TV AND FILM ⁄ PHILOSOPHY $17.95 POPULAR CULTURE AND PHILOSOPHY SERIES EDITOR: WILLIAM IRWIN Popular Culture and Philosophy tthhiiss llooookkss lliikkee aa jjoobb ffoorr.. .. .. AArriissttoottllee!! “Great Caesar’s Ghost!! A team of Brainiacs! Superheroes and Philosophy is Kryptonite for those supervillains who diss the heroes as lightweights! Riddle me this, Batman: How are Gotham City and “Finally--someone’s treating Metropolis like ancient Athens and modern Paris? comic books with the gravity Read this sensational book and find out!” they deserve. If, as Socrates --J.L.A. Garcia, author of The Heart of Racism said, the unexamined life is not worth living, then make your life mean something by reading “The life of the mind meets the life of the Superheroes and Philosophy.” eye! The muscles, the luscious flesh, the dark yet vibrant colors, the sadness mixed --Kevin Smith, filmmaker Clerks and Chasing Amy with exaltation, the traumatized heroes-- it’s all here, with a philosophical spark.” --David O’Connor, University of Notre Dame “A thorough examination of the messages and ideas that lie behind the colorful costumes and stylized “You’ll believe that a insignias of contemporary comic- philosopher can fly!” book superheroes.” --Tim Chappell, author of The Inescapable Self --Tom Brevoort, Marvel Editor and comic-book know-it-all “With comic-book heroes now more popular than ever, Superheroes and Philosophy could not be “Unmasked! Superheroes in the ivory tower! more timely. Read this book and find out what Astonishing revelations!” philosophical puzzles lurk beneath the surface of --Scott MacDonald, the stories that continue to shape the imagination Cornell University of large numbers of Americans.” --Thomas S. Hibbs, author of Virtue’s Splendor M o r Tom Morrisis the former Notre Dame philosophy professor whose classes became ris a campus legend, and whose nationwide speaking engagements have electrified the Truth, a n boardrooms of corporate America. His best-selling popular philosophy books include d M If Aristotle Ran General Motors andPhilosophy for Dummies. Filmmaker and comics o Justice, r aficionado Matt Morrisis a survivor of Harvard and UNC–Chapel Hill. r is and the OPEN For other titles in the Socratic Way COURT Popular Culture and Philosophyseries,visit Chicago and La Salle,Illinois opencourtbooks.com. Distributed by Publishers Group West Cover design:Joan Sommers Design OPEN edited by Tom Morris and Matt Morris COURT Superheroes 1/4/10 6:30 PM Page i Superheroes and Philosophy Superheroes 1/4/10 6:30 PM Page ii Popular Culture and Philosophy™ Series Editor: William Irwin VOLUME 1 VOLUME 9 Seinfeld and Philosophy: A Book Harry Potter and Philosophy: about Everything and Nothing If Aristotle Ran Hogwarts (2004) (2000) Edited by David Baggett and Edited by William Irwin Shawn E. Klein VOLUME 2 VOLUME 10 The Simpsons and Philosophy: Mel Gibson’s Passion and The D’oh! of Homer (2001) Philosophy: The Cross, the Edited by William Irwin, Mark T. Questions, the Controversy (2004) Conard, and Aeon J. Skoble Edited by Jorge J.E. Gracia VOLUME 3 VOLUME 11 The Matrix and Philosophy: More Matrix and Philosophy: Welcome to the Desert of the Real Revolutions and Reloaded (2002) Decoded (2005) Edited by William Irwin Edited by William Irwin VOLUME 4 VOLUME 12 Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Star Wars and Philosophy: More Philosophy: Fear and Trembling Powerful Than You Can Possibly in Sunnydale (2003) Imagine (2005) Edited by James South Edited by Kevin S. Decker and Jason T. Eberl VOLUME 5 The Lord of the Rings and VOLUME 13 Philosophy: One Book to Rule Superheroes and Philosophy: Them All (2003) Truth, Justice, and the Socratic Edited by Gregory Bassham and Way (2005) Eric Bronson Edited by Tom Morris and Matt Morris VOLUME 6 Baseball and Philosophy: Thinking Outside the Batter’s Box IN PREPARATION: (2004) Edited by Eric Bronson The Atkins Diet and Philosophy (2005) VOLUME 7 Edited by Lisa Heldke, Kerri The Sopranos and Philosophy: Mommer, and Cynthia Pineo I Kill Therefore I Am (2004) Edited by Richard Greene and The Chronicles of Narnia and Peter Vernezze Philosophy (2005) Edited by Gregory Bassham and VOLUME 8 Jerry Walls Woody Allen and Philosophy: You Mean My Whole Fallacy Is Hip Hop and Philosophy: Rhyme Wrong? (2004) 2 Reason (2005) Edited by Mark T. Conard and Edited by Derrick Darby and Aeon J. Skoble Tommie Shelby Superheroes 1/4/10 6:30 PM Page iii Superheroes and Philosophy Truth, Justice, and the Socratic Way Edited by TOM MORRIS and MATT MORRIS OPEN COURT Chicago and LaSalle, Illinois Superheroes 1/4/10 6:30 PM Page iv Volume 13 in the series, Popular Culture and Philosophy™ Front cover art: conceived and drawn by Craig Rousseau, colored by J.D. Smith. To order books fr om Open Court, call toll-fr ee 1-800-815-2280, or visit our website at www.opencourtbooks.com . Open Court Publishing Company is a division of Carus Publishing Company. Copyright ©2005 by Carus Publishing Company First printing 2005 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher, Open Court Publishing Company, a division of Carus Publishing Company, 315 Fifth Street, P.O. Box 300, Peru, Illinois, 61354-0300. Printed and bound in the United States of America. r design: Joan Sommers Design Library of Congr ess Cataloging-in-Publication Data Superheroes and philosophy / edited by Tom Morris and Matt Morris. p. cm.—(Popular culture and philosophy ; v. 13) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-8126-9573-1 (alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-8126-9573-9 (alk. paper) 1. Comic books, strips, etc.—Moral and ethical aspects. 2. Heroes in literature. I. Morris, Thomas V. II. Morris, Matt, 1983- III. Series. PN6712.S86 2005 741.5'09—dc22 2005005935 Superheroes 1/4/10 6:30 PM Page v Contents Men in Bright Tights and Wild Fights, Often at Great Heights, and, of Course, Some Amazing Women, Too! ix Part One The Image of the Superhero 1 1. The Real Truth about Superman: And the Rest of Us, Too MARK WAID 3 2. Heroes and Superheroes JEPH LOEB and TOM MORRIS 11 3. The Crimson Viper versus the Maniacal Morphing Meme DENNIS O’NEIL 21 4. Superhero Revisionism in Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns AEON J. SKOBLE 29 Part Two The Existential World of the Superhero 43 5. God, the Devil, and Matt Murdock TOM MORRIS 45 6. The Power and the Glory CHARLES TALIAFERRO and CRAIG LINDAHL-URBEN 62 7. Myth, Morality, and the Women of the X-Men REBECCA HOUSEL 75 8. Barbara Gordon and Moral Perfectionism JAMES B. SOUTH 89 v Superheroes 1/4/10 6:30 PM Page vi vi Contents 9. Batman and Friends: Aristotle and The Dark Knight’s Inner Circle MATT MORRIS 102 10. The Fantastic Four as a Family: The Strongest Bond of All CHRIS RYALL and SCOTT TIPTON 118 11. Comic-Book Wisdom MICHAEL THAU 130 Part Three Superheroes and Moral Duty 145 12. Why Are Superheroes Good? Comics and the Ring of Gyges JEFF BRENZEL 147 13. Why Should Superheroes Be Good? Spider-Man, the X-Men, and Kierkegaard’s Double Danger C. STEPHEN EVANS 161 14. With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility: On the Moral Duties of the Super-Powerful and Super-Heroic CHRISTOPHER ROBICHAUD 177 15. Why Be a Superhero? Why Be Moral? C. STEPHEN LAYMAN 194 16. Superman and Kingdom Come: The Surprise of Philosophical Theology FELIX TALLON and JERRY WALLS 207 Part Four Identity and Superhero Metaphysics 221 17. Questions of Identity: Is the Hulk the Same Person as Bruce Banner? KEVIN KINGHORN 223 18. Identity Crisis: Time Travel and Metaphysics in the DC Multiverse RICHARD HANLEY 237 Superheroes 1/4/10 6:30 PM Page vii Contents vii 19. What’s Behind the Mask? The Secret of Secret Identities TOM MORRIS 250 Wow! It Could Be the Greatest Gathering of Minds in Comic-Book History! Hold on to Your Hats and Get Ready for the Bios of Your Life! 267 Index 275 Superheroes 1/4/10 6:30 PM Page viii Superheroes 1/4/10 6:30 PM Page ix Men in Bright Tights and Wild Fights, Often at Great Heights, and, of Course, Some Amazing Women, Too! Look! Up on the screen! Or, over there, in the bookstore! It’s a superhero! It’s—lots and lots of superheroes! Holy Pop Culture! What’s going on? The whole country is learning the secret that’s been kept alive for years by a core group of comic-book fans—the classic superhero stories, as they continue to be produced by some of the best writers and artists alive, can be wildly fun, suspenseful, exciting, and even profoundly thought-provoking. Like Plato and Aristotle, Superman and Batman are here to stay. So are Spider-Man, Daredevil, the Fantastic Four, and the Uncanny X- Men, among many other mythic heroes in tights. One of the most striking pop culture developments of the present day is the strong resurgence of the costumed super- hero as an entertainment and cultural icon. A recent, nationally syndicated newspaper article on this turn of events began with the sweeping sentence, “It’s become a comic-book world.” The global reference is appropriate. Not many fictional characters in history have attained anything like the international recog- nition of Superman and Batman. These two titans of the comics have inspired radio, television, film, and musical depic- tions since their first appearances in the late 1930s. You can see someone wearing a Superman or Batman T-shirt in almost any part of the world, and under some of the most extraordi- nary circumstances. Now, many of their junior colleagues are being featured on the big screen, and some of them are becoming huge film and merchandising franchises themselves. The first Spider-Man movie surprised the film community with the single largest U.S. opening weekend gross revenues in his- tory. And Spider-Man 2 topped even that in worldwide box office receipts. Over the next few years, this trend is predicted ix