![]() In Millar’s world, being white and male doesn’t automatically grant any sort of power in and of themselves. But if taken as extreme metafictional camp, with appropriation of some theories of traditional minority studies, Millar’s Wanted can be seen as a treatise on masculinity and the shifting dynamics of socioeconomic power. Wanted is sick, twisted, and juvenile to the extreme. Into this carefully crafted construct of respectability comes Mark Millar's Wanted, a subverted superhero narrative that relishes the supposed realities of supervillainy and indulges in morally questionable oppressed white male (comic book geek) wish fulfillment. It’s taken years, nearly a half century, to shed this image of delinquency and decay, with many writers and artists carefully crafting intelligent, nuanced, and complex narratives, characters, and events in an effort to raise the perceived level of storytelling and achieve a certain status as pop cultural Literature. From there they became associated with juvenile delinquency and moral decay, and became the subject of book burnings. ![]() ![]() They began as the most basic of children’s entertainment yet scant years later these children’s superheroes became associated with America and American efforts abroad, with characters like Superman, Batman & Robin, and Captain America promoting nationalism, patriotism, the sale of war bonds, and even sometimes war-driven xenophobia. Superhero comic books have come a long way. ![]()
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