories I read in my high school English days was Pat Frank’s Alas, Babylon. For those of you who
haven’t read it, it’s the story of surviving a nuclear holocaust. The main
character in the novel is Randy Bragg, whose brother is a military intelligence
officer who sends his wife and children to Randy’s place in Florida fearing the
worst. After the initial destruction of the world as we know it, Randy becomes
the leader of his new family, the leader of his neighborhood, and eventually
the leader of his community. He didn’t want the job, and when compared to his
brother, he really shouldn’t have had the job. You could say that he was given a choice, but
that would really be like saying you had a choice to breathe. Yes, you could
stop, but it would be extremely difficult. I like the character of Randy Bragg
because, to me, he is one of the best examples of an antihero.
So, what does the
antihero contribute to a character’s overall development? Well, for one, if the
character starts off as an antihero, the reader is provided an inner conflict that
the character must resolve; however, what makes an antihero? Basically, if the
character in question has any sort of trait or attribute that you wouldn’t
usually find in a typical hero, such as Superman or Jesus, then you have the
basis for an antihero argument. In the Comic Book arena we have various
examples of antiheroes, with many types of inner conflict.
I’d to clarify here
that a “flaw” is not always up to the hero’s decision. When looking at Ironman, you could argue that
his alcoholism is something that he chooses to live with, but I’d ask that you
look more at his narcissism as the flaw that he can’t control. A flaw that can
make an antihero is sometimes an event that happens to the hero, such as the
death of Bruce Wayne’s parents. That is a catalyst event for his motivation to
become Batman. Even the obsession to be a hero can be looked at as a flaw in
some cases such as Rorschach in Alan Moore’s The Watchmen. Really, you could say that almost all superheroes in
Comics are antiheroes, with good reason.
The antihero is the
humanizing hero. This is probably why it
is a profitable trend in Hollywood superhero movies to bring that “Dark Knight”
feel to every movie to some degree. Even when the Hero does something morally
wrong, we can look at his flaws and think to ourselves, “Yeah, I might have
done the same thing in his position.” It’s become a way for the audience to identify
with the heroic character. Adding flaws
to the hero inherently takes the hero down a peg, and bring him a little close
to the human level.
Mark Millar’s story Superman: Red Sun takes the idea of one
of Comics most pure heroic characters and puts his ship crashing in Russia then
chronicles his adventures through the Cold War era. It’s an intriguing story with a wonderful
twist at the end that I won’t spoil for you hear, but its recommended reading
from me. Superman goes through an interesting transition, he becomes the
villain, but his intentions are almost close to what we have seen in the
classic Superman story arc. Really, the
only difference between the Red Sun
Superman and the classic Superman is that Sun’s
Superman can’t see when he’s gone too far. It is an interesting insight
into the mind of a hero-turned-dictator.
In the same vein, and
for real life examples, I’d like to look at Inverna Lockpez’s Cuba: My Revolution. This is a Biopic
Graphic Novel chronicling the events surrounding the author’s ordeals during
the Cuban Revolution that put Fidel Castro in power. I bring this up because,
with Red Sun, there is the imaginary
story of how a hero falls from grace. In Cuba
we have a supporter giving us the outside view of how this has happened before.
So why bring this all
up? I’d like to have you understand the term, “Sympathy for the devil.” When we read these classic examples of
Literature that provide us these unlikeable heroes, we can imagine ourselves in
them. When a writer puts a Comic Book hero is put in to the villain role, we
can visualize and understand how these things can happen. When someone who has
survived the true experiences and presents them in a Graphic Novel style, we
can bring our understanding of heroes, vilians, antiheroes, and all grey areas
in between become a bit more understandable.
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