games

True. Like a lot of things, superhero comics started out with working-class origins and generally took a stance on things, even in a liberal way. But they were definitely used to promote and encourage social change, such as the civil rights allegories of the X-Men, the racial topics with Black Panther, etc.

But of course, comics got popular, and profitable. When capitalists got their hands on this art, they began to do their usual thing of twisting art, no matter how subversive it may have been, into reinforcing the status quo. Now, very few comics actually had real leftist messaging, but any progressive themes that they may have once had have been swallowed up by the Disney machine.

The first multi-issue story arc in Marvel comics was actually about T'Challa, the Black Panther, leading a prosperous African nation in the comic Jungle Action (Yeah, that name is pretty racist now). The arc right after that has Black Panther fight the KKK, despite pushback from the public (dumbass white nerds) and even some Marvel staffers.

Take the same arc in the modern movies, with Black Panther (2018). All the progressiveness is surface level. T'Challa allies with the CIA to fight comically-evil revolutionaries that make very real points about the status quo. Just embarrassing slop from the capitalists. All I can think about is that Disco Elysium quote, about how Capital can even subsume all critiques within itself, and turn them into propaganda.

I'm no comics expert (I haven't read all that many) and comics have always included many brainworms. But they definitely were cooler back when they weren't written by billionaires to sell worldwide.