Superhero Critiques

Glen vs. Igor

The hero, Glen, and the villain, Igor, are contrasted through a number of visual means. Igor is more outwardly aggressive with his stance and the flames in his hands that make up his sinister superpower, whereas Glen appears more passive and peaceful, in a more relaxed stance in his wheelchair. The affinity between them--both human, both fairly realistic in their portrayal--puts them both in the same universe. Glen makes use of symbolism by being restricted to a wheelchair. This creates the notion that willpower is stronger than brute force and that he is more likely a reasonable and intelligent character, whereas Igor appears less intelligent and more dependent on his superpowers. Igor is composed of complimentary colors, red and green, which are opposite one another on the color wheel. This opposition not only makes him "pop", but gives some insight as to the duality of his nature. Glen is primarily in warm, analogous colors, making him feel more safe to the audience and more virtuous. Both characters are heavily saturated and bright regardless of their color scheme, again placing them in the same universe, and denoting a more light-hearded 60s comic book atmosphere.

Escobar vs The Krooked Cop

A very obvious contrast can be seen in the shape of these two characters. Escobar, the hero, is very round and rotund and appears to be very friendly. The Krooked Cop is comprised of bulkier square shapes and sharp edges, denoting his dangerousness. Since this is going along with the Charlie Chaplin tramp archetype, there's some vary obvious symbolism at work. The Krooked Cop is a symbol of authority, and, beyond that, authority and power out of control and abused. Escobar is the underdog, and very obviously the hero as he represents the "common man" and manages to pull the rug out from under the Cop's feet, so to speak. The most striking thing about the color, for me, is the absence of it. What little color that is present in each character pops due to the white space around it. For Escobar, it's his red bowtie, which denotes that he attempts to look gentlemanly and presentable. For the Cop, it's the red in his eyes, which is the very image of evil.

Clown Guy vs. Alien Guy (sorry, I don't have the names listed for them)

There is no more obvious symbol of happiness and cheerfulness than a clown, and so its pretty obvious that the clown character stands as the hero in this equation. The alien is a symbol for an "outsider", something not natural to this earth coming to threaten the inhabitants and promote fear. The contrast between these characters is very obvious visually. The dopey grin on the face of the clown and the drawn, depressed look on the alien's face couldn't be more different. The colors also provide a very obvious contrast. The clown, predictably enough, is comprised of largely saturated colors in various bright hues, making him seem more bright and approachable and, ultimately, good. The alien, however, is muddled with very dark colors. Nothing is very bright, and in fact the only color that really stands out on him is the red that makes up his costume, which is a power of color but also of danger.