6 Libertarian Themed Comic Book Stories You MUST Read

By R. Brownell

6. Marvel’s Ultimate Comics: New Ultimates vs. Avengers

Theme: the military industrial complex

Showcasing the perils of the military industrial complex, this limited series (taking place in an alternate universe separate from the mainstream Marvel titles) shows the Ultimates (a government sponsored superhuman strike force run by the counterterrorism organization SHIELD) chasing down experimental super soldiers created by SHIELD, who go missing due to a double agent in the agency selling them to hostile nations.

During the worldwide chase for the missing super soldiers, the Ultimates discover that Gregory Stark (Tony Stark’s half-brother), SHIELD’s primary weapons development contractor, was not only facilitating the black market sale of the super soldiers to hostile (nation’s like North Korea), but was also framing SHIELD director Nick Fury and his covert ops team, the Avengers, of committing terrorist acts across the globe in order to convince the president to arrest Fury and put Stark in his place as director of SHIELD.

As a result of the fight for SHIELD between the Avengers and the Ultimates, and the global search for the missing super soldiers, thousands not only died in the process, but the competition for super powered armies nearly caused WWIII. One example of the disregard for due process came about when instead of arresting Gregory Stark for his crimes against humanity, Thor instead decided to hit Stark with a bolt of lightning, which ended up killing him instantly….

Additionally, during a fight between the Ultimates (sent to find Fury) and the Avengers (trying to find the real culprit) Fury decides to also start locating the scientists responsible for the creation of the new super soldier serums, including Tyrone Cash aka the Black Hulk.

When Fury’s team locates Cash, Fury interrogates him, and after getting the information he needs, manages to power down the Black Hulk and  shoot him in the face instead of arresting him.

In terms of collateral damage, not only do the Ultimates and Avengers manage to destroy half of Manhattan looking for the missing super soldiers, but the Punisher (who was released from jail by Nick Fury), accidentally shoots Spider-Man (witnessing the fight, he came to protect civilians from the violence and destruction), who took the assassin’s bullet meant for Captain America, thus killing the teenage hero.

What this tale shows is a classic case of cold war tensions between ideologically opposed nations, and the additional fuel to the fire the military industrial complex adds to the mix.  If not for the constant need for super soldiers, new dangers would not have been brought into the world, and young, impressionable superheroes like Spider-Man would not have been killed in the crossfire simply for protecting his city from the battling super humans, who don’t care about the destruction they bring with them.

Lastly, the lack of regard for due process and the law also creates a web of scandal and conspiracy which causes the American public to lose trust in not only SHIELD, but also heroes like Captain America and Iron Man.

5. The Dark Knight Returns

Theme: monopolized power and a public disarmed

The story which changed the Batman mythos forever, writer Frank Miller’s “The Dark Knight Returns” depicts a world where superheroes, who once volunteered willingly to fight for the public’s safety, are now permanently retired thanks to an order from the president, prohibiting all acts of super powered vigilantism. The only superhero still active is Superman, who is now the president’s personal weapon to use as he wants.

With the absence of superheroes to protect the streets of cities like Gotham, gangs such as the Mutants run the full gambit on super powered crime, all while the police are outgunned and outnumbered, and there are no super powered heroes to combat this overwhelming crime wave.

Seeing that Gotham will fall if the Mutants go unopposed, Batman comes out of retirement to bring an end to the threat once and for all, and in order to do that, pulls out all the stops….

Batman defeats the Mutants, and later takes care of the other gangs ravaging Gotham. What does Batman end up getting as a thank you? The president sends Superman to kill him for breaking the anti-vigilante law.

Superman and Batman face off in a climactic battle, where Batman manages to defeat Superman, but then fakes his death in order to create an underground vigilante army for when the new gangs return to ravage Gotham. What “The Dark Knight Returns” shows is a visible parallel between superheroes and gun rights. When the state banned superheroes from defending the public, they created a power vacuum where super villains would come in and abuse the innocents of Gotham city.  This is drastically similar to gun free zones in cities such as Manhattan and Detroit, where unarmed civilians are the victims of gun wielding criminals.

Lastly, the monopoly on power the government has with Superman creates a larger threat to the general public if he were ever ordered to commit an atrocity, since heroes such as Batman are labelled outlaws if they came out of retirement, therefore having eliminated the check on government force by making super heroics a crime.

4. Watchmen

Theme: the corruption of monopolized power

Another tale of Cold War tensions, Alan Moore’s “Watchmen” tells the story of a band of superheroes ravaged by a changing world, where Nixon won re-election, the Vietnam war was a successful military venture, and the US government has successfully created an omnipotent super being known to the world as Dr. Manhattan, used to crush all communist threats.  As lies, murder, and deception begin to tear apart at the remainders of the superhero community, the question of the corrupting abilities of unchecked power create a point best put by Young Americans for Liberty blogger Franklin Harris:

While Iron Man and The Dark Knight both deal with issues of power and corruption, they ultimately side with their vigilante protagonists…. “Watchmen,” however, remains admirably faithful to its source material and comes to a different conclusion. Its costumed crusaders are, at best, powerless when it comes to doing good and, at worst, make the world a far more dangerous place. If, as Lord Acton said, power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely, then unaccountable superhumans with near God-like powers are not necessarily a good thing. Like a powerful central government that is able to dominate local governments or an imperial presidency that co-opts powers properly belonging to Congress, superheroes upset existing power structures. “Who watches the Watchmen?” is a question with no obvious answer.

3. Secret War

Theme: military adventurism & blowback

A story dealing with the unintended consequences of aggressive foreign policy, Director of SHIELD Nick Fury enlists the help of superheroes Luke Cage, Wolverine, Captain American, the Thing, Daredevil, and Spider-Man, in order to invade the fictional nation of Latveria (a country formerly under the reign of Dr. Doom), where the new democratically elected leader has been accused of selling high-tech weapons to terrorist organizations around the world.  Despite being told by the POTUS not to preeminently attack the country, Nick Fury and his covert team invade Latveria, kill its new leader, and blow up the capitol.

After returning from Latveria, Fury erases the minds of all of his accomplices in order to cut all remaining loose ends.  Years pass and suddenly the U.S. begins to suffer from random terrorist attacks throughout the nation.  After the heroes find themselves lured to a pier in Manhattan, the villain is exposed as the Latverian leader Fury thought they killed, along with a band of villains ready to attack on order.  The battle ensues and ultimately the heroes and Fury win, but as a result, the US now has to deal with a new foreign enemy. Fury must go into hiding, and the Marvel heroes must live with the knowledge of what they have done.

This cautionary tale alludes to the threats of terrorism, and the struggle ultimately between our reality and our fears.  By striking a foreign nation for what they might potentially do, Fury created an enemy which in turn decided to take out its anger on the innocent people of the United States, embodying the definition of “blowback”. Thus, all the lies, death, and destruction used to prevent further danger to the US in turn only created even more lies, death, and destruction.

2. Civil War

Theme: privacy rights &  forced servitude

A story written as an allegory of the PATRIOT Act and the post 9/11 generation, Marvel Comics’ “Civil War” storyline split the Marvel Universe in half during the wake of a superhuman related tragedy where thousands of civilians were killed, which then prompts SHIELD (seeing a trend with this omnipotent spy agency?) to persuade the POTUS and Iron Man to support the new Superhuman Registration Act aka “the Initiative”, which would force all superheroes to not only give up their identities, but also enlist as agents of SHIELD to combat threats and respond to emergencies across the world.

While Iron Man leads the pro registration heroes and champions “the Initiative”, Captain America and other heroes are forced to go underground in order to protect their identities and continue to fight crime their own way, without SHIELD or government oversight and control over the superhero community. The two sides clash in a climactic battle, but ultimately, Iron Man’s forces break Captain America’s will, and the anti-registration heroes must decide whether they are to go underground and be hunted like criminals or register with SHIELD.

Marvel’s “Civil War” asks the reader what is more important: liberty or security? and what the tradeoff is in a world where the dangers and ways in order to prevent them from happening begin to waver on a very gray line of morality.

 
1. V for Vendetta

Theme: Anarchy and Totalitarianism

The tale which inspired a successful cult classic film and an entire generation to don Guy Fawkes masks, “V for Vendetta” combines all the major issues that catapults the power of a fascist state, and how an entire population of people can be controlled through not simply the intimidation of the police state, but also that of the power of the media and uncontrollable cancer of fear and paranoia. The best review of the graphic novel from a libertarian view-point comes from the “Night-Watchman State” blog:

   “…By contemporizing the graphic novel’s fascistic themes into neoconservative ones. The film skillfully depicts the totalitarian dangers of the modern surveillance state and the libertarian Lockean theme of opposing a state that has lost its right to rule by oppressing the people it is meant to serve.”