By Theaibold Kennon III
Lamp Staff
For those who have never read a comic and only know superheroes from movies and TV, prepare to be introduced to some of the more creative, edgier heroes.
Superheroes have always been cutting edge in the comic books, giving voice to the voiceless, but now a new set of heroes has reached the mainstream thanks to Netflix.
A street level hero is more into stopping gangs, mobsters, triads, corrupt cops and shady business people. They are hardboiled, film noir, adult oriented and progressive.
After the events of the first Avengers movie, New York was left to rebuild. Crime skyrocketed, but the Avengers moved on. New heroes arose in the aftermath. Daredevil lost his eyesight as a child, but gained superhuman senses.
Jessica Jones has super strength super jumping abilities, and Luke Cage is a super strong, bulletproof hero for hire. After Iron Fist’s series the Netflix Marvel lineup will join forces for a miniseries called The Defenders, next year.
When super powered heroes are done well, they can be a metaphor for real issues. Daredevil is one of the only blind superheroes. He is a lawyer by day and masked crime
fighter by night. His blindness does not define his character, it is just a trait. Jessica Jones deals with being a rape survivor, struggles with sobriety, and low self esteem. Luke Cage is wrongly imprison and is still wanted.
As a visually impaired person, I don’t go out much after dark, let alone fearlessly jump from building to building. As a African American in this day in age, to know that bullets would bounce off my skin would provide some comfort knowing I would come home every night. As a man who has female friends who have been assaulted, I would love it if they could shatter a cinder block with one punch. It not simplifying the problems in the news, but rather acting as an agent of change, of hope.
It has been this way since the beginning. Superman is an immigrant. He was originally a super strong, bulletproof, social warrior who could jump over a building and toss a wife-beater into a wall. Empowerment to the powerless. Comics fans know that we cannot bend steel bars in our hands, that’s not why we read comics or watch them in movies, or TV. They are hope, strength, bravery and heroism trying to be human. Now these heroes represent more of the population.
Theaibold Kennon III can be reached at [email protected]
