Eisner on Theme in Modern Comics

Still reading Eisner/Miller (it's actually a very quick read, I'm just taking my time with it because I can't afford anymore new reading material this month and my comics haven't come in -- I'm assuming due to publisher delays).

Will Eisner brought up a good point in one of the chapters (I looked, but couldn't find the exact passage, so I'm paraphrasing) about how pretty much all modern comics have the same theme: that of vengeance, retribution. He's absolutely correct about this and I've been saying this for years and years now.

Most of this came about because of the late '80s Wolvie/Punisher craze. There was a time when those two were in literally every, single Marvel comic book every, single month. In fact, the funniest thing I saw was a Moon Knight cover which had a huge blurb with their heads that said:

WOLVERINE!
PUNISHER!
Do not appear in this comic book!

It was pretty good and I've always wondered how many collectors picked it up without reading the fine print -- how many guys grabbed at least one copy of that issue just because they saw the Wolverine/Punisher logos and thought they were guest-starring.

At any rate, the whole concept spread like wildfire. Some superhero serial killer appeared in Captain America, then Steve Rogers was ousted and replaced with a more vicious, take-no-prisoners Cap. Colossus, always a pacifist, snapped Hurricane's neck in Uncanny X-Men #210 or 211. Psylocke became a killer. Storm, Rogue, Daredevil (although DD was always just this side of the line), Batman...

Then came Image. And while Image purposely designed their characters to emulate the characters featured in the titles they had left (Pitt = Hulk; W.I.L.D.cats = X-Men; Spawn = Spidey; etc.) in order to give Marvel "The Finger," they were all darker, more violent versions of the other characters. And the trend has yet to let up, so far as I've seen.

In fact, most of the better new titles that I have seen aren't even superhero titles; they're horror and "adult" genres (crime, gritty vigilantism, etc.), and they all carry this same theme of retribution and the fight for justice in "a world gone mad."

You have to stop and wonder if today's heroes actually reflect the readers' sensibilities or are shaping them. I mean, how many younger fans would be interested in Supes the way he really was? You know, Captain Boy Scout. I haven't seen the new movie, but I understand they updated him and his image -- and made Lois a slut... ahem! I mean "single mother." (I am JUST KIDDING!) Still though, the idea of "Truth, Justice, and the American Way" is not just outdated, it's anathema to most comics readers' sensibilities.

The going concept of the day is vengeance at any cost: Everyone "gets what they deserve" (unless they're a minority or a woman -- so white men "get what they deserve"), even if they were truly victimized (I'm sure they did something to deserve it), and anyone who thinks otherwise is "playing the victim." The government is the enemy and the police are brutal thugs (this much is at least close to the truth). Evil, soulless corporations run the world (damningly true). And everyone wants a hero who don't brook no bullshit and takes care of business.

And this is because people want heroes who do the things they can't do.

So, at the end of the day, how much do the heroes featured in the comics reflect the audience's sensibilities and how much do they actually create and reinforce them?

And why isn't anyone doing anything different anymore? The only "different" things are the usually insipid "personal experience/observational, slice-o-life" b&w indies, and you're doing well if you can tell them apart from one another.