I REMEMBER BEING IN A THEATER EXACTLY A YEAR AGO WATCHING THE PREMIERE OF AVENGERS:ENDGAME,WHEN PEPPER TOLD TONY,"YOU CAN REST NOW". I SUDDENLY HEARD A GUY LITERALLY FOLDING HIS HANDS AND PRAYING FOR TONY,"PLEASE,DON'T DIE".THAT MOMENT WHEN I LOOKED AROUND,I SAW ADULTS CRYING,TEENAGERS BEING DROP DEAD SILENT.
WHY DID THIS DEATH ON SCREEN OF A FICTIONAL CHARACTER FEEL SO PERSONAL?WHY IS A MARVEL RELEASE A FESTIVAL IN THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD? WE COULD RELATE TO THESE SUPERHUMANS BEACAUSE OF THEIR FLAWS,THE IMPERFECTION IN THEM, LIKE BATMAN IN NOLAN'S DARK KNIGHT TRILOGY OR SPIDERMAN IN RAIMI'S TRILOGY FAILING TO CONFESS THEIR FEELINGS TO THEIR GIRLS, BEING UNABLE TO SAVE 'EVERYONE' MADE US FEEL THAT THEY ARE US. BUT THIS HUMAN CHARACTER IN SUPERHEROES CAME WITH A NAME YOU PROBABLY HAVE NEVER HEARD BEFORE, MARVEL MAN.
IN 1938,"SUPERMAN" WAS FIRST PUBLISHED BY ACTION COMICS(LATER DC COMICS) AND GAVE THE WORLD A NEW HERO AND NEW GENRE.1939 SAW THE PRINT OF "CAPTAIN MARVEL"(NOW KNOWN AS SHAZAM) BY FAWCETT COMICS WHICH WAS VERY MUCH SIMILAR TO SUPERMAN.CLARK KENT BECAME BILLY BATESON,BUT THE ONLY DIFFERENCE BEING BILLY,A TEENAGER HAD TO UTTER THE WORD SHAZAM TO BECOME HIS ALTER EGO.WHEN CAPTAIN MARVEL STARTED OUTSELLING SUPERMAN,DC COMICS SUED FAWCETT AND THE LATER WAS CLOSED DOWN IN 1953.
MEANWHILE IN THE U.K.,A COMPANY NAMED L.MILLER AND SONS WERE MAKING MONEY BY REPRINTING CAPTAIN MARVEL.BUT DUE TO DC'S LAWSUIT IN 1953,THEY SUDDENLY FOUND THEMSELVES WITH NO NEW MATERIAL.SO THEY CREATED THEIR OWN VERSION,"MARVELMAN",A COMPLETE RIP OFF OF CAPTAIN MARVEL.BILLY BATESON BECAME MICKY MORRAN,AND THE MAGICAL WORD BECAME"KIMOTA"(ATOMIK SPELLED BACKWARDS)THEY FOUND CONSIDERABLE SUCCESS UNTIL 1959,WHEN U.K. LIFTED THE BAN ON IMPORT OF AMERICAN COMICS.THE BLACK AND WHITE PAGES OF MARVELMAN COULD NOT COMPETE WITH THE BRIGHT COLOURS OF AMERICAN SILVER AGE COMICS.
20 YEARS LATER,A YOUNG ALAN MOORE(THE CREATOR OF WATCHMEN AND V FOR VENDETTA) IS HIRED TO REVIVE MARVELMAN,AND IT WOULD CHANGE COMIC BOOKS FOREVER.IN MOORE'S VERSION,MICKY MORRAN IS GROWN UP,IN HIS 40s,HE IS SAD,OVERWEIGHT,FINANCIALY INSECURE,AND THERE IS SOMETHING HE CANNOT REMEMBER(THE WORD 'KIMOTA',THUS HIS PAST LIFE).ONE DAY DURING A TERRORIST ATTACK ON AN ATOMIC POWER STATION,HE REMEMBERS THE WORD AND MARVEL MAN IS BACK IN BUISINESS.WHEN HE TELLS HIS WIFE,LIZ ABOUT THIS,SHE STARTS LAUGHING.SHE ASKS IF ALL THE SUPERHERO THINGS ARE TRUE,WHY DOESN'T ANYBODY REMEMBER IT.LATER MORRAN DISCOVERS THAT HE WAS CREATED BY AN EVIL FORMER NAZI SCIENTIST AS A WEAPON FOR BRITISH ARMY.ALL THOSE EARLIER MEMORIES OF BEING A HERO AND SAVING PEOPLE WERE IMPLANTED TO CONTROL HIM.
NEIL GAIMAN(JUST GOOGLE HIM) SAYS,"THATS RIPPED ME UP BACK THEN.IT IS KIND OF STRANGE NOW,BUT YOU SHOW PEOPLE THAT AND THEY ARE NOT SURPRISED.WHAT THEY DON'T REALISE THAT IT WAS ALMOST THE FOUNDATION OF THE MORE MATURE,DARKER COMICS.WHAT MOORE DID WAS BRILLIANT,HE JUST TOOK IT SERIOUSLY.HIS WORK WAS INTELLECTUALY POWERFUL, EMOTIONALY CHALLENGING"
YOUTUBE CHANNEL NERDWRITER1 SAYS,"IN HIS WORKS MOORE ASKS THE QUESTION,"WHAT IF SUPERHUMANS EXISTED IN REAL WORLD?"REALISM IN SUPERHUMAN MOVIES ARE COMMON THESE DAYS.WE DEMAND OUR HEROES TO HAVE FLAWS,EMOTIONAL DEPTH AND VILLAINS TO BE PLAUSIBLY MOTIVATED,THE ATIONS OF BOTH TO HAVE CONSEQUENCES,WE WANT THAT WORLD TO RESEMBEL OURS.AND IF GREAT POWERS ARE EMBODIED IN INDIVIDUALS,THOSE BEINGS WOULD INEVITABLY LOOK UPON US AS WE LOOK ON ANIMALS.POWER LIKE THAT DOES NOT RESTORE BALANCE TO THE WORLD,IT CHANGES THE WORLD IRREVERSIBLY."
IN MOORE'S WORDS,"WE WILL NEVER GRASP THEIR HOPES.WE WILL NEVER KNOW THE DESTINY THAT HOWLS IN THEIR HEARTS,NEVER KNOW THEIR PAIN,THEIR LOVE,THEIR ALMOST SEXUAL HATRED,WE ARE ONLY HUMANS,AND PERHAPS WE WIL BE THE LESS FOR THAT." MARVELMAN,NOW CALLED MIRACLE MAN DUE TO LEGAL ISSUES,IS INDEED THE PIONEER OF A COMIC BOOK REVOLUTION WHICH LED TO MAKING SUPERHEROES MORE LAYERED,DARKER,IN OTHER WORDS MORE "HUMAN".IT IS MARVELMAN WHICH PAVED THE WAY TO THE MODERN DAY MASTERPIECES LIKE BATMAN:THE KILLING JOKE(ON WHICH THE DARK KNIGHT IS BASED),WATCHMEN,DEADPOOL AND ALL OTHER MOVIES WHICH WE LOVE,BECAUSE WE CAN CONNECT TO THEM ON A HUMAN LEVEL.TODAY,SUPERHEROES ARE NOT JUST HERCULEAN BEINGS WEARING COLOURFUL TIGHTS,BUT ARE RELATABLE PERSONALITIES.
By: Soumya Shekhar Das
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