Jacques Lacan talks about the necessity for an incredulity towards our fantasies. Our goals and dreams play an essential role in moving us through daily life and getting us out of bed in the morning. We strive towards reaching those goals; writing that book, finding a meaningful human connection, owning that (aptly named) Amazing Fantasy #15. Knowing we are working … [Read more...]
The Sanctum Sangiacomo Salutes Pride Month!
by Michael Sangiacomo ROCKY RIVER – Valentino Zullo said the first reference to homosexuality in his beloved superhero comics was negative. “It was an issue of The Hulk from 1980 which explained that the Hulk’s alter-ego, Bruce Banner, was almost raped by two men in a YMCA,” Zullo said. “That’s a pretty harsh way to introduce the subject to a mainstream audience.” It … [Read more...]
THANOS, The Concerned Titan
Comics and Philosophy Episode #002 In the new addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos joins a long list of consequentialist villains – those who are willing to justify the barbarity of their actions by the perceived goodness of their envisioned results: think Adrian Veidt’s gambit against nuclear annihilation at the end … [Read more...]
Comics and Philosophy, Episode #001: The Spider, the Symbiote, and the Id-Machine
Throughout charted geekdom, there are multiple instances of id-machines, from the mysterious planet in Tarkovsky’s Solaris (1972) to the Mirror of Erised in the Potterverse. Id-machines are instruments which grant a character the usually fleeting appearance of achieving their greatest desire, whether being reunited with a long-lost lover or with estranged parents or being able … [Read more...]