Comics vs. Terrorism

[Cosmic]

Very interesting article here at Newsweek. Is anybody familiar with this "99" comic? The concept sounds really cool.

 

[fifthfiend]

Atran has looked at whom they idolize, how they organize, what bonds them and what drives them. And he's reached an unconventional but, to me, convincing conclusion: what has inspired the "new wave" terrorists since 2001 is not so much the Qur'an as what Atran calls "jihadi cool." If you can discredit these kids' idols (most notably Osama bin Laden), give them new ones and reframe the way their families and friends see the United States and its allies, then you've got a good shot at killing the fad for terror and stopping the jihad altogether.

That is the stupidest ****ing thing I have ever heard.

...I guess it could hypothetically be viewed as just a really stupid way of phrasing an actually intelligent and insightful observation. But I doubt that this is the case.

Also

I grew up with Marvel and DC comics, spending my impressionable pubescence getting deep into the gothic drama of Batman, delighting in the athletic insolence of Spider-Man, savoring the unsublimated sexuality of the women in X-Men.

Good job Newsweek Columnist Christopher Dickey on letting the entire national readership of Newsweek Magazine know that you used to jerk off to Psylocke.

 

[Cosmic]

That is the stupidest ****ing thing I have ever heard.

...I guess it could hypothetically be viewed as just a really stupid way of phrasing an actually intelligent and insightful observation. But I doubt that this is the case.

Are you saying that the term, "Jihadi Cool" is stupid? Or do you have problems with the way Dickey explains it in the article?

And, I don't think he was being condescending to comics fans...he says that he's been reading this title for a year.

 

[fifthfiend]

Are you saying that the term, "Jihadi Cool" is stupid?

Pretty much. It glosses over a lot of complicated and quite awful realities with a rather crass infantilization of a pretty huge number of people.

Although to tell the truth, the comic itself doesn't actually sound all that bad.

 

[Andy C.]

At least the guy's making an effort. I'll give him that.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Huh. I'd like to check out an issue or two of The 99 now.

 

[Aristotle]

Oh great, another mainstream media outlet grants credibility to a non-superhero comic, further entrenching the idea that superhero comics (and even non-superhero comics that haven't been anointed by the media yet) are stupid. The most frustrating thing about all this is that it's so transparently obvious that this writer used to be one of us, but he sold out to the Blankets crowd.

let me make a confession here—I've been reading them since my colleague Florence Villeminot first wrote about them early last year.

A confession? Hedging your bets there, big dog?

I grew up with Marvel and DC comics, spending my impressionable pubescence getting deep into the gothic drama of Batman, delighting in the athletic insolence of Spider-Man, savoring the unsublimated sexuality of the women in X-Men.

What about the fun of them? Because I'm sure your pubescent self was thinking about words like "gothic drama" and "unsublimated sexuality." Shut up and admit that you read them because they were fun.

Did I mention that these are Muslim superheroes?

Because that makes them OK. Superman isn't acceptable for adults, because he's just a dumb superhero. There's no cool twist to make him artsy-fancy. But these are Muslim superheroes! Now we can pretend to acknowledge superhero comics without actually doing so!

A graduate of Tufts University in the United States with a triple major in clinical psychology, English literature and history, the 37-year-old Al-Mutawa also has a keen sense of symbols.

Unlike most comic book creators, who are just ****in' stupid.

Mughal, who wants to gather them together for, ahem, world domination.

Ahem. Hehe. Ahem. "World domination." That silly idea that only happens in outlandish superhero comic books.

Good job Newsweek Columnist Christopher Dickey on letting the entire national readership of Newsweek Magazine know that you used to jerk off to Psylocke.

Admitting things like that is actually hip now. Dave Sedaris and This American Life and Blankets have made that stuff hip.

Pretty much. It glosses over a lot of complicated and quite awful realities with a rather crass infantilization of a pretty huge number of people.

The way he says it is very insensitive, yes, but it touches on a larger truth: most terrorists and suicide bombers aren't doing it for Allah, even if they say they are. They're doing it because we're ****ing them over really bad, and they're tired of it. If that's what "Jihadi Cool" means, then I guess he's right, but still.

Having said all that, I might decide to try and check this book out. You can buy copies online at www.the99.org.

 

[Red Mask]

Last month, it was reported that the 99 will also be featured in a comic book team-up with DC's Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. Throughout the Net there have been mixed reactions to this.

Here's on example: http://www.cbc.ca/arts/books/story/2009/07/05/comics-dc-kuwait.html?ref=rss

Personally, I don't know if the Trinity are really the best western superheroes to have them team up with these heroes. I don't like what's happened to DC's superheroes over the last 10 years, so what could they hope to prove? I've only read one issue of 99 because it's not available over here.

In addition, the 99 will be made into an animated series.

 

[Red Mask]

Unlike most comic book creators, who are just ****in' stupid.

That wasn't very mature. This is the comic book industry not National Geographic or Scientific American.