Consciously or not, this dismissal evokes the slogan of another comedic Marvel character, Howard the Duck, frequently introduced as trapped in a world he never made! It pays loving tribute to superhero comics past with one hand and derides it with the other. Such commingled contempt and affection turns up often in superhero comics, but its ultimately a toxic relationship. DC and Marvel cant stop hurting their sillier heroes, but cant let them go, either. Those dead JLI members returned as verbally abusive killer zombiesand, impossible as it sounds, this wasnt played for laughs. Billys strength of spirit may allow him some dignity in this crueler world, but he cant thrive in it any more than Christian Bales Batman could turn his crimefighting prowess to the world of My Little Pony. And had magic lighting given Billy the powers of Self-Harming, Angst, Zombiism and Amoral Mindscrewing, he might not be so fondly remembered. Then again, some of the stories about Solomon, Hercules and Zeus arent the most kid-friendly fare, either. Every fictional universe exerts a pull on the tone of its characters lives: its just that market forces in comic books have often led the grungier universes to crowd out the Beckvilles. So what's to be done? (Even though this is item #1, click through one more page for the answer.)
T Campbell has written quite a few online comics series and selected work for Marvel, Archie and Tokyopop. His longest-running works are Fans, Penny and Aggie-- and his current project with co-writer Phil Kahn, Guilded Age.
