And Ye Shall Find … A Fortress!

Back at the dawn of time - around 1972, to be precise - a semi-obscure prog-blues band called The Groundhogs obtained the services of comics legend Neal Adams for the cover of their latest concept album, the aptly titled Who Will Save The World?

The packaging included a comic strip, also illustrated by Adams, that showed our heroes facing off against supervillians representing the ills of society. After failing to save the day with fisticuffs, the Groundhogs decide to battle evil by picking up their instruments and - you know - singing about peace, ecology and stuff.

How times have changed.

Most of what passes for entertainment these days is interested in little else than mindless violence. Claiming audiences want more “realism” in their diversions, pop culture has taken aim at the lowest common denominator. Writers throughout the media claim relevance by focusing thier efforts on rapists, victims of child abuse, alcoholics and worse. Need a quick surge of revenue? Show someone getting tortured for an hour or two.

It may be taboo to flash some nipple during a Super Bowl halftime show, but nobody will raise a fuss if a dismembered breast is shown during a CSI episode. That’s realistic, after all.

So what does this have to do with comics? In many ways, DC and Marvel are the worse offenders of all. Characters created with little more intent than to fly around and kick criminal tail now stand by impotently while villians escalate the violence to perverse levels.

A prime example can be found in New Avengers, where Spider-Man is routinely torn apart by villians he once handled with ease. Identity Crisis, a DC Comics mystery emphasized the best and worst of the current trend.

Although the heroes of the piece remained competent crime fighters (albeit with hidden secrets that tarnished their reputations somewhat), Dr. Light - a onetime minor villain - was made “relevant” by being transformed into a rapist.

Very impressive.

So why is your friendly neighborhood Fortress Keeper all Medved over this? To mangle a line from artist Michael Allred’s recent (and brilliant) issue of “Solo,” because “reality” is too often equated with darkness. Nobody will mistake the dawn of the 21st century for a sunshine day, but is our existence so miserable that we do little more than brood?

Unless your name is Eddie Vedder, of course not.

At the risk of sounding antiquated, the Fortress has been established as a haven for characters and stories that evoke the sense of wonder that attracted so many to the medium over the years. There’s nothing wrong with heroes or fun, a fact that slavish devotion to overly grim realities will never erase.

Hopefully, The Groundhogs would approve.