The article Superman and the Plight of Orks has once again exposed this author as a hater of the self-love gods of American pop culture. I must say that I am additionally disgusted by the recent aggressive political correctness agenda demonstrated by major comic publishers—with gay, female and black versions of characters which seem to be a pure marketing ploy to expand the customer base. I mark superhero fiction as an indicator of social alienation.

From the beginning it has been a predominantly white male art form. The recent introduction of alternative heroes is certainly, on one hand, the driving of the stake into the heart of the reviled American Man of European descent, who has become the stock movie villain and TV dupe. On the other hand, it may mark a point at where these publishers have come to recognize that increasingly wider portions of society are just as alienated as the American Man was when the unconquered land that had defined him was replaced by a time clock and an office chair. If this later notion is true we should see a rise in black and female superhero villains in proportion to the new hero offerings.

At its root I see the superhero phenomena as a resurrection of the polytheistic impulse in civilized humanity [Which is totally misunderstood by moderns and post-moderns and needs its own article]. When Man went from hunter, to nomad, to settled civilian he lost his animistic connection to the nameless world of spirits. Ancestor worship was retained in the form of gods—often deified ancestors with mythological links to natural phenomena and the cosmos—and the gods of the conquering tribes outranked the gods of the defeated tribes. This dynamic pushed the mythic cultural heritage down the cosmological pyramid until each locality had its own venerated being—or in some cases their god had been literally demonized. In ancient Hellas three boxers became minor gods, replete with virgin birth legends.

Aristotle saw these ‘civic’ gods as no better than children’s tales, yet, recognized their usefulness in encouraging civic cohesion, even as he searched for The Cause Uncaused or the Unmoved Mover, as he conceptualized ultimate divinity. As the ages of empire began with his star pupil’s [Alexander] world conquest, local gods died out and the process of syncretism folded god into god, into god into GOD.

Atheism, stoicism, cynicism and other philosophies also filled this psycho-social breach in the minds of the educated elite. But among the common people there was still a need that came to be realized ingeniously by the Catholic Church in the cult of Saints, which was essentially a selling point for barbarian pagans who still cleaved to old gods, but found resonance among the perennial downtrodden in established regions. Eventually the cult of saints would even recognize American Indian deities.

What I see in the growth of the superhero phenomena and its accelerated growth in modern and postmodern society—primarily among young males but now among all genders and age groups—is the old patron deity impulse rising from the crumbling dust of this decaying culture. Notably evangelical Christians and an Islamic publisher have come to understand and even co-opt superhero imagery. In American Sniper, one of Chris Kyles’ SEAL team members loves reading Punisher comics. The team even paints Punisher imagery on their uniforms and vehicle.

As meaning washes away from life and the spiritual erosion of domesticity gains momentum do it yourself gods; being anthropomorphic reflections of the portions of our humanity that we sense are being taken away—most importantly masculinity—will continue to rise into the common consciousness.

Or so this nut-job author claims.

Below are the links to articles I have posted on this site that touch on the superhero question, from oldest to most recent. The first and third are really about the mythic basis of the art form. I recall writing an article critical of Batman and Superman in which I was taken to task over lumping Batman in with the flying cosmic steel beam by a reader, but could not find it.