5 Comic Books and Graphic Novels Young Conservatives Should Check Out
Social justice politics and woke activism have taken hold of every aspect of mainstream entertainment.
Movies, television shows and even video games have been swallowed up in the left’s new push to permeate every aspect of our culture with their political messaging.
Comic books and graphic novels were, for quite some time, the last refuge free from the left’s grasp.
Sadly, that is no longer the case. Nowadays, comics only serve to push a socialist agenda or as some sort of allegorical representation of America’s supposed systemic discrimination.
Although many comics and graphic novels now fall within this awful trend, there have been a few in recent history that forward conservative values instead.
For any conservative who’s a passionate reader of comic books, reading these five stories is an absolute necessity.
Gideon Falls
This may come as a shock to some Christians, but some of the most powerful faith-based stories are often within the horror genre.
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Horror stories evoke powerful Christian messages. It’s hard not to when a writer is dealing with the complexities of evil supernatural forces. Such storytelling inevitably leads to the exploration of ideas such as faith and belief in a higher power.
Although it certainly isn’t an overtly Christian story, Gideon Falls, an Image Comics horror series written by Jeff Lemire, deals with many of these themes.
Gideon Falls follows a young man dealing with mental health issues and a washed-up Catholic priest who was recently assigned to a small town full of mystery. The two men’s stories intertwine as they slowly discover an evil, supernatural force known as “The Black Barn.”
Unlike many horror stories of today, Gideon Falls doesn’t lean on gratuitous violence. Instead, the story is a slow burn that explores the nature of evil.
This totally flies in the face of the current post-modern belief among the left that morality is an allusion and our Western conception of good and evil is completely subjective. To the left, there is no such thing as either good or evil.
Early on in the story, one of the characters makes it clear that she is a Buddhist who doesn’t believe in the Devil. Essentially, she serves as the personification of moral relativism.
Once she encounters the primary antagonist of the story, her beliefs begin to change.
Evil is real. The left may not understand that notion, but Gideon Falls certainly does.
Ayn Rand’s Anthem
Anthem, a 1938 novella written by Ayn Rand, tells the story of a man rebelling against a collectivist, totalitarian government.
In 2018, The Atlas Society repurposed the classic conservative story into a graphic novel.
The totalitarian society depicted within the pages of Anthem is much like the one far-left socialists currently advocate for.
That is to say, it is a big-government, equity-based society that robs its citizens of their individual freedoms.
What really makes this story stand out are the illustrations by Joe Staton.
The artwork truly brings Anthem to life in fresh new ways that Rand likely hadn’t thought of back when she wrote the story in the early 20th century.
For any conservative comic book fan living amidst the woke politics of 2020, this title truly is a must-buy.
The Dark Knight Returns
Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns is considered by most to be the greatest Batman story of all time.
It just so happens to be the most conservative Batman story of all time as well.
The four-issue miniseries sees an old, world-weary Bruce Wayne come out of retirement, donning the cowl once again after a viscous gang takes hold of Gotham City.
Batman already exemplifies conservative values to a tee — he’s the billionaire owner of a major company that uses his resources, free from government regulation or interference, to help make the world a better place.
In the Dark Knight Returns, Batman’s tough-on-crime approach is a welcome sight to the many citizens of Gotham. Outside of the gang members he fights, the vast majority of Batman’s enemies are government officials or third-parties backed by the government who argue against his crusade for mostly left-wing reasons.
At one point, a psychologist within the series even makes the case that Batman is a “fascist” trying to rob criminals of their civil rights. That argument sounds eerily familiar when contrasted with the rhetoric of today’s political left.
This psychologist even goes so far as to make the point that the murderous serial killing Joker is actually a victim of Batman’s brutality. In his mind, the psychotic clown merely needed the proper care free from Batman’s brutal form of justice.
Later on in the story, Joker breaks the doctor’s neck.
This is only one small example of the book’s conservative messaging. Similar messages can be found throughout the story.
Although The Dark Knight Returns leans less towards Christian values and more towards the philosophy of humanism, the story nevertheless has plenty of great conservative themes, such as individuality and autonomy from the state, that conservatives of all sorts can get behind.
Animal Farm: The Graphic Novel
‘All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.’ ?
This gorgeous hardback is the first ever graphic novel treatment of #GeorgeOrwell‘s seminal fable, #AnimalFarm.https://t.co/u9bWj1Mms3 pic.twitter.com/WAxwviFboD
— Penguin Books Aus (@PenguinBooksAus) September 29, 2019
Much like Any Rand’s Anthem, George Orwell’s Animal Farm was yet another iconic anti-Marxist tale to receive the graphic novel treatment.
At a time in history when far-left Marxists are threatening to destroy American society as we know it, a story like Animal Farm has never been more relevant.
No line in Animal Farm is more illustrative of the dangerous flaws of socialism than this: “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”
Through this farm-animal analogy, Orwell explains to his readers that although socialist societies often purport to create absolute equality, they inevitably give all the power to a small elite class that controls the government.
This elite then rules over everyone else.
Everyone’s equal under socialism all right. They are all equally enslaved.
As is the case with Anthem, the graphic novel version of Animal Farm expands the story in many new and exciting ways.
Given that no story has ever been more effective at shining a light on the evils of socialism, this is an important graphic novel that every conservative should add to their collection as soon as possible.
Daredevil: Born Again
The second story written by Frank Miller to grace this list, Born Again, is the seminal story of Matt Murdock, the blind, Catholic lawyer by-day who also patrols the streets of Hell’s Kitchen at night as the fearless vigilante Daredevil.
In the beginning of the story, it’s revealed that Karen Page, a former love interest of Matt, has become a heroin addict following a failed stint in Hollywood acting.
Strung out and in need of one more hit, Karen sells out Daredevil’s secret identity.
The revelation eventually makes its way to Daredevil villain the Kingpin, who then makes Matt’s life a living hell.
Matt loses everything: his possessions, reputation, money, friends and sanity are slowly chipped away until the once strong protagonist is merely a husk of his former self.
Daredevil pays for the sins of Karen.
As the story goes on, it becomes increasingly clear that Daredevil is meant to be an allegorical representation of Jesus Christ and Karen Page a representation of humanity.
Matt losing everything represents Jesus dying for humanity’s sins.
In what might be the most powerful moment of the entire story, after seeing his whole life completely destroyed beyond repair, Matt finally comes face to face with the woman who betrayed him.
Instead of screaming at her or taking his revenge, Matt doesn’t say a word. He simply embraces Karen in a powerful act of forgiveness.
Karen totally betrayed Matt and was unworthy of his forgiveness just as man is unworthy of God’s grace.
Nevertheless, just as God forgave man, Matt forgave Karen.
By the end of the story, Matt is born again when he builds a new life for himself alongside Karen Page.
Just as Christ was reborn and pulled believers into redemption alongside him, even though we didn’t deserve it.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
