There's a phenomenon called "The 4th Wall".
It is generally direct acknowledgement of the outside or real world, OUR world, by one of the characters in a book.
(Presumably, the name comes from someone comparing a scene in a comic book to a scene on a television sitcom where the action centers on a room with 3 walls depicted, but the 4th one is "missing" for the practical allowance of audience viewing.)
The John Byrne comic "Sensational She-Hulk" was relatively famous for using this trope, and actually had the title character speak directly to the reading audience in several issues. Similarly, DC relatively recently had a character named Superboy Prime (SBP) acknowledge the readers of HIS series directly, showing as an Easter Egg this character actively typing on a forum page from the then existing DC Comics Message Boards. A delight to anyone whose name appeared on that printed page, I'm sure.
This thread is concerned with a slightly different category. It is certainly different from the style John Byrne employed. It is a little less distinct from the SBP case. It is where real world phenomenon and/or influence is subtly acknowledged, but GIVEN A COMICBOOK EXPLANATION, sometimes seriously, sometimes in jest, sometimes both.
I noticed it most when perusing through some submissions of the relatively recent "Spider-Verse" series, often featuring a character called "Morlun", hence the title of my thread. There are probably more instances of this in abundance and I am simply unaware of it.
For instance, one common trope today is girls can (sometimes) do it better.
So they've largely gone from hapless damsels, to genuine heroes, occasionally outperforming their male counterparts.
I was struck by this when reading one submission of Spider-verse "Secret Wars" in particular. Longtime readers of Spider-Man for instance, know the saga of Gwen Stacy and Eddie Brock Venom and Norman Osborn Green Goblin, for instance. Non-powered Gwen was killed when Green Goblin tossed her off Brooklyn Bridge and Peter Parker Spider-Man tried in vain to catch her by halting her fall with a life-saving-intended webline. Instead, heavily implied by the artwork and sound effects, the saving attempt broke Gwen's neck.
Enter 2015/2016. Petet Parker is now the imperiled. Gwen is the spider-powered superhero. And Eddie Brock Venom, traditionally one of Spider-man's strongest , toughest, most durable foes ...
A clearer illustration of what, for a lack of better terminology I'm trying to christen with the odd title of this thread.
Here, the real world phenomenon of the "Marvel versus Capcom" series of fighting games is showcased without a She-Hulk-like character directly telling us what this alludes to:
The case that most sparked the idea for this thread. It is an allusion to the popular "Amazing Spider-Man" comic strip series that used to be featured in the daily newspapers across the country, though especially in the New York Newspapers, of the 1970s, 80s, and early 90s.
They had to be written in such a way as to conserve space, inform brand new readers of what was happening AND maintain a sense of narrative connection.
Not easy, to say the least.
Presumably these strips vanished for the same reason newspapers themselves began to vanish at the turn of the millennia. A rather clever tragicomic spoof of the event, though, I must say ...
Have to include the following; if only because it seems to play on what has frankly been admitted to be inexplicable by some writers ... and given in-story explanation anyway: the incredible, seemingly equal-to-whatever-the-crisis-demands physicality of Squirrel Girl.
Here, in a display that demonstrates strength and durability exceeding that of numerous of the most popular superheroes throughout much of their careers, SG saves not one but two express trains full of passengers ...
KMC Community Forums
Jan 11th, 2017 01:56 PM
Bluewaterrider: "I'm surprised that a Skyfather like Zeus defeated Hulk when Zeus' Top-Tier son Hercules has lost to Hulk."
