scans_daily: 30 Days of Winter: Day 12 - Deconstructing Superheroes *Master Post*

sandoz_iscariot (

scans_daily,
@ 2010-12-12 02:24 pm UTC

Entry tags:

char: nite owl/daniel dreiberg, char: ozymandias/adrian veidt, char: rorschach/walter joseph kovacs, creator: alan moore, creator: dave gibbons, publisher: dc comics, series: 30 days of winter, title: watchmen

30 Days of Winter: Day 12 - Deconstructing Superheroes Master Post

Welcome to day 12 of

scans_daily's 30 Days of Winter celebration! Today's theme is deconstructing superheroes, comics that take apart the superhero mythos to analyze the nuts and bolts and find what makes it tick!

Watchmen! The most well-known superhero deconstruction in comics, and certainly the most influential (though not always for the best). Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' 12-issue maxiseries changed superhero comics forever with its depiction of morally ambiguous superheroes facing nuclear war in a real-world setting.

So S_D, what are your favorite superhero deconstructions?

Stick with us for all 30 days of our month-long event! Tomorrow's theme is LGBT Comics! And our full calendar can be found here!

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majingojira
2010-12-12 09:29 pm UTC (link)

Well, I'd be remiss to not mention either Neon Genesis Evangelion, Martian Successor Nadesico or Super Dimensional Fortress Macross.

These genres are built on tearing apart, mocking or otherwise deconstructing the tropes of Space Opera, Robot Pilot Heroes and even the mediums they appear in.

In a fun little bit of parallel irony: Both Evangelion and Macross ran out of money towards the ends of their initial runs, but today are utter cash cow franchises.

Having recently marathoned it and its' movies in a 22 hour session split across 3 days (GOD WHY!?) I'd be remiss to not mention <i>Neon Genesis Evangelion</i>.

I love the franchise, but god, WHY DID I DO THE LAST 12 EPISODES + THE MOVIE IN A SINGLE GOD DAMNED DAY!? WHAT WAS I THINKING?!

Further, what was I thinking doing character design analysis from a rhetorical stand point on a series whose later installments can be freeze framed for more detailed nuances in meaning and symbolism?

I handed the thing in almost a week ago now and I'm STILL RECOVERING FROM IT!

There's a lot more Anime deconstructions--which become Wildly popular int he US for some reason, but I'll only mention those three. Because some of the others are just mean.

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	no subject darkblade 2010-12-12 10:34 pm UTC (link)
	To be fair a lot of the symbolism in Evangelion wasn't really symbolic of anything and was just there to mess up people looking at it too closely. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent) (Thread) (Hide 1 comment) (Show 1 comment)

	no subject majingojira 2010-12-12 11:08 pm UTC (link)
	Why do you think I focused on character design elements? Color, Shape and Style over Crosses, Freudian Imagery and Existential Manifestations made things a lot easier. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

	no subject nezchan 2010-12-12 11:54 pm UTC (link)
	I'm a bit surprised you didn't mention Excel Saga, which deconstructed EVERYTHING, or FLCL, which was more of a stylistic deconstruction (plus general mayhem). (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent) (Thread) (Hide 1 comment) (Show 1 comment)

	no subject majingojira 2010-12-13 12:41 am UTC (link)
	I would have also mentioned The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya since it deconstructs the very idea of Genre, or Paranoia Agent which deconstructs Japan's obsession with cute things, but I chose ones that were closer to the Superhero Deconstruction of the thread. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

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