Transformation

[fajrdrako]

"Transformation is at the core of the classical superhero comic: the
moment at which the ordinary person becomes the extraordinary. The bolt of magic lightning, the costume change." - Warren Ellis (Bad Signal, May 24 2005)

This got me thinking - that's one of the joys about Warren Ellis, he often makes me think about comics in a way I haven't thought about them before. Calling mainstream American comics "fight comics", for example.

I would have said that my interest in comics didn't involve either fights or transformations, though I enjoy and accept both as part of the story. In some cases, I actually dislike the aspect of 'transformation' when it involves extreme uses of secret identities and schizophrenic character changes, as from the traditional Clark Kent to Superman. This is one reason I like the TV show, which doesn't feature that dichotomy - they wrote it out entirely.

At the same time, I like the contrast of public and private personas that go with this, in the case of some characters - this seems to be consistently and well handled with certain characters in particular - Batman, Nightwing, Spider-Man. Where does paranoid secrecy end, and a justifiable need for privacy begin? Do superheroes - or any characters - have the right to be living a lie, taking multiple identities to elude detection? How is truth best served? Or should truth be served? What's it worth, anyway? And all this leads to the most interesting question of all: what separates the heroes from the villains? Motives? Accomplishments? Ethics?

There are some interesting characters where the moment of transformation is not just a matter of putting on a costume or taking another name, but of real physical transformation - Thor and the Hulk come to mind here.

With notable exceptions, I tend to prefer the characters who don't undergo transformation from civilian to superpowered identities: the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, Dr. Strange, John Constantine....

I wonder why.

Comments

"Shazzam!"

[teenygozer.livejournal.com]

I find the transformation from Wee Boy Childe Billy Batson to Captain Marvel to be the creepiest transformation, even creepier than Banner-to-mindless-Hulk. It seems (in most versions) that kid never actually grows up, and that creeps me out. Even Robin grew up into Nightwing, for heaven's sake! And there's the idea of a small boy unaccountably one of the most powerful beings in the cosmos -- can that truly be an adult mind housed in that way-too-powerful body?

Never mind the Marty Sue aspects.

[widget-alley.livejournal.com]

This is my last week of school and then-- summer! Whee! I plan on celebrating my freedom by renting Smallville:S1.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Congratulations! What a good plan! I feel like watching the pilot episode too - just for the fun of it. (Destiny.)

Re: "Shazzam!"

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the Billy Batson and Captain Marvel thing is strange, which is maybe part of why I don't like that character or series. There's a discontinuity to him - it's the flip side of the transformative myth, giving the transformation an irrational, nightmare quality - at least, it always did for me. More Kafka than Ovid.

There are transformations I like in comics, such as the Bruce Wayne transformation to Batman and vice versa, but it may just be that I like the character so much, and the transformation is part of it.

The concept of transformation - espeically in the changing of clothes - makes me think of the wonderful scene in "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" where Aragorn puts on his armour for the Battle of Helm's Deep. He has several other transformations by way of costume: from vagabond to gentleman when they arrive at Rivendell; from gentleman to lover when he's with Arwen; from huntsman to warrior. Lovely transformations, every one of them.

[widget-alley.livejournal.com]

Also, buying Ellen Kushner's Swordspoint. I've been sadly neglectful of my antiheroes this schoolyear. (With the notable exception of Francis, of course, but he doesn't really allow one to be neglectful.)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Ah - yes, Swordspoint is wonderful.

And I agree, it's impossible to neglect Lymond even if one tries.

Re: "Shazzam!"

[teenygozer.livejournal.com]

Well, Aragorn is clearly a Man for all Season. I do like that they reveal he's about 80 or so in the extended version of Return of the King. Plenty of years in which to have experienced a lot and played many roles, to have become a complicated character with a greater understanding of life.

Just the other day, I was re-reading the collected first few issues of the Batman/Superman series, and at one point Hawkman and Captain Marvel are sent (by President Luthor) to kill or capture Batman and Superman. Preferably "kill." Captain Marvel is smacked-down by Superman and Batman in the fight, and the end of the battle reveals a small, pallid boy lying broken in a snow drift. Naturally this pushes Bruce's buttons like a damsel in distress never will, and he crouches over the child, and says: "Billy! Are you all right? Say something!" And we get a close up of this terribly fragile-seeming, battered child whispering, "Shazzam..." 'cos, c'mon, of course it's a trap to sucker Batman in close so Captain Marvel can finish him off.

In that moment, I thought to myself that the creepiest Batman villian was never *that* creepy or that scheming.

I always think Captain Marvel started off as nothing more than pandering to a fan-base of boys about Billy Batson's age. You *know* one of their main fantasys is one of being able to transform into the world's most powerful hero. But little kids have that streak of untamed meaness in them (see: Peter Pan), so I just can't help but look at Captain Marvel and shudder.

Re: "Shazzam!"

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I think that with Aragorn, Tolkien was trying to create the perfect hero, or the perfect man, or the perfect leader, or all three in one. For my money, he succeeded.

Captain Marvel has always seemed scary to me - partly the anomaly of his transformation, but also that he never seems real to me. He's an artificial creation. The personality is elusive.