The Role Of Criminal Justice In Comic Books

In his article “Violent Media Is Good For Kids,” comic book author Gerald Jones, claims that violent media such as comic books and cartoons can have a positive effect on our children because children use violent stories to meet their emotional and developmental needs. Jones argues against other people’s views that violent media will have a negative influence on children. Gerald Jones had many strengths in his article which helped support his argument and could possible make his argument effective. His strengths were mainly the use of emotional appeal like story telling and personal experiences to help convince his audience. While Jones’s essay started off strong, he only gave a few weaknesses like the lack of examples and how he only used one reference, his life, to justify his point of view which in the end did not help persuade the audience.

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

Introduction: As long as there have been civilizations, there have been stories, myths that are told to children. These stories are usually the basis of the cartoons characters except some which are from creator’s imagination. This story telling is a means of not only comforting and amusing a child, but of teaching the child the societal norms of their nation. These are memorized by children and remembered forever. Children idolize their favourite character, the character they have most in common with and are best able to identify with, and try to emulate that character’s

Ultimately, justice is what we are seeking in these entertainment driven TV series and movies. When criminals are held accountable for their misdeeds we as society are able to accept the misdeeds of others who are responsible for bringing the dangerous criminals to justice. A sense of peace and restoration of order is established in our hearts providing a sense of harmony in our

Cartoons have been use for many years and its modern usage refers to a typically non-realistic or semi-realistic drawing or painting intended for satire, caricature, or mock different things. John Backderf, known as Derf, is a famous and recognized cartoonist “who works out of an unheated, attic studio in his Cleveland home, grew up in a rural, small town in Ohio and went to high school with serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer” (“Bio”). He drew a cartoon in 1995 in which he presents an implicit theory about how and why things evolve to be “cool”. This paper will elaborate on explaining what Derf’s theory actually is, an interpretation of the meaning presented in the cartoon, and a fad or style that follows Derf’s theory.

The portrayal of superheroes in films has changed in terms of their character, appearance, style and strength. Superheroes has been a popular theme in hollywood films since its inception. They are what peoples imagination can only think of. A perfect human being who saves the world .The first time superhero appeared on T.V was “The Adventures of Captain Marvel” in 1941. Superheroes was on the rise within popular comic books in 1930′s to the 1940’s as well in which they were considered the ‘Golden Age of Comic Books’ . Comic books became widespread and popular which translated into making films about them.

Superhero movies have been on the rise lately. These movies are often looked at as entertainment for people who play Dungeons and Dragons and are simply mindless pleasure; however, this is not the case. The reason behind the popularity of superhero movies is more than just the want of the common comic book reader. The superhero movie industry has made a sharp incline in popularity; in fact there are more superhero movies now than ever before. A website called Fights, Tights and Movie Nights listed all of the superhero movies made since the 1980’s by year and these were their findings. In the 1980’s an average of three to four super movies came out a year. In the 1990’s these movies were made on average five to six times per year. In the 2000’s the movies doubled to 12-13 produced on average each year. Today, 2010’s, the average number of superhero movies has again doubled in size with it now resting at twenty-two to twenty-three superhero movies made on average each year. The drastic increase of the number of superhero movies leaves the average movie attendee wondering why they are seeing this spike of superhero movies. The increase of superhero movies can be contributed to a few key factors: the advances of technology in the movie industry, the movie genre’s adaption to be socially relevant, and the characters now possessing more humanistic qualities (Fights…).

Why are comics not appreciated as much as the dry narratives of novels in the literary world? A comic is composed of symbols to express concepts shared by all people in their own social environment, and provide more tools than conventional art to truly show artistic intention.

The idea of pop culture has many different opinions surrounding it. Some people believe that it’s a God sent to us, others think it's the devil. Chris Hedges and Melissa Ames both have opposing opinions on this topic. Hedges, in “American Psychosis,” discusses that pop culture is bad because we focus too much on superficial topics and not enough on the real problems in our world. Whereas, Ames, in “Engaging ‘Apolitical’ Adolescents: Analyzing the Popularity and Educational Potential of Dystopian Literature Post-9/11,” suggests that pop culture is a unique tool that you can use to understand politics and our world’s problems. Both authors struggle to convince their peers to believe their ideology and they both have unique ways of doing so. By

‘Superheroes’ is a documentary directed by Michael Barnett about the extreme justice league. The extreme justice league consists of middle ages men and women who are real life superheroes. Each of theses superheroes has various backgrounds of being victims or affected by violence or assault or have had a troublesome upbringing. For example, as a child, Master Legend was forced by his father to fight in a ring against his friends and other children. If he lost the fight he would not be allowed to eat dinner and he would get locked in a closet. The extreme justice league is a non-profit organization that helps fight and stop crime in the community. Theses superheroes claim they are doing the job law enforcement is lacking. The extreme justice league patrols the streets, helps citizens in need, attempts to capture video evidence of drug dealers, and bait criminals into doing criminal acts such as rape or robbery. The extreme justice league does not just fight crime but also helps the homeless by bringing them care packages. Barnett uses the story of the real-life superheroes to shows the corruption in the police force, justice system, and society. Corruption is the abuse of power someone holds over other people for their own gain.

In Judith Ortiz Cofer’s story “Volar”, she explores the innocence and creativity of the mind. A twelve-year-old girl, a collector of comic books, spends her weekly allowance, of a quarter, on super hero comics. She enjoyed the Legion of Super Heroes and Super girl, with Super girl being her favorite. The stacks that she had acquired were almost as tall as she was.

‘Today’s entertainment’, this general term refers to the type of media we consume today. Whether it is music or television shows, there is a constant change in the content, if not the entire type, of these particular forms of entertainment. Why? ; Simply because the world and more specifically, the people around us are ever changing because of the change of time. Since most forms of media are made to be relevant to the present time, authors and cartoonist of the superhero genre are made to do likewise.

They speak bitterly about politics and morality and what may seem like a trivial matter can be what sends shrapnel tearing at the heart of social media. In this case, the subject at hand deals with something as inconsequential as a school’s dress code policy, but is being broken down into something as wicked as teaching a child superheroes are no better than the villain. The author, Jonah Goldberg, gives an effective argument as to why the mere fact of superheroes engaging in battle doesn’t mean they should be condemned.

DC Comics as a media and entertainment company has rich roots in American pop culture since. DC owns some of the most iconic and enduring characters in the past century. In 1938 DC published the first Superman story in Action Comics no. 1. The massive success of the entirety of the superhero genre can be traced back to this first story. DC holds the centerpieces of the Golden Age of comics; like Batman (1939) and Wonder Woman (1941) (DeForest). Since 1969, DC was purchased by Warner Brothers and has remained that way until today.

Since the times of the Persian Empires, propaganda has been an effective tool for forces of the State government, or other institutions trying to spread a political message, usually for militarily or humanitarian missions. In modern times, propaganda has taken a new face with the Internet, but during the 1940’s one of the most effective types of propaganda was the use of comic books. Currently comic books are used around the world to spread the message of peace, war, and even religion. For example, in Egypt a comic book is used to spread the word of Islam and what a true Muslim should act like in accordance to Allah. Catholic undertones are used in comic books to spread a message of Christianity to people in an interesting way, with bloody action. In Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Bosnian War, Superman was used to get out awareness of landmines to the people in affected areas. Comic Books are an effective form of propaganda because they are meant to be interesting, and the superheroes show people how they should be acting during times of strife. Throughout the history of comic books, they have been unifying and brought people together and light to certain messages for people from different countries, cultures, and ethnicities.