![]() ![]() Such wish fulfilment is a familiar theme of the superhero genre, which is attractive to young boys because the classic hero transforms from an everyday person into a powerful, noble being whose purpose in life is to fight evil (for example, Clark Kent/Superman, Peter Parker/Spiderman or Bruce Banner/Hulk). According to Davis, identifying with the heroic cowboy empowers boys and allows them to vicariously triumph over “fear, doubt, and insecurity, in short … evil” ( ibid., 123). Not only is pre-adolescence “the stage of revolt against femininity and feminine standards” (Davis, “Ten-Gallon Hero,” 119), but also the time when worries about “physical prowess” are evident. Davis concludes that “the cowboy hero is the hero of the pre-adolescent” boy. Philip Caputo, 13 Seconds: A Look back at the Kent State Shootings (New York: Chamberlain Bros., 2005), 11.ĩ2 In attempting to explain the enduring popularity of the iconic cowboy in post-Second World War popular culture, David B. A few moments later a passing police officer, dressed much the same as the rioters, smashed Caputo's windshield after noticing a press pass on the dashboard. During the infamous Chicago “police riot” of 1968, journalist Philip Caputo recalls “a band of militants, wearing motorcycle helmets and armed with baseball bats” vandalizing his car because they thought it was the sheriff's. Indeed, in the late 1960s it was sometimes hard to tell the difference between the forces of law and order and those opposed to those very principles. Yet behind the sound and the fury, they are both playing the same game, and usually by the same rules” (Thompson, 44). He states, “They operate on the same emotional frequency … Apart they curse each other savagely, and the brittle truce is often jangled by high-speed chases and brief, violent clashes that rarely make the papers. Thompson has argued that the Angels and the police had quite a lot in common. Despite harassment by law-enforcement agencies, Sonny Barger, head of the Oakland Angels, refused the aid of the American Civil Liberties Union because he believed the organization had communist sympathies (Thompson, Hell's Angels, 70). They also attacked an antiwar march in Berkeley, California in 1966. They supported the war in Vietnam, for example, even offering their services in the fight. However, if the Angels had any kind of political outlook it was undeniably conservative. They initially had connections with the 1960s counterculture: they took drugs and seemed to be antiauthoritarian. At first glance, the comparison between Dredd and the Hell's Angels seems contradictory: Dredd is, after all, a lawman, and the Angels built their reputation on law-breaking. ![]() But being as this is a.44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself a question: Do I feel lucky?”ģ7 Quoted in John Wood, 338. Did he fire six shots or only five? Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement I kind of lost track myself. In 2000AD's second issue, which was, coincidentally, the issue in which the first Dredd story appeared, Savage faces down an enemy with the words, “I can read your mind sunshine … you reckon I've fired both barrels of me cannon … so you've got the edge on me! But supposing I've only fired one barrel? Draw your own gun and let's see how lucky you are … ” Compare this to Harry Callaghan's dialogue in Dirty Harry as he taunts a wounded bank robber: “I know what you're thinking. To illustrate the influence of Dirty Harry on both Mills and 2000AD consider another Mills character, Bill Savage, from the Mills-penned story “Invasion” (Pat Mills et al., Invasion (Oxford: Rebellion, 2006)). Through close textual analysis of the Cursed Earth story, this article reveals how thematic elements of the road genre are linked to significant themes in American history and culture.Ģ8 Quoted in Jarman and Acton, 17. Written by British writer Pat Mills, with contributions from John Wagner and Chris Lowder, The Cursed Earth features the character Judge Dredd, perhaps the most popular and most recognizable icon of British comics of the last thirty years. ![]() This is demonstrated in The Cursed Earth, an apocalyptic road story in twenty-five parts, which was published in the British weekly comic 2000AD from May to October 1978. These storytellers appear to have absorbed or internalized aspects of American national identity, and this is reflected in their work. However, when non-Americans create road stories they tend to employ symbols and narratives that are often considered intrinsically American. This is reflected in the literature and cinema of the road genre, in influential novels such as Jack Kerouac's On the Road and John Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath, and in films like Bonnie and Clyde (1967) and Easy Rider (1969). Mobility is a significant feature of American history and culture.
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