Superheroes & Cynicism

So since I have all these streaming services I've acquired the time (kinda) to watch "The Boys" and I realized something about the current state of American superhero comics and Japanese superheroes, let's dive in.

Let's talk a little history, while America has had a long history with Superheroes, starting with DC Comics and Superman, really propelling the concept of superheroes in the mainstream, HOWEVER, Japan experienced no such BOOM period of Superheroes. Sure, Japan had Sentai teams but they aren't the same as Superman, Batman, etc.  American comics then took a turn in the 80s with Alan Moore's "Watchmen", a book that saved and destroyed comic books. " Watchmen" deconstructed the concept of the superhero and asked the question "What if the superheroes were morally questionable?" and from "Watchmen" spewed (and I mean that literally) a wealth of stories that featured heroes doing morally questionable things, in-fighting or just not being completely upright people. Sure you had your Punisher and Deadpool and Moon Knight (ie, characters who weren't afraid to take a life) but they were never looked to as heroes in the same vein as Captain America, Daredevil, or Hawkeye.

Alan Moore can't be blamed for this. He simply wrote a comic book, everyone else turned it into the "greatest comic book ever written"...

Fast forward YEARS later and "Watchmen" still has its hooks in comic books what with stories like "Identity Crisis" and Marvel's "Civil War". And now, we have "The Boys", now granted I have not read the comic book, I've only watched 1 and 1/2 episodes but my point still stands. "The Boys" is a product of "Watchmen" but this time it doesn't beat around the bush about our heroes being morally questionable, they're pretty much villainous, A-Train being a murderer and drug addict, Translucent being a voyeur and attempted murderer, The Deep being a frequent sexual predator (it's implied he's made Queen Maeve top him off) and Homelander being well...all of the above minus the drug addiction. Sure, these characters save people but even terrorists are heroes to someone...

F*ck you, f*ck you, f*ck you, you're cool, Starlight, f*ck you, f*ck you, Maeve...you ain't bad but f*ck you too...

The problem with "The Boys" is that it doesn't provide enough information to explain exactly why these characters "The Seven" haven't attempted to take over the world? Who cares about money when you're literally as indestructible as Homelander? As far as the series goes nothing can kill him (aside from Black Noir, but that's another story and he's not aware of that). Now I understand in the comics he attempts to take over America and somehow he's stopped, but my point still stands. What does Homelander need money for? What does Homelander need PR for? Homelander is an amoral douche bag, literally, maybe on some level he wants to be liked but ultimately he's a douche bag, and if he broke bad who's gonna stop him? And that's why I have a hard time engaging "The Boys" because I don't see why Homelander cares.

This isn't like Homelander's powers come directly from an intake of Compound V that he has to ingest a'la "Limitless" in order to be Homelander for a while and therefore can't break bad because Vought is the only place that can produce Compound V and therefore he has to work under their thumb until he can either manage to get his own supply of Compound V or find a way to retain the powers permanently, that would at least give Homelander a reason to be attending meetings and caring about his image. Superman cares about money because he has a secret identity and if his enemies knew he was Clark Kent they'd threaten the people he loves, therefore Clark maintains his secret identity. Homelander doesn't have a secret identity and isn't protecting anyone from anything so again why does he care? Homelander's greatest power is his power not to care and yet he doesn't use it. Consider this, there are people with LESS power than Homelander who've managed to do more.

Apparently, the only thing Homelander can do is jerk off on a rooftop...

Take Kahn Noonien Singh for example, who managed to take over 25% of the world, and he was super strong and super smart, but Homerlander could've easily turned him into a skidmark. Furthermore, Kahn was open about being a bloodthirsty warlord and didn't care about money or PR. Black Adam rules his country and despite having the ability to take over the world is loyal to his home and before Isis' intervention didn't care about his PR or money and again Black Adam is a bloodthirsty warlord and is very open about it. Homelander puts on a front about being this nice guy who's a symbol of hope, why, for who?

Switching gears, let's talk about The Snyderverse (as people are calling it) and a quote from the man himself;

This is the case in point as to why Zack Snyder and The Snyderverse is representative of EVERYTHING "Watchmen" did. Zack Snyder is stuck in a world where heroes CANNOT be good virtuous people, remove the virtue, and at what point do these heroes continue to be heroes? Batman is better than his enemies because he does not kill them, Batman abhors killing because he refuses to do what was done to him to anyone else. Batman understands that though these criminals may be criminals some have families and people who love them, and as for his enemies who have no families (like The Joker) if Batman kills him, he is no different than him. 

If Batman killed this guy would be the first to go...and yet in Snyder's version he's somehow still alive...sure, Zack, whatever you say...

Superman has to keep his power in check. Superman operates on a different level than Batman, Superman is a superhero, Batman is a crime fighter. Superman longs for a world where he can use his powers to save families from natural disasters and shipwrecks and things like that. He'd rather use his strength to save people not hurt people, hence why the last thing Superman uses is his fists. Batman seeks to terrorize his enemies, make them regret choosing to terrorize those less fortunate. There's this great scene in "The Dark Knight" where Batman has Maroni dangling off the side of a building, but Maroni scoffs at the height claiming the fall won't kill him and Batman glibly replies he's counting on it (not killing him that is) and drops him, thus breaking Maroni's leg. Batman is fine with hurting people but killing is a line he won't cross, killing is permanent. 

But Zack Snyder believes this is a fantasy world...that's just the thing, Zack, IT IS! And while American comic books are continuing to go down this path of less than virtuous heroes, Japan seems to be giving America a lesson in their roots with "My Hero Academia". Everything about that series boasts the ideals of being a hero, none of the heroes are morally questionable, they're all flawed individuals with their own issues but all of them shining examples of heroism. Take Lock-Lock for example, a character I didn't like at first because he came off as a jerk to the students but that's only because he's a father and had a deep concern for their well-being in such a dangerous situation. All Might is such an amazing character, despite his flaws he's always trying to be a symbol of hope and peace to everyone so that when he's around everyone can feel safe. Fat Gum, who we just met, is dead set on taking narcotics off the streets, he's encouraging and jovial and yet no less heroic.

THIS IS A HERO!

American superheroes USED to be ideals, they USED to be morally virtuous, upstanding people, people you look up to and strive to be. But they're not and what happened was exactly what Zack Snyder said and it all boils down to cynicism. Zack Snyder and Garth Ennis have essentially become Zack Snyder's Lex Luthor, believing that "if God is all-powerful, he cannot be all good and if God is all good, he cannot be all-powerful." and believing that this can apply to both God and Superheroes when it really applies to neither. The whole point of Superheroes is for them to BE SUPER. They're NOT like everyone else, THEY ARE BETTER! They're supposed to be! Many of us would've killed The Joker a long time ago but Batman doesn't because he is NOT The Joker, he's better than him. Many of us would've thrown Lex Luthor into the sun and been done with him but Superman doesn't because he believes in the good of everyone and is striving to be that example. Compromising these characters basically turns them into Homelander and The Punisher. 

The Superman and Batman who kill...

The cynicism of "Watchmen" has ruined American comic books because they're all trying to posit the idea of an evil Superman. Homelander, Omni Man, Brightburn, and even Doctor Manhattan (to an extent) are all evil gritty Superman-type characters that basically stem from the cynicism of Zack Snyder's views and the cynicism that's killing American comic books. "The Boys" is just the logical conclusion to the cynicism that's poisoned American comic books, a team of morally corrupt murderers fighting a team of morally corrupt murderers and there's no side for us to root for, only a side that is less corrupt than the other. That works sometimes, but when it's done all the time it becomes tiring. Sometimes the villain doesn't need to have a point, sometimes the villain can just be evil, sure they might have a good reason for their evil but like Tony Soprano and Walter White eventually the reason because a moot point once a moral line is crossed then you become the bad guy and no amount of sermonizing can redeem your actions. Now our heroes need to justify their actions so that they can go on being the good guy. I'm through with this cynical view on heroes. Keep your cynicism and gritty reality away from my superheroes, save it for spy thrillers and action movies, I want my heroes heroic. That's all, catch you guys later.