The Death Of A Costumed Adventurer

In most novels, comics or short stories the reader expects that the hero will be a strong, handsome, charismatic man who always saves the day. This image can be completely thrown out the window in Allen Steele's “The Death of Captain Future”. Our unlikely heroes in this short story are antiheroes or flawed heroes, who have a tragic flaw due to a horrible past, selfishness or not having entirely pure intentions. Rohr Furland a spacer and Bo McKinnon captain of the Comet are two characters that are unlikely heroes. Rohr Furland is a selfish man who is more concerned about his life plans than the needs of others. While Bo McKinnon is ready to leap into danger but fails to take caution. Although McKinnon and Furland are unlikely heroes, they both have a redeeming quality. Furland is willing to give the glory to someone else so they can die with honor. While McKinnon’s is willing to put the needs of the many over the needs of the few first.

The novel, The invisible hero by Elizabeth Fensham explores the theme of heroism and villainy. Heroism can be defined as doing a selfless act in hope of inspiring others. Villainy can be defined as an act of doing something ‘evil’ in spite of another person or group. although it is commonly known that heroes and villains are polar opposite it is much more complex because it all depends on perspective. This idea of heroism and villainy will be expressed through an analysis of the style, characters, setting and plot.

The physicality and violence of the hypermasculine hero is emphasized in the character of Edward Blake, the costumed crime fighter known as The Comedian, but this emphasis serves not to glorify him but to expose our acceptance of vigilante violence, especially when abstracted from morality. Many superheroes

Superheroes can be defined in many ways by many experts. Clare Pitkethly’s academic background consists of comparative literature, culture and communication as she also speaks and writes comic books and superhero, defines a superhero to be different. In Pitkethly’s article “Straddling a Boundary: The Superhero and the Incorporation of Difference,” talks about

Through the character Rorshach, The Watchmen explores the issues of nature verses nurture for him. Moore adds that a super hero, can be a psychological argument. A super hero is neither born nor shaped by environment, it is the creation of an alter ego to suppress childhood conflicting inner issues. Rorshach dealt with issues as a young child that rationalized in his mind to hide behind a costume and a mask in order to live.

Tim Burton’s fictional worlds are ones of clear compartmentalization, quite often between literal shades of black and white. Through visual contrasts the audience is not only drawn into the plot, but also given explicit messages about how to interpret the actions and motives of the characters. His macabre art style and purposeful storytelling both hint at his rejection of the status quo; throughout his stories he reinforces the idea that normality is not synonymous with morality through the use of stark lighting contrast, yin and yang style settings, and costumes that are polarly different.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a superhero as, “a fictional character who has amazing powers (such as the ability to fly)” or “a very heroic person”; yet, many of the characters in Watchmen have no supernatural power and are immoral by most precedent societal standards. Alan Moore, in the graphic novel Watchmen (1986-1987), asserts Rorschach as an example of deontology. Moore supports his thoughts through dialogue and illustration. The author’s purpose is to juxtapose philosophical beliefs by comparing their varied flaws through differing narrators’ points of view. The author takes a condescending tone in an effort to enrage his target audience of adult males. This paper seeks to illustrate, qualify, and challenge Moore’s claim that Rorschach is a deontologist.

Markus Zusak’s novel, The Book Thief, tells the heart-wrenching story of Liesel Meminger, a German girl, as she navigates adolescence in Nazi Germany. With his convincing depiction of the time, it could be said that Zusak worked within the conventions of realistic fiction were it not for his otherworldly narrator—Death. Death traditionally marks the end of a story, so Zusak’s decision to begin his novel with Death’s voice piqued my interest. This interest was intensified by Death’s unique characterization—he is personified, yet retains his inhuman features. This incongruity in conjunction with the aberrant choice in narrator raised the question:

In the essay, “Secret Skin: An Essay in Unitard Theory”, American novelist, Michael Chabon, disputes that superheroes utilize their costumes in hopes of ‘concealing’ background knowledge of: who they are, how they obtain their abilities or why they adopted their alter ego (Chabon par. 28). Chabon develops his claim by arguing that people transform instead of escaping reality. Chabon believes that costumes can make a person develop into a stronger, more esteemed version of themselves. His purpose is to emphasize costumes do not keep identities anonymous but are used to display a physical representation of a person’s inner being.

Without darkness, there is no light. Without cold, there is no hot. Without villain, there is no hero. Who and what dictates a hero? People try not to fathom whom they consider a villain, a hero in someone else’s perspective.

The Watchmen embodies the very worst of human nature through it's ideal form of desire for justice without mercy. The ability to feel emotions is what makes us human and in The Watchmen every character has different feelings which make them who they are. For example Rorschach being relentless in his pursuit of justice as he wants to save the slaughter of innocents and protect the bystanders. One of the earliest known metaphysics of philosophers is Thales of Miletus who rejects the belief that the Gods were the cause of all and instead believes that everything in the world must have a rational explanation. It is not Doctor Manhattan's fault that he is who he is and no matter what, he is still human in the beginning

In We Wear the Mask, the author’s purpose is to push the reader to feel something about the way things were in his perspective.

Give it back!” (V, 28, 7). He does not know to function without his mask because “Rorschach” has become his main personality and “Walter Joseph Kovacs” is the mask he wears to keep Rorschach’s identity secret. The mask is made out material that looks like the psychological Rorschach Test which is where he

In the movie Watchmen By Zach Snyder Even though every hero and villian sees theirself as doing something good and having a good reason as to why they did it, the conflict with and the meaning of each character bringing out their own reason as to being whom and what they were because whether good or bad each character was seen as being a hero in their own eyes and "Every lillian is a hero in his own mind" (Tom

“ As Campbell suggests, heroes and villains can present us with the challenge to transformation, possibly enabling us to see ourselves and others in new Light. The heroes and villains continually thrown up by human