Heroism 101

In July of 1846, Henry David Thoreau refused to pay his back taxes because he did not wish to aid the federal government in what he believed to be an ignorant war (the Mexican-American War) and an immoral practice (slavery). He was imprisoned for this refusal for one night. Unlike most of us, Thoreau had a definite personal right to neglect his tax payments. After all, he spent the better part of two years attempting to live completely off the grid, sustaining himself entirely without the aid of any government services or even a regular paycheck. On the day after his imprisonment, his aunt paid his taxes (against his will), and he was released.

So what does Thoreau's so-called "civil disobedience" teach us? To shirk responsibility? To stick it to the man so we can impress others with our counter-cultural politics and special interests? To draw attention to ourselves in any and every way we can, no matter the cost or complications to the authorities? I think not. After all, there was no Internet in 1846, no Fox News (thank the Lord), no New York Times, and not even a Colbert Report. Instead, there was just a man who refused to support something he deemed to be fundamentally wrong, a man who was willing to be incarcerated to retain his moral integrity. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what heroism's all about. Here, I'll let Kal-El explain it...

So, what are you all doing out there?

For humanity's sake, I hope it's something heroic.

Let There Be Rao

For once, or at least for twice or thrice, there's some real mythmaking going on in modern comics. Like Geoff Johns' delightful Blackest Night series, in which theories on death, resurrection, and the source of all life are bandied about between all-out brawls, the current storyline in Action Comics reflects a genuine interest in expanding the mythic aspect of comic storytelling that makes the books, in my opinion, true to their oral and folkloric roots.

Flamebird and Nightwing, the yin and yang of Kryptonian creation myth, explore their ancient manifestations in the new AC issue via that ever-useful Krypton crystal technology. At long last, we learn the full pre-history of the Kryptonian race, with Rao himself taking center-stage, in a Tolkien-esque exposition replete with beautiful images of the universal fires that predate existence and a truly traditional love triangle myth that explains the introduction of discord into Rao's perfect order. Vohc-the-Builder creates and the Flamebird destroys in a lovely allegory of the Vishnu/Shiva universal balance motif that permeates so much of global mythology.

But the balance tips with the introduction of a third party to serve as Rao-the-Father's "Eyes in the Night," known as the Nightwing. The resulting conflict tears the cosmic family apart and leads to the creation of the terrible Phantom Zone. An eternal prison of spiritual torment (Hell) is born out of the jealous spite of an overweaning servant (Lucifer) of the supreme deity (God-the-Father). There were moments in AC #886 that felt like reading the Old Testament, Hesiod, or Ovid, and that's really freakin' cool.