Rambling About Government Agencies And Super-Heroes

I picked up some back issues yesterday, different series I'd heard good things about, or the creative team had people whose part work I'd enjoyed. One of the series was Chase, which DC published in the late 90s. Wasn't able to get all of it, as they didn't have all the issues and I completely missed it had a #1,000,000.

The idea this DEO not only keeps tabs on superhumans, but actively plans to take them down if necessary struck me as out of place in the DC Universe. It shouldn't surprise me there are people other than Batman or Lex Luthor who don't trust costumed vigilantes and would establish contingencies to deal with them, but it seems more a Marvel Universe thing, the authority figures not trusting super-heroes.

Yet I don't find the Suicide Squad out of place in the DCU. Maybe because the heroes are there by choice, to keep an eye on the criminal operatives (keep an eye on Waller). If Waller treated the heroes like the villains, slapped exploding bracelets on them too, I'd find it more out of place.

One of the other things I picked up was Hitman 9-14 (as well as Hitman 1 Million). I had been waiting for DC to issue a second printing of the trade so I could throw an order for it to my comic store, but I got tired of waiting. The first four issues are the Local Hero story (the latter half of which is Tommy playing Kyle Rayner for a dope), which involves a government agency wanting to recruit Tommy to kill superheroes for them at their discretion. Once Tommy refuses, they opt to remove him, which goes as well as you'd expect.

The idea of government's plotting to kill super-heroes works better for me in Hitman's world than Chase's, even though they're probably the same universe. Cameron Chase seems to operate a step closer to the heroes than Tommy does (or a step closer to competent heroes), so it's harder for me to see people in her circles working on weapons to disrupt the concentration of people with power rings, just in case. They'd see the good the JLA and such do, and would be disinclined to design something to kill Superman or Aquaman. For Tommy, all the costumed types he runs into are idiots (Kyle), corrupt (Nightfist), or - from Tommy's perspective - operating on an outdated or strange morality (Batman). In Monaghan's world, it's harder to relate to, and certainly to trust, the costumes, so agencies devoted to eliminating them feel less out of place. The problems in his world are messier, and ones capes don't seem to fix.

Another factor was I felt the agency that approached Tommy, or at least the particular man that did, were not motivated by a desire to protect people, but to protect what they've hoarded for themselves. I figured people in the DCU that are good trust super-heroes to control themselves as necessary. It would be people jealous of super-heroes or fearful the heroes would reveal them as corrupt that would plot their downfall. That's obviously flawed, since there would be people who are good because they prepare for all eventualities, and that would include things like Superman declaring himself ruler of the world, or a Green Lantern trying to erase the universe and remake it how he wants. Then again, those plans never seem to work anyway, so they're as well of relying on trust as their contingencies.

With Marvel, the evil person trying to protect or elevate themselves is still a possibility, but I'd be more likely to assume the person was either an idiot (idiocy being so prevalent in the Marvel Universe) or some Robert Kelly type bigot. I guess this says that when it comes to superhero comics, I take the approach that the heroes are trying their best to do the right thing and not get out of hand, and if an authority figure is making plans on how to stop them, it's an evil plot, because there's no need for it, the heroes will take care of any problems that crop up in their little community. Stories of the past decade or so would suggest that's not how it works anymore, but it's the attitude I hold to, I suppose.