Just as Marvel’s superheroes all initially shared a common thread of scientific exploration (even if it was “scientific exploration gone wrong,” as in the Hulk and Spider-Man’s cases. And, yes, I know that Thor doesn’t count – Let’s call him the exception that proves the rule), one thing that Flashpoint #1 pushed home to me as I read it yesterday was the importance of the role – or, more appropriately, absence – of parents to the core DC superheroes.
Admittedly, the death of Barry Allen’s mother was a Geoff Johns-created retcon in The Flash: Rebirth (Isn’t she alive in “The Trial of The Flash” storyline that ended Barry’s original run, or am I entirely misremembering?), but it got me thinking: These days, we have seen that Hal Jordan is in large part motivated by seeing his father’s death at an early age (Is that another Johns retcon?). Both Batman and Superman are not only orphans, but have origins distinctly related to the events that killed their parents. Wonder Woman, famously, only has one parent unless you count the gods that brought the magic clay to life (Also, poor Diana has to continually suffer through “My Mother is dead!” stories whenever writers want cheap emotional impact, it seems), and Aquaman’s parentage informs the character’s status quo of belonging to both the ocean and the land at the same time.
Is it just strange coincidence that parents play such heavy roles in the origins and motivations of these characters, or is there something else going on here? All of them were created to be kids’ characters, after all, so that has to play into things; is Johns riffing off a parental focus that was always there?
May 12th, 2011 at 12:23 pm
“Isn’t she alive in “The Trial of The Flash” storyline that ended Barry’s original run, or am I entirely misremembering?”
No, you’re right about that. Both parents were alive and part of a storyline involving the Top possessing Barry’s father’s body right around that time.
May 12th, 2011 at 12:32 pm
Barry’s parents had been alive all along in his original series. It’s only in the new series as of Rebirth that this had changed, and now we know that it’s directly connected to Flashpoint.
Personally, I still hope that when it’s all over they are both back alive the way there originally were, and there is no more grief and ose connected to Barry’s past, something that was never there before.
Considering one’s parents are usually the most important people in a child’s life, it’s not surprising that traumas involving them would affect a hero’s life later. Indeed, looking at that crowd scene, I don’t know if there’s scarcely a handful of characters that haven’t had a story with, about or involving their parents, save for J’onn J’onzz and Red Tornado. And if you want to call the Tornado Tyrant and Champion his parents, even Reddy has.
A lot of orphans, a lot of heroes whose parents played a major role in their origin (Cyborg is a good example)
May 12th, 2011 at 12:50 pm
Nothing new for Geoff. Take Booster Gold…everyone knows the basic stuff, how he is from the future and stole the tech to become a hero in the 21st century. Everyone forgets that what put him on that path was his mother’s sickness forcing him to pay the bills. Geoff took a step further…it was Booster’s desire for his father’s love that led him to throw his first and only game (remember, Booster never threw a game before that…he bet he would win. His dad convinced him to take the next step). His dad then was taken over by Mr. Mind and became the evil Supernova.
But you are wrong to think it is only DC that does this. Most lasting characters have issues with their parents. Spider-Man’s Uncle Ben. Thor being cast out by Odin. Wolverine and his “Who’s my real daddy” issues. In manga, you have characters like Inuyasha’s father that inspired the brothers to fight. It comes up in movies, TV, everything.
There is an old saying that the creators of LOST always pointed to, and it is true: Every good cowboy has daddy issues.
May 12th, 2011 at 1:27 pm
I swear, that Jaime Reyes, the new Blue Beetle is just about the ONLY superhero that I can think of, with two living and loving parents, not to mention a sibling who ALSO hasn’t been killed off in an unpleasant way.
Which is rather sad, when you think about it.
May 12th, 2011 at 4:31 pm
“Every *unimaginative writer* has daddy issues.”
Fixed.
May 16th, 2011 at 1:55 pm
It’s fairly simple: one of the hallmarks of a heroic story is that the hero will, at some point, undergo some sort of personal tragedy and persevere. Now, most characters simply don’t last long enough for the authors to have time to build up personal relationships between characters and then decide to off one of them, and furthermore, the audience tends to greatly dislike it when one of their favorite ancillary characters bites the bullet.
Therefore, you pick on the parents. Everyone came from a father and mother, regardless of whether they are always there for the character.
In Barry’s case, it’s going to be an issue where he will be able to save the world and put it back how it’s supposed to be, but his mother will be once again wiped away from him in the process.
Of course, this assumes that the world Barry is currently on is New Earth.