Tbh they’re just misrepresenting the argument. Most (famous) superheros aren’t fascists. They spend a lot of time punching imperialists in the face at a minimum.
What they represent is a social desire for the hero-figure, the strong-man, to fix society’s problems instead of collective and democratic action. That’s the dilemma people like Alan Moore are pointing out when they talk about how comics can enable fascism.
On the one hand, you’re right and I know it. It’s the power fantasy over structural and social solutions/cooperation.
On the other hand, some are more fascy than Superman:
Batman (general ignoring of structural issues, the even heavier glorification of vigiliantism over most capes)
X-Men (if the gay, persecuted minority stuff gets occluded, and possibly due to those a lot of the villains)
Green Lantern (might be wrong here, but seems to be space cops with a strong link to US military. I’ll assume Nazi-coded villains to make them seem more heroic.)
Ironically Superman is one of the least fascy superheroes, at least when written by anyone who understands the character.
Tbh they’re just misrepresenting the argument. Most (famous) superheros aren’t fascists. They spend a lot of time punching imperialists in the face at a minimum.
What they represent is a social desire for the hero-figure, the strong-man, to fix society’s problems instead of collective and democratic action. That’s the dilemma people like Alan Moore are pointing out when they talk about how comics can enable fascism.
On the one hand, you’re right and I know it. It’s the power fantasy over structural and social solutions/cooperation.
On the other hand, some are more fascy than Superman: