“Other Garth Ennis books (like The Boys or Hitman) do a better job covering the same sort of shock value superhero material. It’s a little like someone came up with the premise (a prostitute gets superpowers) and then…that’s pretty much it. It’s a little like an SNL sketch: once you get the premise, there’s not a lot else going on.
I mean, we’re not talking about fascinating or new questions here:
+Isn’t the whole Batman/Robin-in-little-briefs thing a little…questionable, sexually? Well, yeah.
+Isn’t Wonder Woman’s costume a little prostitute-y? I guess I don’t see a lot of ladies in a bustier, clothing designed to push the boobs up and slim the waist, armored, enchanted, or not.
+Isn’t Superman kind of a boy scout? Totally. But…I think I’ve had my fill of “What if Superman was totally evil?” stories. Superman being a nice guy is part of what makes him Superman. He’s better than us. That’s sort of the point, and the cleverness of Bad Superman stuff is old. Read Miracleman or Irredeemable if that’s what you’re looking for.
+Isn’t it fucked-up that superheroes don’t solve problems like…the need for better healthcare? Yes and no. Yes, sure, if Mr. Fantastic was a real guy, it’d be nice if he could spend a half day on dentistry, fix that whole field and we’d all be walking around with perfect choppers. Buuut he’s not a real guy, so watching him do helpful stuff is boring. He needs to make a giant machine that would wipe out Galactus (and the whole universe, side effect), not solve the problem of plastic in the oceans. Because let’s say he did solve plastic in the oceans. He’s a fictional man with a fictional solution. Earth-616 doesn’t have any plastic in the ocean, great, but MY ocean is still packed with the shit. So who gives a shit?
+Isn’t it funny how heroes and villains seem to mince around and never really kill each other or, like, break someone’s spine? Yes, I guess. You know what I’ve noticed in movies? When two characters fight, but when neither can die, they do a lot of that thing where they throw each other around. I throw you through a wall, you throw me through a building. And the reason is, I guess if you were Thanos and the movie wanted you to kill me, you’d just crush my skull, right? But that’s not cool, so throw him away from you, then he comes back, then another throw, and so on. Nobody just goes HAM with a crowbar anymore. “