Reed and Tony's conviction that they can alter society for the better (because they know better, damnit!) via organization and cooperation kind of reminds me of the Progressives, who wanted to re-structure society for its own good (because they knew better, damnit!). When WWI came along, the Progessives split, with many of the more radical labor and union elements opposing the war, while some more moderate or pragmatic Progressives threw in with the war effort in hopes that they could bend it to their own ends (use the need to finance the war as an excuse to pass a graduated income tax law, etc.). They were widely viewed as having sold out to big business and the Republicans.
Meanwhile, a lot of the anti-war labor organizers ended up in jail for sedition.
You're quite right to say that they are a superhuman army, but Tony is trying very hard to disguise that fact.
I'm wondering when people are going to see past the publicity campaign and figure that out, and how they'll react--i.e., if the "Yay, we can trust superheroes again because they're being held accountable" feeling will turn into "the government is using superpowered people to police its citizens," possibly with a side helping of "the government is giving official backing to mutants, boo hiss."
I wouldn't be surprised if other countries, like Wakanda, brought up the "Superhuman Army" concern, or if Namorr (not all that inaccurately) claimed that the Initiative was proof that the US had plans to mount hostilities against Atlantis.
Have you read the Greg Rucka run of Wonder Woman? In it, she is indeed accused of spreading lesbianism and paganism to Middle America - it's a very interesting, very political run.
My main knowledge of Wonder Woman comes from JLA comics trades and Toonverse (Toonverse does have the media going after the Justice League, claiming they're the "Just Us" league and are too powerful, but I've gotten the impression that Toonverse is different in tone from the comics. I know Toonverse Batman is different). The only bits of the individual Wonder Woman title I've really read are the fun-with-bondage stuff from the Golden Age that shows up on scans_daily a lot, but the Rucka run sounds interesting. I totally forgot about the paganism thing, but it stands to reason someone would object to that.
no subject
Meanwhile, a lot of the anti-war labor organizers ended up in jail for sedition.
You're quite right to say that they are a superhuman army, but Tony is trying very hard to disguise that fact.
I'm wondering when people are going to see past the publicity campaign and figure that out, and how they'll react--i.e., if the "Yay, we can trust superheroes again because they're being held accountable" feeling will turn into "the government is using superpowered people to police its citizens," possibly with a side helping of "the government is giving official backing to mutants, boo hiss."
I wouldn't be surprised if other countries, like Wakanda, brought up the "Superhuman Army" concern, or if Namorr (not all that inaccurately) claimed that the Initiative was proof that the US had plans to mount hostilities against Atlantis.
Have you read the Greg Rucka run of Wonder Woman? In it, she is indeed accused of spreading lesbianism and paganism to Middle America - it's a very interesting, very political run.
My main knowledge of Wonder Woman comes from JLA comics trades and Toonverse (Toonverse does have the media going after the Justice League, claiming they're the "Just Us" league and are too powerful, but I've gotten the impression that Toonverse is different in tone from the comics. I know Toonverse Batman is different). The only bits of the individual Wonder Woman title I've really read are the fun-with-bondage stuff from the Golden Age that shows up on scans_daily a lot, but the Rucka run sounds interesting. I totally forgot about the paganism thing, but it stands to reason someone would object to that.