Assimilation of anti-ideological motifs from Underground Comics into mainstream media: a Case of the Boys

ABSTRACT

Developing further from a slightly Marxist perspective of the conflict-fuelled era of competing ideologies between the ruling and working classes during the Counterculture era of the 1960s and 70s in the United States, this article positions establishment institutions such as the government, media, and family units under Louis Althusser’s idea of the State Apparatus with the Underground Comix movement and R. Crumb’s early work squarely against it. This article argues the presence of Dissensus, as put forth by Ranciere, in the form of social, racial, and political anti-ideological motifs within Robert Crumb’s Zap Comics. These motifs entered the cultural infrastructure through the medium of comics, stirring up passions and encouraging a necessary discord among classes and groups. Moreover, it discusses the assimilation of many of these anti-ideological motifs into modern mass culture, through a case study of the 2019 TV show The Boys and its opposition to today’s State Apparatus.

KEYWORDS:

• Ideology
• R. Crumb
• Dissensus
• comics
• the boys

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Joel E. Vessels Drawing France: French Comics and the Republic, (2010 Univ. Press of Mississippi), 17–18.

2. Louis ‌Althusser, On the Reproduction of Capitalism: Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses, (1970; Verso Books, 2018), 78.

3. ‌Althusser, On the Reproduction of Capitalism, 243.

4. Miller, Ann. ‘Consensus and Dissensus in “Bande Dessinée.”’ Yale French Studies, no. 131/132 (2017): 109–37.

5. Miller, Ann. ‘Consensus and Dissensus in “Bande Dessinée.”’ Yale French Studies, no. 131/132 (2017): 109–37.

6. Rancière, The Emancipated Spectator, 19.

7. Rancière, The Emancipated Spectator, 4.

8. Rebecca Wanzo, The Content of Our Caricature: African American Comic Art and Political Belonging (2020, NYU Press), 171–174.

9. David Hajdu, The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America (London: Pan Macmillan, 2009), 6–7.

10. Wertham’s claims are now highly contested in recent research, see Carol L Tilley ‘Seducing the Innocent: Fredric Wertham and the Falsifications That Helped Condemn Comics.’ Information & Culture 47, no. 4 (2012): 383–413.

11. Hadju, Ten Cent Plague, 5–6.

12. Ann Miller. Reading Bande Dessinée: Critical Approaches to French-Language Comic Strip (2007 Intellect Books).

13. Robert Crumb, Zap Comix No. 1. (San Francisco: Apex Novelties, 1968a).

14. Robert Crumb, Zap Comix No. 2. (San Francisco: Apex Novelties, 1968b).

15. History Matters. ‘“Good Shall Triumph over Evil”: The Comic Book Code of 1954.’ Accessed October 4, 2022. http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6543/.

16. Jeremy Guida, ‘The East Village Other.’ JSTOR Daily, June 3, 2021. https://daily.jstor.org/the-east-village-other/.

17. Faith Robertson Elliot, ‘The Family: Private Arena or Adjunct of the State?’ Journal of Law and Society 16, no. 4 (1989): 443–63.

18. Hillary Chute, Why Comics?: From Underground to Everywhere (New York: HarperCollins, 2017), 112.

19. Robert Crumb, Zap Comix No. 3. (San Francisco: Apex Novelties, 1968c), 4.

20. Thierry Smolderen, ‘Graphic Hybridization, the Crucible of Comics,’ in The French Comics Theory Reader, Ann Miller (Leuven University Press, 2014), 59–60.

21. Robert Crumb, Zap Comix No. 3. (San Francisco: Apex Novelties, 1968), 41.

22. Michael Burton, ‘Elite Disunity and Collective Protest: The Vietnam Case.’ Journal of Political & Military Sociology 5, no. 2 (1977): 169–83.

23. Marvel Comics, Decades: Marvel in the 50s – Captain America Strikes! (New York: Marvel, 2019).

24. The term ‘Greatest Generation’ was popularised by former NBC News Anchor Tom Brokaw and is used in this article to describe the generation that fought in World War Two, born between 1901–1927.

25. Robert Crumb, Zap Comix No. 1. (San Francisco: Apex Novelties, 1968).

26. Peter Poplaski, The R. Crumb Handbook (MQ Publications, 2005), 164.

27. Matthew Facciani, ‘A Content-Analysis of Race, Gender, and Class in American Comic Books.’ Race, Gender & Class 22, no. 3–4 (2015): 216–26.

28. Walter Johnson. ‘To Remake the World: Slavery, Racial Capitalism, and Justice.’ Boston Review. Accessed October 16, 2022. https://www.bostonreview.net/forum/walter-johnson-to-remake-the-world/.

29. Rebecca Wanzo, The Content of Our Caricature: African American Comic Art and Political Belonging (2020, NYU Press), 175.

30. Rebecca Wanzo, The Content of Our Caricature: African American Comic Art and Political Belonging (2020, NYU Press).

31. Hillary Chute, Why Comics?: From Underground to Everywhere (New York: HarperCollins, 2017) 120–121.

32. Susan Spiggle, ‘Measuring Social Values: A Content Analysis of Sunday Comics and Underground Comix.’ Journal of Consumer Research 13, no. 1 (June 1, 1986): 100–113.

33. “How Amazon’s New Superhero TV Show, ‘The Boys,’ Was Saved by ‘That Sweet, Sweet Bezos Money.” Business Insider, accessed October 5, 2022. https://www.businessinsider.com/amazons-the-boys-creator-eric-kripke-on-jeff-bezos-money-2019–8.

34. ‘“The Boys,” “Stranger Things”: Streaming Rankings for June 6–12, 2022.’ The Hollywood Reporter, Accessed October 5, 2022. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/the-boys-stranger-things-streaming-rankings-june-6-12-2022–1235176972/.

35. Julian Lawrence, “Where the Action Is, Crumb, Semiotics, L’Ecriture Feminine, and Taste,) in Daniel Worden, The Comics of R. Crumb: Underground in the Art Museum, (2021, University Press of Mississippi).

36. The Boys, Season 1, Episode 2, ‘Cherry,’ directed by Eric Kripke, July 25, 2019c, Amazon Prime Video. https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0875L45GK/ref=atv_dp_season_select_s1

37. Tricia Jenkins and Tom Secker. Superheroes, Movies, and the State: How the U.S. Government Shapes Cinematic Universes. (University Press of Kansas, 2021), 109.

38. The Boys, Season 1, Episode 1, ‘The Name of the Game,’ directed by Eric Kripke, July 25, 2019a, 2019b Amazon Prime Video. https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0875L45GK/ref=atv_dp_season_select_s1

39. The Boys, Season 2, Episode 3, ‘Over the Hill with the Swords of a Thousand Men,’ directed by Eric Kripke, September 3, 2020a, Amazon Prime Video. https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B08F81VWVD/ref=atv_dp_season_select_s2

40. The Boys, Season 3, Episode 6, ‘Herogasm,’ directed by Eric Kripke, June 23, 2022a, Amazon Prime Video. https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B08F81VWVD/ref=atv_dp_season_select_s2

41. Tricia Jenkins and Tom Secker. Superheroes, Movies, and the State: How the U.S. Government Shapes Cinematic Universes. (University Press of Kansas, 2021), 9–13.

42. Ariel Dorfman and Armand Mattelart. How to Read Donald Duck: Imperialist Ideology in the Disney Comic. (International General, 1975).

43. Jordan Jenkins, ‘The Blurred Lines between Genuine Allyship and Performative Activism.’ Yale Daily News, November 12, 2020, https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2020/11/12/the-blurred-lines-between-genuine-allyship-and-performative-activism/.

44. The Boys, Season 3, Episode 4, ‘Glorious Five Year Plan,’ directed by Eric Kripke, June 9, 2022b, Amazon Prime Video. https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B08F81VWVD/ref=atv_dp_season_select_s2

45. Ibid.

46. Tricia Jenkins and Tom Secker. Superheroes, Movies, and the State: How the U.S. Government Shapes Cinematic Universes. (University Press of Kansas, 2021), 7–8.

47. The Boys, Season 3, Episode 4, ‘Glorious Five Year Plan,’ directed by Eric Kripke, June 9, 2022, Amazon Prime Video. https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B08F81VWVD/ref=atv_dp_season_select_s2

48. AP News, ‘A Timeline of More than 40 Years of War in Afghanistan,’ July 2, 2021. https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-islamic-state-group-afghanistan-europe-middle-east-70451c485d46908ef5c6a83a1de9f0f6.

49. Ahsan Butt, ‘Why Did the United States Invade Iraq in 2003?’ Security Studies 28, no. 2 (March 15, 2019): 250–85.

50. Watson Institute of International and Public Affairs Brown University The Costs of War. ‘Costs of War.’ Accessed October 4, 2022. https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/home.

51. The Boys, Season 1, Episode 8, ‘You Found Me,’ directed by Eric Kripke, July 15, 2019, Amazon Prime Video. https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B08F81VWVD/ref=atv_dp_season_select_s2

52. The Boys, Season 2, Episode 5, ‘We Gotta Go Now,’ directed by Eric Kripke, September 17, 2020b, Amazon Prime Video. https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B08F81VWVD/ref=atv_dp_season_select_s2