- Sep 22, 2013
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What I really like about comic book art and comic book fan-fiction is that they capture a modern social interest in pedestrianized/colloquial 'politics-imagination.' Comic books present outlandish characters who represent issues regarding civics, justice, and etiquette and as such can be referenced for stories/ideas about customs and even laws.
Comic books have really exploded since the 1950s, and since 2000, there has been an avalanche of comics-adapted films such as The Dark Knight, The Avengers, Wonder Woman, The Adventures of Tintin, and Justice League.
In particular, Batman (DC Comics) is particularly interesting to me, since Batman is a superhero who specifically tackles criminal insanity in the modern city, and, since modern urban environments require much civics-meditation, criminal insanity is like a high watermark of 'modernism metaphysics' (arguably).
Batman's adversary Poison Ivy (a beautiful female botanist-turned-ecoterrorist) symbolizes all of the madness and metaphysics angst associated with modern justice/civics in urban environments where all sorts of industrial concerns make everyday policy rather confusing.
Since I'm retiring from Internet-blogging altogether (I've been blogging for over 15 years now, about civics, religion, personal testimonies, art and philosophy, storytelling, Christianity, etc.), I wanted to be sure to post a vignette on one of my favorite World Wide Web boards --- US Message Board(!) --- about Batman dealing with Poison Ivy in a modern schizophrenic city called Gotham.
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Batman (real name: Bruce Wayne) wanted to be sure Gotham City's most intriguing (and dangerous!) eco-terrorist, Poison Ivy (real name: Dr. Pamela Isely), was not going to threaten the new biochemical lab department of Wayne Industries, now that Earth Day was approaching! Batman was in his computerized bat-cave analyzing crime patterns and forensics reports of Poison Ivy's latest crimes/footprints such as the lacing of Gotham's first-mayor statue with a corrosive copper-acid. Batman understood that Poison Ivy was a resolute eco-terrorist who simply hated industry (and industrialization!).
Poison Ivy was in her lair (hidden in the forests right outside Gotham City) designing a new chemical toxin which she intended to place in Gotham's water-reservoir. This toxin, when ingested (i.e., in drinking-water), would turn a person's skin into a reddish-brown scaly mess (though there were no pain symptoms to make its onset predictable!). Poison Ivy was thrilled by the notion that the employees of the biochemical lab at Wayne Industries would drink water from the building's water-fountains and discover their skin was becoming...scaly! Poison Ivy was delighted by her own deviousness, but she wondered what to do about her secret 'love-crush' on Bruce Wayne (and Batman!).
Batman arrested Poison Ivy while she was trying to place a pumpkin-bomb on the footsteps of the Gotham City Police Department on Halloween Eve that year. The superhero escorted Poison Ivy to Arkham Asylum (the city's premier center for the incarceration and 'treatment' of the criminally-insane). Batman was driving Poison Ivy in his bat-mobile, and Poison Ivy knew she was caught-in-the-act, so she used the pensive opportunity to chat with Batman (who was also known as 'the Dark Knight') about Gotham, etiquette, eco-terrorism, crime, crime-fighting, and yes, even love. Batman kept a mental distance while talking to Poison Ivy (knowing full-well that the dangerous and attractive eco-terrorist was also a hypnotist).
BATMAN: You used to be a respected botanist, Pamela...
POISON IVY: I know! But as you know, crime is never 'normal.'
BATMAN: I wonder what you'd do if you knew my 'secret identity.'
POISON IVY: Man, I'd bet $1 million you're actually Bruce Wayne.
BATMAN: Nah. Wayne is too much of a socialite for my tastes...
POISON IVY: Well, whoever you are, I've always admired you!
BATMAN: Really? I thought you'd want to poison me with your toxins.
POISON IVY: The work of an eco-terrorist must never be compromising.
BATMAN: You would even 'frame' me for a crime I didn't commit?
POISON IVY: I'd do anything to protect Earth's flora and fauna...
BATMAN: I want to see you become a rehabilitated meditative woman.
POISON IVY: No, you want to see a beautiful eco-terrorist become 'civilized.'
BATMAN: I truly want you to find inner-peace (perhaps even love/spirituality).
POISON IVY: Maybe someday Batman you and I will agree about divinity.
BATMAN: Just imagine what the press would say...
POISON IVY: "Batman and Poison Ivy elope to Oslo (Norway)!"
THE END
====
Incidentally, Poison Ivy artwork (found everywhere these days it seems) is a wonderful boon in the universe of comic book art. Different orientations/characterizations/representations of Poison Ivy (in drawings, paintings, sketches, comics, films, etc.) reflect a real comics-art investment in naturalism-themed beauty (and anarchism-rhetoric!), which is why I've showcased some of my favorite Poison Ivy portraits here (below). Enjoy!
Comic books have really exploded since the 1950s, and since 2000, there has been an avalanche of comics-adapted films such as The Dark Knight, The Avengers, Wonder Woman, The Adventures of Tintin, and Justice League.
In particular, Batman (DC Comics) is particularly interesting to me, since Batman is a superhero who specifically tackles criminal insanity in the modern city, and, since modern urban environments require much civics-meditation, criminal insanity is like a high watermark of 'modernism metaphysics' (arguably).
Batman's adversary Poison Ivy (a beautiful female botanist-turned-ecoterrorist) symbolizes all of the madness and metaphysics angst associated with modern justice/civics in urban environments where all sorts of industrial concerns make everyday policy rather confusing.
Since I'm retiring from Internet-blogging altogether (I've been blogging for over 15 years now, about civics, religion, personal testimonies, art and philosophy, storytelling, Christianity, etc.), I wanted to be sure to post a vignette on one of my favorite World Wide Web boards --- US Message Board(!) --- about Batman dealing with Poison Ivy in a modern schizophrenic city called Gotham.
====
Batman (real name: Bruce Wayne) wanted to be sure Gotham City's most intriguing (and dangerous!) eco-terrorist, Poison Ivy (real name: Dr. Pamela Isely), was not going to threaten the new biochemical lab department of Wayne Industries, now that Earth Day was approaching! Batman was in his computerized bat-cave analyzing crime patterns and forensics reports of Poison Ivy's latest crimes/footprints such as the lacing of Gotham's first-mayor statue with a corrosive copper-acid. Batman understood that Poison Ivy was a resolute eco-terrorist who simply hated industry (and industrialization!).
Poison Ivy was in her lair (hidden in the forests right outside Gotham City) designing a new chemical toxin which she intended to place in Gotham's water-reservoir. This toxin, when ingested (i.e., in drinking-water), would turn a person's skin into a reddish-brown scaly mess (though there were no pain symptoms to make its onset predictable!). Poison Ivy was thrilled by the notion that the employees of the biochemical lab at Wayne Industries would drink water from the building's water-fountains and discover their skin was becoming...scaly! Poison Ivy was delighted by her own deviousness, but she wondered what to do about her secret 'love-crush' on Bruce Wayne (and Batman!).
Batman arrested Poison Ivy while she was trying to place a pumpkin-bomb on the footsteps of the Gotham City Police Department on Halloween Eve that year. The superhero escorted Poison Ivy to Arkham Asylum (the city's premier center for the incarceration and 'treatment' of the criminally-insane). Batman was driving Poison Ivy in his bat-mobile, and Poison Ivy knew she was caught-in-the-act, so she used the pensive opportunity to chat with Batman (who was also known as 'the Dark Knight') about Gotham, etiquette, eco-terrorism, crime, crime-fighting, and yes, even love. Batman kept a mental distance while talking to Poison Ivy (knowing full-well that the dangerous and attractive eco-terrorist was also a hypnotist).
BATMAN: You used to be a respected botanist, Pamela...
POISON IVY: I know! But as you know, crime is never 'normal.'
BATMAN: I wonder what you'd do if you knew my 'secret identity.'
POISON IVY: Man, I'd bet $1 million you're actually Bruce Wayne.
BATMAN: Nah. Wayne is too much of a socialite for my tastes...
POISON IVY: Well, whoever you are, I've always admired you!
BATMAN: Really? I thought you'd want to poison me with your toxins.
POISON IVY: The work of an eco-terrorist must never be compromising.
BATMAN: You would even 'frame' me for a crime I didn't commit?
POISON IVY: I'd do anything to protect Earth's flora and fauna...
BATMAN: I want to see you become a rehabilitated meditative woman.
POISON IVY: No, you want to see a beautiful eco-terrorist become 'civilized.'
BATMAN: I truly want you to find inner-peace (perhaps even love/spirituality).
POISON IVY: Maybe someday Batman you and I will agree about divinity.
BATMAN: Just imagine what the press would say...
POISON IVY: "Batman and Poison Ivy elope to Oslo (Norway)!"
THE END
====
Incidentally, Poison Ivy artwork (found everywhere these days it seems) is a wonderful boon in the universe of comic book art. Different orientations/characterizations/representations of Poison Ivy (in drawings, paintings, sketches, comics, films, etc.) reflect a real comics-art investment in naturalism-themed beauty (and anarchism-rhetoric!), which is why I've showcased some of my favorite Poison Ivy portraits here (below). Enjoy!
