DC: Decisions

[SenseiofCheese]

Everyone’s talking about politics these days, and in September, that will come to include the heroes and characters of the DC Universe.

The place for the discussion: DCU Decisions, a four-part miniseries shipping every other week in September and October, written by Bill Willingham and Judd Winick, with art and covers by Stephane Roux. The heroes…they’re drawn into the political arena both by circumstance and by the actions of one of their own. A look at the art to the right makes that latter part pretty clear.

We spoke with DCU Executive Editor Dan DiDio about the story, the idea behind it, and why in the world anyone would willingly bring politics into a place that’s politics-free these days.

Newsarama: Dan – first off. Why? What’s at the root of Decisions in terms of getting the project started in the first place?

Dan DiDio: We’re entering a very interesting election year this year, and what I think is important about it is that it’s that there’s this excitement – a sense of “building”…there’s change in the air in regards to the whole political process that’s at play in the United States. What we want to do is tap into that emotion, and tell a story that plays in the DC Universe with our characters, while using the political backdrop we’re seeing now to help to define our characters better.

NRAMA: So how far will the characters go? We’ve got the piece of promo art here, with Green Arrow and he’s not keeping anything vague…

DD: Right. For the first time, we’ll be having our characters make true political stands in regards to their leanings, as well as what motivates them to be heroes, and what they believe is necessary for their world and their country to move in the direction they believe to be the right one.

That’s the larger story.

NRAMA: What’s the inciting incident here?

DD: An assassin in the midst of the heroes that’s basically trying to disrupt and destroy the entire political process. In the opening sequence of the story, there is an assassination attempt on one of the candidates, which brings several of the heroes into the fold once they realize the scope of the conspiracy and more importantly, the impact that it would have on the government and the country.

As the heroes are motivated and start to react to the assassination attempts, they start to express their own political beliefs, and start to discuss amongst themselves the importance of the process, and their role in the process. Several of the beats we’ll be showing here will play out into the DCU following the miniseries as well.

NRAMA: The last time that the DCU touched upon politics in a big way was Lex Luthor’s run at the White House in the Superman titles, which he won. Given the character, that was pretty fictitious take on the process, with official parties not being named. This sounds like it’s closer to reality.

DD: Yes and no. This is not about the actual candidates. Barack Obama, Hilary Clinton and John McCain do not appear in this comic [laughs]. These are candidates that represent particular political beliefs, and it’s more about why the heroes are motivated or respond to particular candidates themselves, or the platforms of particular candidates.

And also, this isn’t about a hero trying to become an elected official – this is about heroes choosing or naming a political affiliation in regards to their own beliefs, which include, of course, being a hero.

NRAMA: So, as in our world, the platforms of the candidates end up touching everyone’s lives in one way or another, that’s not different in a world with superheroes – most likely the platforms mention or include superheroes.

DD: Right. And just like in our world, there are moderate beliefs, there are conservative beliefs, there are liberal beliefs. There are Republicans and Democrats. The process and what the various political beliefs and parties stand for remain the same. We’ll be exploring those beliefs as they exist within the DC Universe.

NRAMA: Who are going to be the mouthpiece characters, for lack of a better term?

DD: Naturally, because of the way we’ve played Green Arrow over the years, and because of the One Year Later story where he became mayor, he’s front and center in the first issue, but beyond that, the story will literally run the gamut of the heroes in the DCU, and we’ll be exploring the story from a number of different heroes’ points of view as one roving reporter tries to pin down each of the heroes individual beliefs.

NRAMA: Of all the different directions you could go into and the things you can do with the characters, why in the world go here, into politics with a realistic edge? Of anything, save religion, politics have proven to be one of the most divisive forces of the past decade. As we’ve seen, even party members from the same party will turn on each other in a heartbeat. Why mix the ugliness of our world into something that is, as many people want to see it, escapist entertainment?

DD: Because of the process and the discussion that’s taking place in the world right now, and more importantly, it may be divisive, but it’s also defining. This is just another step for us to define who our characters are. This is something that we’ve been doing ever since Identity Crisis. With that, we examined people’s personal beliefs on what it took to be a hero and how much they were willing to sacrifice for it. In regards to the heroes of the DC Universe, I’ve always said that our heroes are proactive. They go out and they try to do good. Where the differences come from with the heroes is based in what is their idea of the greater good? Again, in examining what people’s political beliefs are, you also start to understand what they believe the greater good to be, and it helps define our characters further. Therefore I think it’s a good thing for us to bring this examination to our stories and to our characters so we can further hone and differentiate who our characters are and who our different heroes are.

NRAMA: So in setting things up, who sat down with the list of characters and put people on different sides of the aisle, as well as sticking right in the middle?

DD: We started with four people in the room – myself, Ian Sattler, Judd and Bill. The interesting thing about the two writers that we brought in is that each one of them have a political point of view that’s diametrically opposed to the other. What that allows us to do is, we believe, explore both sides of the story without selling one side short, or only giving one lip service while we fully explore the other. It allows us to explore all sides of the political process and the political motivations as the story develops. It’s not about a right or wrong, it’s about the whole process itself and more importantly, what motivates people to participate.

NRAMA: Speaking of participation – it seems that if superheroes existed, they’d fall somewhere along the celebrity/public servant continuum, that is, people who are actively sought out for endorsements. Green Arrow is clearly endorsing someone…but will anyone else?

DD: That’s actually is responsible for starting a lot of the story when Green Arrow actually endorses a candidate, and you see the actual effect of that endorsement as it plays out through the polls and the political process. That motivates and galvanized some of the other heroes to step up.

NRAMA: “Step up” meaning discussing it with other heroes, or “step up” and endorse their own candidates?

DD: Both.

NRAMA: End of the day, what do you want people to take away from this?

DD: I want people to take away an understanding of the depth of commitment of our heroes, not just that they’re vigilantes, but that they believe in the system that they participate in. I want people to take away that fact that our heroes are motivated by different reasons and have different views, but yet all of them are able to work together doing what’s right for the people they protect, for the country, and for the world. And I want people to take away the idea that all of our heroes aren’t of a single mind or of one motivation. Each one is driven and driven in different ways to do different things in order to achieve the greater good.

And of course, I really want people to take away a really fun, exciting story that plays against the backdrop of America today.

NRAMA: And if this one does well - DCU: Faith?

DD: [laughs] We never really did go there yet, but we do have a holy war going on in Rann/Thanagar: Holy War so we are touching on some of the larger themes that are common to all religions…

NRAMA: Any last teases?

DD: One last one – on the whiteboards that we’ve shown – we had up on there, “Superman: Red or Blue?” That’s about this series.

Winiiiiiiiick! *Shakes fist at sky*

 

[BrianWilly]

Oh, dear.

Winick and Willingham? Together? To do...politics?

Whatever else happens, I do like this, though.

I want people to take away that fact that our heroes are motivated by different reasons and have different views, but yet all of them are able to work together doing what’s right for the people they protect, for the country, and for the world.

Shows that at least this isn't Civil War, thank goodness.

 

[SenseiofCheese]

I can't wait to see if anyone that's a massive, perhaps, Batman fan, would completely turn his/her back on him if he's revealed to be something they're not.

 

[Sakuraba]

I hate this idea.

 

[Darthphere]

It's pathetic that I didn't even read the article and already assumed Winick would be writing this.

 

[hippie_hunter]

I honestly find this rather interesting. Green Arrow and Hawkman are going to be pretty obvious choices here. But I hope we see some characters whos opinions aren't so clear.

We already know that the Flash and Hal Jordan are basically Republicans and that Black Canary and Red Arrow are basically Democrats. I want to see superheroes whose political beliefs aren't so clear like Batman and Superman.

 

[fifthfiend]

I was just thinking there wasn't enough shallow uninformed hackwork drivel in comic books and here's this this filling the gap. I look forward to watching Willingham and Winnick demonstrate "balance" by having everyone Willingham writes regurgitate sound bites from Michael Savage and everyone Winnick writes regurgitate sound bites from ****ing MTV News.

 

[Hush]

I think the big multi-billion dollar conglumerant that Bruce runs scream conservative or independent.

 

[hippie_hunter]

I think the big multi-billion dollar conglumerant that Bruce runs scream conservative or independent.

The Bruce Wayne persona that Batman gives off strikes off to me as a person who doesn't give a flying **** about politics and only takes part every once and a blue moon such as Harvey Dent's DA campaign.

Batman himself I think is intentionally apolitical whose views don't really mesh with either the Democrats or Republicans and sees both as horribly corrupt.

 

[Aristotle]

Bruce Wayne is presented as a classic guilty liberal power elite, and Batman plays as rough justice. Superman looks pretty populist liberal to me. But I don't think they'll give in and show either of their "true" political beliefs for the exact reason that SenseiOfCheese pointed out.

 

[MetalloX]

GRRRR _____ is a ______ ,**** i'm dropping _____'s book(s)!
I can see this ending very badly.

 

[Hush]

The Bruce Wayne persona that Batman gives off strikes off to me as a person who doesn't give a flying **** about politics and only takes part every once and a blue moon such as Harvey Dent's DA campaign.

Batman himself I think is intentionally apolitical whose views don't really mesh with either the Democrats or Republicans and sees both as horribly corrupt.

Thats why I said Independent. At leas that is how i see Bruce.

Bruce Wayne is presented as a classic guilty liberal power elite, and Batman plays as rough justice. Superman looks pretty populist liberal to me. But I don't think they'll give in and show either of their "true" political beliefs for the exact reason that SenseiOfCheese pointed out.

I dont know how you could think of bruce as anything liberal. Im sorry but I believe him being a Conservative or Independent. I can see where you might see him as a Liberal, but i think thatis very highly unlikley.

Superman on the other hand was raised on a farm and instilled with those ideals with from what I know about farmers, several of my friends dads are them an I live in Missouri farm country, I have never met a farmer that was a Democrat and Johnathan seems very doesnt seem to sway that way either in any interpretation.

 

[MaskedManJRK]

This'll either be an interesting story or something down-right f**king terrible--either way, the reactions and discussion that comes from this will surely be entertaining.

 

[Aristotle]

I dont know how you could think of bruce as anything liberal. Im sorry but I believe him being a Conservative or Independent. I can see where you might see him as a Liberal, but i think thatis very highly unlikley.

The Bruce Wayne persona is very liberal. Whereas most corporate exec types hold onto their money very tightly and are driven purely by profit, the bottom line, and cutthroat competition, Bruce has taken heavy losses on many occasions in order to provide social welfare when the government shirked its responsibilities, in order to not feed a war machine, in order to keep his company socially responsible. As I said before, the Bruce Wayne persona is a classic guilty liberal power elite.

Now it's true that the Batman persona is probably the truer persona, but that means that everything the Bruce persona does is informed and dictated by the Batman persona. Therefore, we can at least infer that the Batman persona believes in what the Bruce persona is doing; he would not willfully commit actions he believed to be wrong (as most people wouldn't.) This still doesn't demonstrate that the Batman person is liberal, but it does demonstrate that he does not subscribe to the central philosophy of modern conservatism: **** the weak, they can take care of themselves or die in the dust.

He also clearly and obviously rejects that idea with his actions as Batman. He exists to defend the weak against a cowardly and superstitious bunch of predators. He certainly takes very harsh actions against criminals, which on its own would seem to run very counter to many liberal ideas. But his Bruce persona takes great pains to try and stop crime at its root by eliminating the real causes, like poverty, lack of education, and cyclical violence. Batman/Bruce recognizes that the criminal is, in many ways, victimized by social forces in much the same way that the criminal victimizes his prey. That's something that conservatives still refuse to believe, even though its proven by every social science. The very fact that Bruce understands that poverty (and therefore crime) are in many ways the fault of the wealthy and powerful demonstrates his rejection of conservatism.

Is Batman an independent? At the end of the day, Batman doesn't vote. Bruce Wayne does. And Bruce Wayne, based on his actions, probably votes Democrat. Batman does not participate in politics, nor does he care to, but he still has philosophical beliefs that translate themselves into political ones, whether he intends that or not. Those beliefs are not easily defined, but at the very least, we can tell that he rejects conservatism, and does not reject liberalism. In fact, his influential Bruce Wayne persona may be one of the most public and effective liberals in the DCU.

Superman on the other hand was raised on a farm and instilled with those ideals with from what I know about farmers, several of my friends dads are them an I live in Missouri farm country, I have never met a farmer that was a Democrat and Johnathan seems very doesnt seem to sway that way either in any interpretation.

If you don't know any Democratic farmers then you don't know any farmers who know what's good for them. The Republicans have savaged the small farmer for decades. A smart farmer with his head on his shoulders knows to vote Democrat for that reason alone. I grew up on a farm, and I lived with farmers and their kids for years.

Furthermore, Superman has simply never given any indication, at least not post-COIE, that he believes in conservative ideas. Find me an example of Superman or Clark Kent ever waxing conservative post-COIE.

 

[BrianWilly]

Yes let's turn this into a big debate guys.

 

[Hush]

Aristotle, can't you make your posts that prove mine wrong a bit smaller? lol You bring up good points but I still hold to my opinions, proof or no proof I like to see these characters as they look in my eyes. Personally I think that Bruce and Batman are and Independent, did't Bruce run for Senator of Gotham or something like that? You can prolly find his political affiliation through that but then again you could also say that he just picks who he thinks has better character.

Superman on the other hand I have no evidence except when he went to take down Luthor when he was the president, what party was Luthor and technically you have Supermans party. Yeah yeah yeah I know "It was was Luthor thats why he took him down" but he also says in that very first arc of Superman/Batman that he respected America's decision. So he must have had something other than his hatred for Luthor fueling his dislike for the election.

I don't know either characters affiliation but I do know what i feel correct for each character whether it matters or not.

 

[fifthfiend]

Luthor ran as an independent.

 

[Spike_x1]

 

[Go God Go!]

It'd be a pretty cool idea if it had come from the head of a great writer set on doing something inventive and groundbreaking.

That said, it just seems like little more than a shallow marketing ploy invented by the editorial and placed in the hands of a not-so-good writer.

If it was Rucka instead of Winick, I'd be all over it.

 

[snipe]

I can't think of a way this could be good without Rucka. Or even with Rucka for that matter.
Yay politics!

 

[Darthphere]

Snipe!

 

[snipe]

phere!

 

[Darthphere]

Where the hell have you been?

 

[snipe]

Where the hell have you been?

I was over there [points]. I got bored so I thought I'd troll around here for a while.
Did I miss anything?

 

[Darthphere]

We're all possessed by demons.