History Anvilicious / ComicBooks

* "What's So Funny 'Bout Truth, Justice, and the American Way", an issue of ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' that satirized the comic team ''ComicBook/TheAuthority'' and their violent approach to crime fighting. It's basically a long TakeThat at anti-heroes as a whole, but specifically those that kill (gotta make sure Batman isn't in the firing line). It also doesn't help that the villain is basically [[WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic Devil Boner]] crossed with [[Music/TheSexPistols John Lydon]].

* An Italian {{ComicBook/DonaldDuck|ComicUniverse}} from 2013 featuring the Junior Woodchucks features an unsubtle GreenAesop: Huey, Dewey and Louie, exploring an underground, notice some gas pipes and mention how in Duckburg there are less and less of them since they started using more enviroment-friendly energy sources. Then they stop for a panel and [[BreakingTheFourthWall ask the readers themselves]] why aren't they doing the same in real life in the most guilt-inducing way possible.

* A common criticism of ''ComicBook/{{Thor 2014}}'' is how heavy handed the feminism is, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the fight between Thor and the Destroyer. Odinson (the original Thor) calls on all the women he suspected of being Thor (which apparently includes every woman he's ever met) to help in the fight when Frigga questions how they'll stop it. Frigga proceeds to shout what may as well be, "girl power!" Many readers also noted that there are ''no men'' among the group, even though it would've been pretty easy for Odinson to round some up while finding the Amazon Army, and felt the feminist series even ''more'' Anvilicous, at best, and sexist at worst.
* Likewise, ''[[ComicBook/NickSpencersCaptainAmerica Sam Wilson: Captain America]]'' might as well be named "Republicans am bad: The Comic", whose [[SarcasmMode subtle leanings]] can be summed up with [[http://static1.comicvine.com/uploads/original/11127/111279141/5232174-1026399205-XUymu.jpg Red Skull]] as a Donald Trump {{Expy}}.
** The ''ComicBook/SecretEmpire'' event takes this one up a notch by having the first issue of ''Sam Wilson'' in the event have Sam encounter two white people who unironically use the "fake news" bit to describe ComicBook/{{HYDRA}}.

* Likewise, ''[[ComicBook/NickSpencersCaptainAmerica Sam Wilson: Captain America]]'' might as well be named "Republicans am bad: The Comic", whose [[SarcasmMode subtle leanings]] can be summed up with [[http://static1.comicvine.com/uploads/original/11127/111279141/5232174-1026399205-XUymu.jpg] as a Donald Trump {{Expy}}.

* In ''ComicBook/YoungJustice'', when Arrowette's school psychologist is brutally killed by gun violence, she explodes at a pro-gun rights Congressman who tries to blame it on violent video games and comic books. Therefore, the gun control message also doubles as an attack against MoralGuardians. In the official DC forums at the time, the writer PeterDavid mentioned that few readers picked up on the ''third'' anvil he dropped, that the enraged Arrowette apparently had no problems at all hurting people with her own weapons of choice during this story. It didn't help that the psychologist was killed by an abusive ex-boyfriend, not school or gang violence which made the "Guns are bad" message seem very forced (What would Arrowette have done if the psychologist was murdered by being stabbed or strangled?). Not to mention that on occasion, David put in his own views on gun control into the book (this being one such instance) that he was protective of, which led to a flame war on his forums once which was started when David himself sarcastically dismissed a fan who had criticized one such use of the heavyhandedness of this message in a book which the fan had already stated was good otherwise.

* A fair amount of ECComics stories are spectacularly unsubtle; [[http://asylums.insanejournal.com/scans_daily/54803.html Judgement Day]] in particular. A robot civilization with clear different castes for robots with orange casing and robots with blue casing being evaluated for whether or not it's worthy to join TheFederation falls short, the two castes mirror "Separate But Equal" very closely, and at the end we see that the evaluator is black.

* Marvel's [[SarcasmMode delightful]] Free Comic Book Day offering ''ComicBook/IronMan[=/=][[TheMightyThor Thor]]'' features {{Corrupt Corporate Executive}}s with [[CardCarryingVillain mustache twirling dialogue]] such as these gems, played 100% straight:

* "What's So Funny 'Bout Truth, Justice, and the American Way", an issue of ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' that satirized the comic team ''ComicBook/TheAuthority'' and their violent approach to crime fighting. It's basically a long TakeThat at anti-heroes as a whole, but specifically those that kill (gotta make sure Batman isn't in the firing line).

* SteveDitko's ''MrA'' tales are this trope personified. Characters who think they're in the grey area of morality keep telling themselves they're not fully evil because they're doing a few bad things, Mr. A continuously delivers long-winded speeches about how [[BlackAndWhiteMorality there's only good and evil]] while reminding victims that he has no remorse for the fate of evildoers.

* A common criticism of ''ComicBook/Thor2014'' is how heavy handed the feminism is, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the fight between Thor and the Destroyer. Odinson (the original Thor) calls on all the women he suspected of being Thor (which apparently includes every woman he's ever met) to help in the fight when Frigga questions how they'll stop it. Frigga proceeds to shout what may as well be, "girl power!" Many readers also noted that there are ''no men'' among the group, even though it would've been pretty easy for Odinson to round some up while finding the Amazon Army, and felt the feminist series even ''more'' Anvilicous, at best, and sexist at worst.

* ''Friends Forever Issue 14'' of ''[[ComicBook/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicIDW My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic]]'' was about as subtle as having someone roll the magazine up, smack you across the face with it, and yell "DON'T BE RACIST!".

* ''Friends Forever Issue 14'' of ''[[ComicBook/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicIDW My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic]]'' was about as subtle as having someone roll the magazine up, smack you across the face with it, and yell "DON'T BE RACIST!" Making things worse was that the actual story came with a good dose of the same UnfortunateImplications the moral was ''[[BrokenAesop against]]''.

* "What's So Funny 'Bout Truth, Justice, and the American Way", an issue of ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' that satirized the comic team ''ComicBook/TheAuthority'' and their violent approach to crime fighting. It' basically a long TakeThat at anti-heroes as a whole, but specifically those that kill (gotta make sure Batman isn't in the firing line).

* Follow any work involving Franchise/SpiderMan. Mainstream comic book, alternate universe comic books, films, animated series, whatever. From the beginning or from some arbitrary point of your convenience. It won't take very long (if it doesn't happen right away) that you will read a story with the aesop that "with great power {{comes great responsibility}}". Decades have passed since ''Amazing Fantasy #15'', and the comics still enforce that aesop.

* Early ''Superman'' stories basically saw our hero as a leaping anvil. The formula went like this: someone was doing something bad ([[WarForFunAndProfitprofiteering off of a war]], running a [[OrphanageOfFear corrupt orphanage]] or mining operation, etc.) and Superman came in to either give them a taste of what they were doing (making him join the war, trapping him in a collapsing mine) or just giving them a taste of his fist or some such. This was more like a fantasy escape for readers riding on the wave of [[UsefulNotes/TheodoreRoosevelt Roosevelt's]] New Deal, who were fed up with society and just wished they could punch out all the corrupt rich and powerful people who they blamed for society's ills, specifically TheGreatDepression. This changed when Superman stopped being a grassroots folk hero, and became an arm of the power structure he fought against, turning his attention to less controversial societal ills such as petty crime, treason, robbery, and murder.

* And then there's ''Franchise/{{Batman}}: Fortunate Son'', in which Batman has a nigh-psychotic hatred of rock music (particularly punk) because some time in the past, he saw an {{Expy}} version of [[Music/SexPistols Sid Vicious]] killing Expy-Nancy Spungen. This leads to the memorable line "Punk is nothing but death and crime... and the rage of a beast!" As crazy as it may seem, the comic actually seems to ''support'' Batman's attitude by setting him against Robin, who comes off as TooDumbToLive because he refuses to believe that his favorite rocker could be a criminal just because he makes enjoyable music. On top of that, the villain (said rocker's manager) did it because he wanted to [[WarForFunAndProfit martyr the guy in order to boost record sales]], and ends up [[DisneyVillainDeath falling off of a tall building]] [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic and gets impaled on a cross-shaped fence]]. What makes this all the more interesting is that the book is fixated on pounding an anvilicious 1950s-style "[[TheNewRockAndRoll Rock And Roll Music Is Evil And Will Kill Everyone You've Ever Loved]]" message despite being published in 1999.

* And then there's ''Franchise/{{Batman}}: Fortunate Son'', in which Batman has a nigh-psychotic hatred of rock music (particularly punk) because some time in the past, he saw an {{Expy}} version of [[Music/SexPistols Sid Vicious]] killing Expy-Nancy Spungen. This leads to the memorable line "Punk is nothing but death and crime... and the rage of a beast!" As crazy as it may seem, the comic actually seems to ''support'' Batman's attitude by setting him against Robin, who comes off as TooDumbToLive because he refuses to believe that his favorite rocker could be a criminal just because he makes enjoyable music. On top of that, the villain (said rocker's manager) did it because he wanted to [[WarForFunAndProfit martyr the guy in order to boost record sales]], and ends up [[DisneyVillainDeath falling off of a tall building]] [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic and gets impaled on a cross-shaped fence]].

* ''ComicBook/ChickTracts''. Evangelical tracts are overt teaching materials by nature (as their purpose is to convert people), but Chick manages to make some of the others look almost subtle, in his merciless attempts to batter home points in a fashion a four year old would find obvious.

* Some controversy has arisen over a scene in ''Comicbook/UncannyAvengers'' where Havok urges people to not refer to him as a mutant, stating that he abhors the [[FantasticRacism "m-word"]] and wants people to just recognize that we're all human. Given that mutants are historically positioned as a [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything not-so-subtle metaphor for minorities and LGBT individuals]], this has understandably ruffled some feathers. Especially since the writer is a straight white guy.
* SteveDitko's ''MrA'' tales are this trope personified. Characters who think they're in the grey area of morality keep telling themselves they're not fully evil because they're doing a few bad things, Mr. A continuously delivers long-winded speeches about how there's only good and evil while reminding victims that he has no remorse for the fate of evildoers.

* Early Superman stories basically saw our hero as a leaping anvil. The formula went like this: someone was doing something bad (profiteering off of a war, running a corrupt orphanage or mining operation, etc.) and Superman came in to either give them a taste of what they were doing (making him join the war, trapping him in a collapsing mine) or just giving them a taste of his fist or some such. This was more like a fantasy escape for readers riding on the wave of Roosevelt's New Deal, who were fed up with society and just wished they could punch out all the corrupt rich and powerful people who they blamed for society's ills, specifically TheGreatDepression. This changed when Superman stopped being a grassroots folk hero, and became an arm of the power structure he fought against, turning his attention to less controversial societal ills such as petty crime, treason, robbery, and murder.
* And then there's ''Franchise/{{Batman}}: Fortunate Son'', in which Batman has a nigh-psychotic hatred of rock music (particularly punk) because some time in the past, he saw an {{Expy}} version of [[SexPistols Sid Vicious]] killing Expy-Nancy Spungen. This leads to the memorable line "Punk is nothing but death and crime... and the rage of a beast!" As crazy as it may seem, the comic actually seems to ''support'' Batman's attitude by setting him against Robin, who comes off as TooDumbToLive because he refuses to believe that his favorite rocker could be a criminal just because he makes enjoyable music. On top of that, the villain (said rocker's manager) did it because he wanted to [[WarForFunAndProfit martyr the guy in order to boost record sales]], and ends up [[DisneyVillainDeath falling off of a tall building]] [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic and gets impaled on a cross-shaped fence]].
* Follow any work involving Spider-Man. Any of them. Mainstream comic book, alternate universe comic books, films, animated series, whatever. From the begining or from some arbitrary point of your convenience. It won't take very long (if it doesn't happen right away) that you will read a story with the aesop that "with great power comes great responsability". Say it again, "with great power comes great responsability". Decades have passed since Amazing Fantasy 15, and they still enforce that aesop.

* "What's So Funny 'Bout Truth, Justice, and the American Way", an issue of ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' that satirized the comic team ''TheAuthority'' and their violent approach to crime fighting. It' basically a long TakeThat at anti-heroes as a whole, but specifically those that kill (gotta make sure Batman isn't in the firing line).

* "What's So Funny 'Bout Truth, Justice, and the American Way", an issue of ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' that satirized the comic team ''TheAuthority'' and their violent approach to crime fighting.

* The 1970's ''Comicbook/GreenLantern''/''GreenArrow'' (co-starring BlackCanary) series, touching on issues such as xenophobia, racism and drugs, all in a highly unsubtle fashion.

* "What's So Funny 'Bout Truth, Justice, and the American Way", an issue of ''{{Superman}}'' that satirized the comic team ''TheAuthority'' and their violent approach to crime fighting.

* And then there's ''{{Batman}}: Fortunate Son'', in which Batman has a nigh-psychotic hatred of rock music (particularly punk) because some time in the past, he saw an {{Expy}} version of [[SexPistols Sid Vicious]] killing Expy-Nancy Spungen. This leads to the memorable line "Punk is nothing but death and crime... and the rage of a beast!" As crazy as it may seem, the comic actually seems to ''support'' Batman's attitude by setting him against Robin, who comes off as TooDumbToLive because he refuses to believe that his favorite rocker could be a criminal just because he makes enjoyable music. On top of that, the villain (said rocker's manager) did it because he wanted to [[WarForFunAndProfit martyr the guy in order to boost record sales]], and ends up [[DisneyVillainDeath falling off of a tall building]] [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic and gets impaled on a cross-shaped fence]].