Super Corporate Heroes is a satirical comic that centers on a company called Superhero, Inc. This company is a Fortune 500 company that has superheroes who save people in exchange for money. Anyone who needs saved by the superheroes must pay these superheroes through rescue insurance. This rescue insurance is expensive. As a result of this expensive rescue insurance, only rich people have a better chance of being saved, while the poor people have less of a chance of being saved. Also, the superheroes with the stronger powers earn more money and the superheroes with lesser powers make less money. Super Corporate Heroes is the comic that made me think about what it really means to save people.
One of the superheroes who work for Superhero, Inc. is a mysterious hero called The Shroud. The secret mission he is on makes this hero a very weird guy. Another Superhero Inc. employee is American Icon, who is an indestructible playboy. American Icon earns the most money due to the fact that he is indestructible and is the most called on for help. There is also Ms. Titanium, who does a lot of work, but is under appreciated for her work. Superhero, Inc also has a veteran worker called Major America, who has been fighting crime for a very long time. Superhero, Inc. also has a worker who is the last of the Greek gods. This god is named Olympia. Finally, we have a superhero named Blue Collar. Blue Collar has a low salary due to the fact that he has to pay child support and alimony.
The Superhero, Inc. heroes are soon challenged by evil super villains, who begin to destroy New York City. This destruction of New York City sucks the workers of Superhero, Inc. into the super villains’ corruption.
Super Corporate Heroes is written and lettered by Suzy Dias. The artist is Miguel Guerra, who also co-writes the comic with Suzy Dias. The artwork is beautiful and is also sets the perfect mood for the mood of the comic. The coloring of the artwork has a perfect balance between gloomy and bright. This is good for a story that is satirical. The content of this comic is dark, but is expressed with humor.
The first issue shows a burning building on the first panel. The panel shows a man in a green shirt hanging off the building’s ledge. He is holding on for dear life and is about to fall to his death. He is yelling for help. There is so much smoke that no one can see him. As the man in the green shirt starts to give up, The Shroud shows and says, “looks like you could use some help.” As the man in the green shirt thanks God that The Shroud came to his rescue, The Shroud says to the man in the green shirt, “first I need to explain the terms of our contract before I can legally rescue you.”
According to Superhero, Inc. $1000 gets one 5 rescues for a month and $6000 covers one for a year. Once a person is saved, the superhero takes the saved person’s credit card. Then, the superhero swipes the credit card with a portable swipe machine. Then, the saved person is given a receipt. After that, the saved person is sent a button in the mail. The saved person has to wear this button to be saved again.
Both the people in danger and the superheroes are in rough situations in this story. The poor people in danger don’t want to be treated like villains just because they can’t afford to be saved. However, the superheroes want to make a living off of their talent and be able to have roofs over their heads and food on their tables. Super Corporate Heroes is an interesting comic book that will make you think and laugh.
You can view the first issue of Super Corporate Heroes for free at www.7robots.com/comics.
It’s an interesting concept.
From time to time I’ve considered various concepts along similar lines. What are superheroes analogous to in the real world? When Superman and Wonder Woman swoop in to save the day, to the delight of us common folk, does that sensation somehow come from the save place as “Daddy and Mommy coming in to make everything better for baby”? Or, when people in fictional universes beg superheroes to save them, and sometimes get frustrated when superheroes can’t solve everything, is that somehow similar to people in the real world assuming that politicians…or the government…or scientists…or self-proclaimed “experts”…or whatever authority figure…should also be able to solve all our problems? Somewhat similarly, there’s also, I think, sometimes a wrongheaded assumption that corporations/capitalism could also just make EVERYTHING right if they would just function in a slightly different way. When, really, I think that no segment of society or type of person (businessperson, politician, scientist, teacher) can either solve all of the problems. Nor does any one of them, by their oft mismanagement, REPRESENT all problems. And yet we have this convenient allegory of the superhero, at which we can point and say “Superman COULD fix everything”, sometimes adding “So why DOESN’T he?”
It’s a cliche, but sometimes I think of the expression “Give a man a fish and you feed him for one meal; teach a man to fish and you feed him forever.” In some way I think that superheroes are, in part at least, an expression of average people’s inability to solve their own problems. That’s not to say that the average person’s problems are all his own fault — not even close. But whatever there is within each of us that wants to take less responsibility, that part is catered to by superheroes and superhero stand-ins.
Dan Sa, thanks for your reply. I thought what you said about superheroes was interesting. I do think that in the real world that superheroes would not be able to solve every problem. However, I do think that like many authority figures have failed at teaching men how to to fish. Many people do not know how to fish, so they look for authority to fish for them.
If more authority figures focused on teaching people how to fish for themselves instead of just making themselves look all powerful to the public, they would not have to spend so much time fishing for people in need.
If you know something, teach it to the less knowledgable. Don’t keep the art of fishing a secret as if it’s only something that the powerful should know.
Dan Sa, thanks for your reply. I thought what you said about superheroes was interesting. I do think that in the real world that superheroes would not be able to solve every problem. However, I do think that like many authority figures have failed at teaching men how to to fish. Many people do not know how to fish, so they look for authority to fish for them.
If more authority figures focused on teaching people how to fish for themselves instead of just making themselves look all powerful to the public, they would not have to spend so much time fishing for people in need.
If you know something, teach it to the people with less knowledge. Don’t keep the art of fishing a secret as if it’s only something that the powerful should know.