The DCU Heroes Will Be Making Some Political DECISIONS This Fall

Writers Bill Willingham & Judd Winick along with DC Comics VP Dan DiDio plan to bring Superman & Co out of the political party closet with the miniseries DCU: Decisions.
Appropriately leading to November's presidential election is the upcoming four-issue miniseries DCU: Decisions, which intends to reveal the political orientations of some major DC Comics characters.

Co-written by Bill Willingham (Shadowpact) and Judd Winick (The Trials of Shazam), with art by Stephane Roux (Birds of Prey), Decisions begins with an attempt on the life of a (fictional) presidential candidate by an anarchist assassin. Several superheroes swoop in to protect the four candidates--2 liberals, 2 conservatives--and to uncover the conspiracy (a la Identity Crisis). During the course of this mission, the heroes discuss with each other the importance of the democratic process and--more groundbreakingly--reveal their own beliefs and party affiliations.

"For the first time," DC Editorial VP Dan DiDio told Newsarama's MATT BRADY in early May, "we’ll be having our characters make true political stands in regards to their leanings, as well as what motivates them to be heroes, and what they believe is necessary for their world and their country to move in the direction they believe to be the right one. That’s the larger story."

It's a story that's getting flak from fans months before its release, even being tagged by BRIAN HUGHES at the blog site 'Again With the Comics' as "an epic train wreck in the making."

So, how did such a controversial idea come up, and how did these writers get involved?

When an audience member at Seattle's recent Emerald City ComiCon asked the DC Nation panel to confirm or deny the rumor that DCU: Decisions first surfaced in a bar, Willingham deadpanned, "It is common knowledge that Dan Didio is a drunk, and every idea at DC started in a bar somewhere."

The venue was indeed a bar and DiDio did originate the concept, but he was quite sober about it. "This is just another step for us to define who our characters are. This is something that we’ve been doing ever since Identity Crisis. With that, we examined people’s personal beliefs on what it took to be a hero and how much they were willing to sacrifice for it. In regards to the heroes of the DC Universe, I’ve always said that our heroes are proactive."

Willingham, who has on occasion brought his conservative politics into his critically and popularly acclaimed Vertigo series Fables, agreed and was proactive in volunteering himself and the liberal Winick (who's recently spent time with the equally-liberal Green Arrow) to script Decisions. The motivation for that was making sure both sides were represented fairly and equally in the story, a task that the two polar opposites were tailor made to accomplish.

"It's a clash of ideas, but we're not doing the 'we hate each other,' liberal-conservative thing, because I kind of like the guy," Willingham told CBR News's GEORGE A. TRAMOUNTANAS at Emerald City. He also praised Roux's visuals.

BLOCKADE BOY at 'Again With the Comics' isn't reassured by that statement. "I'm no fan of either the Dems or the Repubs but my impression of comic writers is that they're almost overwhelmingly Democrats. So I'm guessing all the Democratic characters will be saints, and all the Republican characters will be selfish jerk-offs or good-hearted yet 'misinformed' dupes who 'come to their senses' and align themselves with the Democratic Party. YAWN."

Technically, the two writers trade off issues, each stewarding two books. But practically, Willingham writes his script and jots down "placeholder" dialogue for the liberal characters involved in a debate. Winick takes the script and reworks that dialogue. He then does the same for the conservatives in his books.

"And interestingly enough, I found out in writing the first issue that some of the best dialogue was the liberal character making his argument to the conservative one," admitted Willingham. "And part of it is just that I want to be so fair because I don't want Judd re-writing everything, so you kind of go out of your way to be more fair to the other side, and one kind of presumes he's doing the same on his issues."

DiDio and Senior Story Editor Ian Sattler are overseeing the project to make sure the writers DO play fair and to ensure they don't take the story and its messages off in wild directions. Plus, though Willingham and Winick divvied up the heroic "roster" to serve as their proxies, DiDio has the final say about the characters' political leanings.

"I want people to take away [from this] an understanding of the depth of commitment of our heroes, not just that they’re vigilantes, but that they believe in the system that they participate in," said DiDio. "I want people to take away that fact that our heroes are motivated by different reasons and have different views, but yet all of them are able to work together doing what’s right for the people they protect, for the country, and for the world."

Other comic blogs, such as ComicBloc and JinxWorld, carry pages of comments from fans on this subject, many of whom believe that saddling superheroes with political affiliations makes them less iconic and limits the ability of readers to identify with them.

Willingham insisted that he's not out to turn liberals into conservatives with this series, but he hopes that Decisions will play some part in readers' engagment in the political process. "Hopefully, we'll be reaching out to those readers that have grown complacent and stir that pot a little bit--get them kind of riled up. Every reader is going to have to decide, 'Well, no way is so-and-so this. I can show comic book proof he isn't.' And if you get that kind of interest--positive or negative--you've got something good going. I think, if the story can do that, more power to it."

"No Thanks," posted CULLY at 'Again With the Comics'. "I'm still voting Green Party [and] backing Swamp Thing."

DCU: Decisions ships biweekly in September and October.



[Thanks to CARYN A. TATE at Comics Bulletin.]
0 Yes
0 No
PAnthony
6/3/2008
Comic Book Resources