Broken Frontier

During my broke college days, one of the ways I kept in touch with comic book goodness is through Dominic Deegan creator Michael “Mookie” Terracciano’s updates page. The webcomicker would often list the comic books he was reading, providing an active trail of the comic industry’s pulse one way or another.

As previously mentioned, Dominic Deegan figures somewhat into my own search for web-based super-heroes through “Mighty Man”, a cheesy comic book the seer protagonist read in youth, playing some role in inspiring him to be a hero.

In the current webcomic storyline, however, Dominic is beset by a life moving at an earth-shattering rate. He’s just gotten engaged  and been informed his teaching position will not be open next term. Frustrated and confused, Dominic’s stress all culminates in a candy-coated nervous breakdown – but not before seeing what has befallen his childhood hero “Mighty Man.”

His beloved hero is being re-launched as a grim, bloody and altogether demonic anti-hero. Admittedly, Mookie’s rendition of Mighty Man is more satirical than anything else – I can’t think of too many heroes who return embracing their “newfound demon vampire heritage.” But still – Mookie does have a point, as the promo banner reads “A New Brand of Might for Today’s World.” The image emphasizes the call for a different kind of heroes in today’s violent worldview. I can think of a few subtle examples of this in the comic industry – Captain America dies by a gunshot, and his successor carries a gun.

Perhaps one of the reasons cape and cowl superheroes fail to show up much in webcomics is their creators – like Mookie – have definite visions of the driving forces at work in the comic book industry – and not all of them are flattering. But while Mighty Man may have strayed of course, Dominic hasn’t – the character is still a virtuous and noble character in a world that is often anything but. Thus, even though traditional heroes might not appear as often in webcomics as I’d like, maybe the two aren’t entirely mutually exclusive after all.