81 Behrend Beacon
March 26, 2010
I www.thebehrendbeacon.com JL
POINT COUNTER-POINT
Clash of the comic book titans: Marvel vs. DC
NEIL JAMES
opinion editor
Art and entertainment is sub
jective
world of comic books
main camps that comic gi
reside in are between the ‘
two,” Marvel and DC
However, animosity and
petition always rages
the two factions. Fans
side are always trying
suade the other. In irn
enced opinion, Mar
is the better univ r
Here’s why:
1. The Media;
years, Marvel -
book filn.
urating the
jority of the
that have
market,
prodi films.
Thoi . Knight and
Watchmen contained bound
less quantities of awesome,
Marvel Comics has cranked
17 films since 2000 (fro;.
Spider-Man, X-Men) and
nine more in production
man 2, Captain Amer
Ass).
Yes, some of
flops, but others ’
enal. The Spu
chise broke the
record with each
film. DC is starting to gei
ball rolling with their films, but
they will hardly be able to keep
up.
With the creation of Marvel
Studios and the nearly limitler
pockets of Disney, Marvel’s
movies will only get better with
time.
2. The Powers: When it
comes to the comparison be
tween the universes’ power
sets, it’s virtually a unanimous
decision that DC’s characters
are grotesquely overpowered.
Look
way to kill him is with Kry
ponite (which is as rare as a fe-
MY VOICE
A student's thoughts on economics
DANIEL MUCCI
contributing writer
Subsidies for higher educa
tion are burdens for taxpayers,
and they won’t be helping out
students much either.
College tuition presents a
tough challenge for students to
afford. President Barack
Obama has ideas to make col
lege more affordable.
In his State of the Union ad
dress, he mentioned giving
families a $lO,OOO tax credit for
four years of college, and an in
crease in Pell Grants.
The president also proposed
that after graduation, students
would only be required to pay
10 percent of their income on
student loans, their debt would
be forgiven after 20 years and
only 10 years if they have a ca
reer in public service.
These subsidies will fall short
of helping out the middle class
and students.
College costs will become
even more expensive under
such policies presented by the
president. Also, as a result, the
value of a college degree could
dwindle.
More students are trying to
get into college, so basic supply
and demand theory would sug
gest that colleges would then
charge higher prices with the
Have Your Say:
Kristi Gdanetz
sophomore
biology
“I think it’s funny that you can
know what your children will
look like.”
I'm a Marvel...
male in a 4th year engineering
class at Behrend) and magic.
What's the appeal in reading
ah it a hero that is practically
has only
:r story
impelling.
3. The Characters:
comes to character di
vel still can’t be beat.
Though they may
powered, they are
human side that mr
much more intere;
Compare Bi
der-Man. Brut
own secret headquarters, be trumped by
nearly infinite and a perfect pretty boys ;
increased demand. If President
Obama gets his way and these
subsidies are passed in Con
gress, the big winners would be
these college institutions.
With more students entering
college and the subsidies allow
ing them to pay more, institu
tions will succumb to the
temptation of milking them for
the maximum amount they can.
Hence, wealth very well
could be leaving the hands of
taxpayers in paying for these
policies, going to students, and
then to these college institu
tions.
This would make the taxpay
ers the big losers.
Furthermore, many taxpay
ers are not college graduates
themselves.
Thus, many taxpayers will be
funding subsidies for students
who figure to be soon generat
ing a greater income than
them.
This would appear to raise
the issue of fairness in the re
distribution of wealth.
The Cato Institution, in a
2009 article, presents figures
that show the average real cost
(in terms of 2006 dollars) per
student in a four-year private
college increased by 68 percent
from 1986 to 2006.
However, once you take out
grants, loans, and tax benefits
Dave Marogi
sophomore
mechanical engineering
“I thought it was cool, but I
also thought it was kind of
random. I thought it was
very stereotypical.”
harem of women at his every
beck and call.
amount of cash!
Now compare him to Spidey.
Yes, Spider-Man might have
super powers, but his life has
been ruined because of them.
Bruce Wayne’s parents might
have been killed in front of him,
but Peter was indirectly respon
sible for his Uncle’s death.
’s this humbling fact that
idey push himself so
icrificed his educa
life and every
to atone for
struggle or com
>ep reading. At
xracter’s powers
Hell, Captain
' in the chest
Spider
its
his.
Bati
mansion, „
ler, fighter j
rocket-powerei
has is a dingy a,
discount chemi
can a person
more: the rk
drowning in sex, or
age-Joe who has all
problems you do?
;ense
it DC
the
DC has also been criticized
for having heroes who are too
“pretty.” Look no further than
Superman. He’s muscular with
zero body fat, has the chiseled
features of Adonis and is
adored by 99.999999% of the
global population.
Now look at the Fantastic
Four’s Ben Grimm, better
known as The Thing. Since the
day he got his powers, he’s
been considered a freak. He
can never be truly loved by an
other, is constantly battling
clinical depression, and he’s at
tempted suicide multiple times.
Call me crazy, but I feel a
much stronger connection to
Ben than Superman.
the cost shows only a 28 per
cent increase.
The National Center for Pub
lic Policy and Higher Education
found that the price of college
increased 439 percent from
1982, representing a growth
four times the growth of infla
tion.
In addition, research done by
the College Board found that
the total federal student aid in
the 2008-2009 year was about
$ll7 billion, a 99 percent in
crease over the last 10 years.
President Obama supports
more subsidies, while the statis
tics and economic intuition in
dicate that these subsidies are
helping increase the cost of col
lege.
Supporters of higher educa
tion subsidies may not realize
that by giving out more subsi
dies, college tuition will rise.
Or perhaps these politicians
want to ignore this and present
ideas that on the surface appeal
to the middle class and those
that need aid so they can be re
elected.
Supporters may also point
out that having more students
in college is going to make this
country better. However, there
are problems with that way of
thinking.
First of all, colleges will have
to spend more to accommodate
“People are always wondering
what they are going to look
like later. It’s interesting to
see something able to do that.”
Yes, he might not have super
owers, but he has something
idly
hoity-toity
ii a but
and
idey
and a
Who
with
The four Superman movies
starring Christopher Reeves as
well as Superman Returns are
also name pushers for DC
s army of j Comics.
Marvel’s characters have a
can’t
What are your thoughts
on the Race Machine?
Lauren Liedbzinski
freshman
business economics
BRENDEN MULTON
contributing w riter
DC Comics started in 1934 as
Detective Comics. It is known
for a wide range of super
heroes. Their “big three” are
Superman, Batman, and Won
der Woman.
DC Comics also publishes
stories with numerous other
stories with individual heroes
such as the Flash, Green
Lantern, and the superhero or
ganizations, the Justice League
and the Teen Titans.
DC Comics’ biggest competi
tor is Marvel Comics, and there
are several reasons why DC
fans believe their superheroes
are superior.
1. The Media. Possibly the
biggest advantage that DC has
over Marvel is the amount of
recent media exposure that DC
has had. The Justice League
television show ran on Cartoon"
Network from 2001 to 2004. fts
cast included Batman, Super
man, Wonder Woman, Martian
Manhunter, Green Lantern and
Hawkgirl.
This was the premier for
some of the characters to the
animation world. Furthermore;
lGN.com named the Justice
League as the 20th best ani
mated television series of ad ,
time, five years after its run*
Other noteworthy %nt|Mted
series include Batmsaithe Ani
mated Series, and Justice
League Unlimited, which was a
follow up to the Justice League
series.
The movies Batman Begins
and The Dark Knight have cat
apulted DC heroes into the
spotlight.
2. The Powers: A second
the additional students. More
students mean colleges will
need more residence rooms,
more food, more parking
spaces and perhaps even more
professors. Economic intuition
would tell you that this too can
lead to higher tuition and col
lege costs for the students.
Secondly, allowing more stu
dents into college will lower the
value and standards of a col
lege degree.
China is a perfect example of
this situation. Michael Wines of
the New York Times in a No
vember 2009 article described
how China has spent billions of
dollars on higher education,
has tripled enrollment since
2000, has more individuals with
college degrees than the U.S.
and India combined, yet fired
their minister of education
amongst criticism of their qual
ity of schools and jobless grad
uates.
I strongly believe that the
United States should be con
centrating on the quality of col
lege graduates, not the quantity
of college graduates.
President Obama wants to
appeal to the middle class and
those that need financial assis
tance, but higher education
subsidies will only accomplish
more wasteful spending of tax
payer money.
Ray Wolkan
sophomore
psychology
“I thought it was okay, but I
was kind of disappointed with
the aging thing.”
and I'm a DC
point for DC Comics is the he- criticized for being too power
roes’ levels of power. Several ful.
of DC's successful heroes do The DC antihero Lobo is an
not even have superpowers, amalgam of the Marvel heroes
The first one that springs to Wolverine, Punisher, and Dead
mind is Batman. Granted, Bat- pool.
man, or Bruce Wfcyne, is a mil- Lobo is an alien mercenary
lionaire and can afford all sorts and bounty hunter who is crazy
of cool gadgets. and can regenerate his entire
However, it is inspiring tb'Bo6 body from a single drop of
Batman because what he does blood, which effectively makes
is realistic. him unkillable. Lobo’s entire
The murder* Of his parents comic line is ridiculous and
drives Bfuce Wayne to become and it frequently
a master df Iftirtial arts and a|- itfiPSnin of superhero stereo
ways beta peek physical cpiiffi* types,
tion so tilth he can crime. *. The Characters: DC
it is reasonable & iWiife that Comics frequently explore the
aqg'petspn withthe tight mod- personality of the man or
T§B ' tneasehasf Woman behind the mask.
■' Mr of the Superman comics
deal with Superman’s human
superpowers. by.
,Ift apr -•f&rWftblorfes is from the Su
’jMWMMjt of being faceless to petmim/Batoian team-up line of
fight £sfltte> comics.
The Question dealt with
much more morally ambiguous
, dilemmas than Superman, and
: his stories often had a darker
tone to them.
The Green Arrow is Oliver
Queen, who was once also a
millionaire playboy, like Bruce
Wayne, aka Batman, although
the Green Arrow eventually
lost his wealth. He patrols the
streets of Seattle. His costume
makes him look like Robin
Hood and he uses a bow with a
variety of trick arrows to fight
crime.
When it comes to power lev
els, DC Comics has created a
character that blatantly mocks
Marvel heroes, who are often
THE EDITOR’S BLVRB 8
Why Edward Cullen
Since 2005, Edward Cullen
has penetrated the dreams of
women across the country.
However, this is actually the
worst thing that ever happened
to the psyche of the teenage
American girl.
Why? Because it takes the
idea of a knight-in-shining
armor (skin in this case) and
takes it to the extreme.
It's natural for people to be
lieve in a “white knight." Man
or woman, everyone wants to
think that someone will come
into their lives and make them
happy.
The catch is that no person
can do that. The only person
who can make you happy is
YOU.
But now, thanks to Twilight, a
whole generation of girls are
being conditioned to believe
that Prince Charming.actually
exists.
Now the astute reader may
think, “But people are smart.
Any person of normal mental
health is able to differentiate
between reality and fantasy.”
I completely agree. Readers
know very well that vampires
don’t exist. However, it’s very
easy to believe that a man as
perfect as Edward Cullen does.
This is a completely unrealis
tic expectation to place on men.
No one is going to ride up to
you on a white steed and save
you from your problems. It is
up to you to find the power
within your own heart and
make yourself happy.
Another problem that Twi
light creates is that its protago
nist, Bella Swan, is a terrible
role model for impressionable
teen girls.
Bella professes her undying
love for him after seeing him
for the third time.
This basically teaches girls
that love is some magical force
and True Love actually exists
and that they are “destined” to
be with Mr Perfect.
[lnsert vomiting sound here.]
All profile photos taken by Daniel Smith / Behrend Beacon
111 feet, Superman’s biggest
§g|ig@r, Lex Luthor, despises
stftentan because he believes
ShjfMfin&n Is holding back the
IftM&nT&Ci from reaching its
potential by solving many of
their problem s
AH example of Superman’s
humanity being the central plot
/reen
npany.
known Ss
was
rampant
corruption
City,
coat, fe
fjoridto
During this story, an alien
force is approaching Earth, and
it tricks Superman into believ
ing that he looked very fright
ening when he was found in a
cornfield in Kansas, and
changed his appearance to fit in
with the hOßians.
By preying on Superman’s
doubts of his own humanity, the
aliens were able to get Super-
man to turn his back on the
Earth until he realized that he
almost killed Batman, with
whom he has a very strong
friendship.
When faced with these rea
sons it is hard to see why some
one would prefer another
group of superheroes.
i us all
will ki,
In the first novel's climax,
she willingly walks into a death
trap because she wants to sac
rifice herself for a man she’s
known for all of six months.
NEIL JAMES
opinion t'ditoi
If you were like me, when
you read that passage you
stood up from your chair, threw
the book across the room,
kicked your pet and screamed
“what the [expletive removed]!”
Now, not only do inexperi
enced young girls think that
someday some random jackass
will solve all their problems,
but that said jackass is worth
dying for.
Damn it! Women are already
too trusting of men as it is, and
Twilight continues to make the
issue worse because Bella and
Edward don't actually have a
reason for being in love.
Bella’s only characterization
is that she loves Edward; and
Edwards only characterization
is that he’s misunderstood and
-guess what- he loves Bella too.
If you read their dialogue,
you’ll find that they don’t actu
ally talk about anything.
The dialogue consists of:
“I love you,” exclaimed Bella.
“I love you more,” mumbled
Edward, sculpting his hair.
“OMG, let us frolic!”
Ready to claw your eyes out,
yet? That’s the entire saga.
New Moon is even worse.
What does Edward do at the
first sign of trouble? He leaves!
Partners are supposed to
work though problems with
each other, not leave you
stranded in the woods.
New Moon’s ending then pro
ceeds to tell the reader that Mr.
Perfect will come back after
leaving them.
Fantastic. I should install a
turnstyle in my doorway so 1
can console my female friends
more efficiently.
Thanks to Edward and Twi
light, the Personal Counseling
Office better be expanding for
a massive influx of people in
the next few years, because
when these teens get into col
lege, they’ll need all the help
they can get.
inion