Monday we discussed the Apollonian & Dionysian dichotomy. As I mentioned at the end of the post, this is a thing that is on artists’ minds a lot but not always at the conscious level. When you take that constant tension and place it under deadlines in a medium that thrives on kinda ridiculous concepts (like, say, comics), it’s going to bubble up to the surface like swamp gas. There are dozens of examples in superhero comics of this dichotomy, but I’m just going to hit a few of my favorites and most fun.
World’s Finest – This is the code name for a Batman & Superman team-up (originally in World’s Finest Comics, hence the tag). On the surface, these two fall into almost quintessential examples of Apollo and Dionysus. Superman is a veritable sun god bringing light and reason to the world with his solar-fueled super powers while adorned in radiant garb. Batman resembles a cthonic creature inhabiting a dark world choked with the miasma of madness. But this most obvious of examples also demonstrates the interplay. Batman fights madness with cold logic, cutting reason, and a can-do attitude Apollo would have found most appealing. Superman, on the other hand, is a being of feelings and intuition. No great tragedy drives his crusade for goodness, he does what he feels is right. Thousands more words could be said, but these two are a great example of the dichotomy as dialectic.
Orion – Son of a dark god raised in a world of goodness and light. I admit, Orion is framed as a little more “good v. evil” than “emotion v. reason,” but he still fits the thesis pretty well. He is consumed totally by rage. So totally, in fact, that he has to have a super-science living computer called a Mother Box to calm his more furious tendencies.
The Rest of the Fourth World – Orion is the most obvious example, but Mister Miracle who must overcome his fear in order to escape a literal hell, Darkseid who is another visually cthonic entity that is driven almost entirely by will and reason, and a whole lot of other characters that are allegories. Again, it’s mainly framed as “good v. evil” but there is an awful lot of raw emotion v. cold reason going on at the same time.
The Hulk – If Orion is pointing in the general direction of Apollo and Dionysus, then the Hulk is a giant neon sign that hangs right over their door. Emotionless scientific genius Bruce Banner loses control of his feelings and becomes a rampaging engine of destruction. The Hulk is literally Bruce’s worst nightmare made real; a desperate problem that’s all his fault that can’t be solved by the power of reason. The thing is, in the rare moments the Hulk is calm enough to reason with, he’s an unstoppable powerhouse that can be pointed in the right direction and use that raw rage to solve all kinds of problems that couldn’t be solved any other way.
Green Lantern – Honestly, as much as I love the Rainbow Lanterns as a concept, they do muddy the waters somewhat for this example. Still, a power ring is the most powerful weapon in the universe that can literally create anything the user imagines (Creativity) but only if it can be harnessed by the wielder’s willpower (Reason). Every single time a Green Lantern fires up his ring, he’s filtering his creative urges through the lens of his intellect. This is why boneheads like Hal Jordan tend to make things like guns and boxing gloves instead of, you know, interesting things.
I’ll stop for now, although there are plenty of other examples (probably a bunch I haven’t through of yet). Feel free to suggest some I forgot in the comments! If absolutely necessary, hit me with an “umm…actually” if you think I’ve got one wrong. Also, for my readers that are less superhero nerds, feel free to introduce some examples from other corners of literature.
Recent Comments