History ComicBook / MarshalLaw

* BrokenAesop: The arc ''Super Babylon'' satirizes Golden Age superheroes for their conservative attitudes and prejudices, but also constantly attacks them for their [[SexIsEvil supposed sexual perversion.]] It's rather hard to take accusations of dated attitudes seriously when the comic itself treats [[BondageIsBad bondage,]] [[DepravedHomosexual crossdressing, homosexuality]], nudism, and [[DisposableSexWorker prostitution]] as either punchlines or signs of moral decay. It's especially obvious when Law's old girlfriend (a strident feminist who gave cogent arguments against toxic masculinity) comes back evil, which is shown by having her [[EvilCostumeSwitch dress in a skimpy outfit and get in a relationship with another guy.]]
** The crux of the comic is that superheroes are bad, nowhere as heroic as real heroes, and promote the idea that violence is the best option. The titular protagonist isn't exempt from this, when called out for how his actions inspire people to acts of just the characters he fights against, he doesn't deny. The problem is what while the comic criticizes superheroes for resorting to violence, some of the "real heroes" it praises are soldiers who fought in war, ie, people who took part in horrific acts of violence.
*** It should be noted that earlier comics in the series, mostly the original and ''Takes Manhattan'', didn’t have this problem, as they took a ''much'' dimmer view of soldiers, the military, and police, seeing superheroes as an extension of their hypermasculine quasi-fascistic methods.
** ''Super Babylon'' mocks superhero outfits as impractical, getting them killed when they went into combat, but it occurs in a story where they handed a defeat by Marshal Law whose outfit is equally impractical.

Though not a huge hit in its time, Marshal Law would be VindicatedByHistory, and its themes would be revisited and expanded in ''Comicbook/TheBoys'' and ''Stormwatch: Team Achilles''. Ironically (and in the wake of the success of ''The Boys'' in particular), the series has been subject to revisionism with focus on the humanity in the character compared to the hero hunters in ''The Boys'' and ''Team Achilles''.

** The most significant are Public Spirit (Franchise/{{Superman}}), Private Eye (Franchise/{{Batman}}) and The Persecutor (ComicBook/ThePunisher) who all appear in a twisted fashion, emphasizing the sadistic or tragic aspects of the characters and anti-authoritarian political readings.
** Besides The Persecutor, ''Marshal Law Takes Manhattan'' features parody versions of several other [[Franchise/MarvelUniverse Marvel]] superheroes, including [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Mr. Fantastic]], [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Thor]], Franchise/SpiderMan, ComicBook/CaptainAmerica, [[ComicBook/SubMariner Namor]], Comicbook/DoctorStrange, ComicBook/SilverSurfer, [[ComicBook/FantasticFour The Human Torch]], ComicBook/AntMan, and Comicbook/{{Daredevil}}. Unlike the main three, they aren't so much evil as just stupid.
** Later we are introduced to the [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] Jesus Society of America ([[ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica JSA]]), the predecessor to the Jesus League of America, featuring Public Spirit (here being more like ComicBook/CaptainAmerica), Private Dick (Bucky/Robin), Miss Victory (Franchise/WonderWoman), Tomcat (Wildcat), the Blue Battery (ComicBook/GreenLantern), the Lightning Streaker (ComicBook/TheFlash), Hyperman (Hourman), G-Man (Starman), and a bunch of other nameless ones. And where the more modern heroes are DarkerAndEdgier, these guys are incompetent, condescending, and anything but heroic.

** Marshal Law actually met Comicbook/JudgeDredd in a one page story celebrating ''Comicbook/TwoThousandAD'' 's 25th Anniversary. Read it [[https://grizzlybomb.com/2014/10/21/dredd-vs-brief-history-judge-dredd-crossovers/ here.]]

** ''The Kingdom in the Blind'' attacks every facet of Franchise/{{Batman}}: DeceasedParentsAreTheBest, KidSidekick, Butler, SociopathicHero and his belief that InsaneEqualsViolent.

** It also works as a {{Deconstruction}} of the CapeBusters comics that came after it. The cape busters in the aforementioned ''Comicbook/TheBoys'' and ''Stormwatch: Team Achilles'' are generally heroic and have actual superpowers, which can lead to {{Broken Aesop}}s since their comics revolve around the dangerous nature of superheroes, yet said cape busters are superheroes in all but name. On the other hand, Marshal Law [[LampshadeHanging acknowledges]] that he is a HunterOfHisOwnKind. Not only that but Law is portrayed rather negatively and is sometimes called a fascist by the other characters, given his [[PuttingOnTheReich pseudo-Nazi]] costume and [[{{Sadist}} admitted obsession for brutalizing other superheroes]]; furthermore, Commissioner [=McGland=], Law's superior, views Marshal Law as another tool to ensure the dystopian status quo of San Futuro. In short, despite Law's occupation as a cape buster, Marshal Law is part of the superhero problem rather than the solution to it.

* SpiritualSuccessor:
** It can be seen as one for Creator/HarveyKurtzman's ''Superduperman'', his MAD magazine spoof. Like Kurtzman, Mills ''hates'' superheroes and heaps scorn on it, and where Kurztman made fun of classic heroes for being pathetic adolescent fantasies, Mills updates it in general to all other superheroes that came since TheFifties, including vigilantes, revisionist heroes and teenage heroes.
** ''Marshal Law'' can also be seen as one for Ben Edlund's ''ComicBook/TheTick'', since both are satirical parodies of the superhero genre featuring caricatures of well-known Marvel and DC superheroes. However unlike ''The Tick'', which is more of a silly and light-hearted spoof of said genre for kids, ''Marshal Law'' is a dark and cynical parody of the genre for adults.
** Creator/GarthEnnis' ''ComicBook/TheBoys'' is one for ''Marshal Law''. Where Mills played his superhero satire for laughs, Ennis plays it, generally for drama with characters like the Butcher and Hughie being more than the caricatures like Joe Gilmore, and tackling the corporate structure behind superhero stories and fandoms.
** It has also gained a SpiritualAntithesis in the form of ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' with direct comparisons between BigBad Shigaraki, our DesignatedHero Marshal Law and the very similar art style.
** ''Marshal Law'' also borrows a lot of inspiration from ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'' (Pat Mills and Ken O'Neill even helped create some comic strips for Judge Dredd) to the point where the series was even originally going to be a flat out copy of Judge Dredd.

* AbnormalAmmo: Law tends to avoid using regular bullets on his Super Hero enemies. Instead he opts for electrified nets and harpoon tasers in his Meat Cannon. He's also used incendiary and fragmentation rounds on his gun.

* OedipusComplex: [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]]; [[spoiler:Danny/The Sleepman contemplates whether or not this applies to him as he watches Virago and Public Spirit argue.]] While he admits to not being qualified enough to be sure, he dismisses the idea and concludes that the problem lies mostly with his parents.

*** On another level, ''Secret Tribunal'' (the comic with the aforementioned expies) mocks the {{Fantastic Racism}} seen in X-Men in two ways. First, by calling out the absurdity of using what's more or less a power-fantasy to tell a story of being "outcasts feared by the world" (perhaps best shown when the Jean Grey analogue talks about how no man would choose a mutant like her for a partner despite being an obviously attractive girl with no visible deformities wearing an outfit showing her goods off, which comes off as a jab at {{Stripperific}}[=/=]MsFanservice lady X-Men characters like ComicBook/{{Storm}} or ComicBook/{{Psylocke}} or ComicBook/EmmaFrost). Secondly, by taking a hacksaw to the notion that mutants are "the next stage of evolution" or Homo Superior by Marshal pointing out that the mutants, from all their talk on how they are destined to replace humanity and are their betters are nothing more than glorified Nazis (backed by one mutant speaking of purging the "inferior").

Also, whatever you do, do not confuse this character with the resident BruceLeeClone of ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}}'' Marshall Law. Or mistake this series for the late-nineties TV series ''Series/MartialLaw''. Or, of course, [[EmergencyAuthority the governing tactic of the same name]].

* KickTheSonOfABitch: Private Eye is a despicable maniac, but there's hardly a soul who would blame him for killing [[spoiler:[[AbusiveParents his own parents]] after all the crap they had put him through]].

*** This is continued even further in the first sequel, ''Marshal Law Takes Manhattan''. While the traditional Marvel heroes get some pretty brutal parodying, including things like a Spider-Man analog who's all about [[ADateWithRosiePalms shooting a different sticky fluid]] in public, they're treated as stupid and banal, but mostly harmless. Meanwhile, the Punisher analog gets by ''far'' the most direct satire, with him being portrayed as a fascist, racist, paranoid sadist with [[NeverMyFault a persecution complex a mile deep]], the ugliest part of the RightWingMilitiaFanatic power fantasy taken to its endpoint. And even he's not that different from Law, being his old mentor, implying that Law's archetype is rotten at the root.

* BiggerIsBetterInBed: Averted with the Public Spirit. He's a flyer-type superhero and flyers have an ahem..."altered biology" that makes it dangerous to have sex with normal humans. That's one of the reasons why "siren" type supers such as Celeste were created. His son Danny [[spoiler: AKA the Sleepman]] also had this, and was bullied at school when he had an erection - his classmates were disgusted at how grossly large it was and nicknamed him "Elephant Trunk".
* TheBigGuy: Kiloton and later Razorhead.

Also, whatever you do, do not confuse this character with the resident BruceLeeClone of ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}}'' [[NamesTheSame Marshall Law]]. Or mistake this series for the late-nineties TV series ''Series/MartialLaw''. Or, of course, [[EmergencyAuthority the governing tactic of the same name]].

* BiggerIsBetterInBed: Averted with the Public Spirit. He's a flyer-type superhero and flyers have an ahem..."altered biology" that makes it dangerous to have sex with normal humans. That's one of the reasons why "siren" type supers such as Celeste were created. His son, the Sleeping Man, was also bullied at school when he had an erection - after that the kids are disgusted at how grossly large it is and nicknamed him "Elephant Trunk".

** Besides The Persecutor, ''Marshal Law Takes Manhattan'' features parody versions of several other [[Franchise/MarvelUniverse Marvel]] superheroes, including [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Mr. Fantastic]], [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Thor]], Franchise/SpiderMan, ComicBook/CaptainAmerica, [[ComicBook/SubMariner Namor]], Comicbook/DoctorStrange, ComicBook/SilverSurfer, [[ComicBook/FantasticFour The Human Torch]], ComicBook/AntMan, and Comicbook/{{Daredevil}}.

** Golden Age heroes in ''Super Babylon'' are depicted as a bunch of relics of a bygone era that were never anything impressive even in their prime: their usage in warfare was a dismal failure, designed for propaganda rather than effectiveness and only seeing any use as high-class prostitutes, and they miserably failed to transition away from the battlefield, being wiped out by criminals and gangsters. When revived in the modern day, their old prejudices and perversions have come to the fore to the point that they can scarcely function. Even their biggest fan, the man minding the museum, ultimately admits that they were a pretty pathetic bunch, and his reason for liking them has less to do with any of their actual feats of heroism and more simply the fact that he's convinced himself that [[OlderIsBetter their status as the first heroes]] means they must have ''some'' value.

** Golden/Silver Age heroes: Homophobic, sexist, glory-seeking assholes, who don't deserve any of the fame they get, and their example only leads those who look up to them to ruin their lives. However, they're also tortured over the fact that they must always be perfect, an image which is impossible to keep up for any human.
** One entire issue, set in a museum celebrating the "deeds" of the superheroes of the Golden Age, note that they almost always attacked safe targets, were killed off rather easily when attempting to actually fight in the war (causing the war to run longer by an estimated six months), and aren't a tenth as heroic as cops or soldiers who risked their far more vulnerable bodies to serve something bigger than themselves.

-> If ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' did in any way kill off the superhero - which is a dubious proposition - then ''Marshal Law'' has taken it further with this wonderful act of necrophilia, where it has degraded the corpse in a really amusing way. I think that's great... Pat and Kevin do it so well, with such style and with such obvious malice; that's the fun thing about ''Marshal Law''. They're not just kidding, they really hate superheroes.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: After it's revealed that the Sleeping Man is alive and is being raised by the gov't, the stories never tell what happened to the Sleeping Man afterwards and in ''Secret Tribunal'', there's a mew teenaged Publis Spirit.l

* BiggerIsBetterInBed: Averted with the Public Spirit. He's a flyer-type superhero and flyers have an ahem..."altered biology" that makes it dangerous to have sex with normal humans. That's one of the reasons why "siren" type supers such as Celeste were created.

A biting satire of super-hero comics, the series was published by Marvel Comics Epic line before being moved onto a variety of other publishers. The series was famous for its satirical look at super-heroes and the public's love of them, while exploring the seedy underbelly of what it means to have absolute power. It also offered a rather scathing attack on American foreign policy under Reagan in the 1980s, as Reagan's war against communism in Central America serves as the backdrop of Marshal Law's origin.

* NotQuiteDead: [[spoiler: The Sleepman]] survived getting gunned down by Marshal Law. But his injuries reduced him mentally to a child and Dr. Shocc is currently using him as a psychology experiment.

* ALighterShadeOfBlack: Marshal Law initially has some positive feelings towards the Private Eye, given that he's a brutal, sadistic, vigilante and that the only thing that makes him any worse than Law is that the Eye's targets aren't usually as able to fight back. Then Kiloton finds out that [[HumanResources the Eye is using his sidekicks as organ donors]], the Eye kills him, and Law decides that EvenEvilHasStandards. [[note]]This is probably a case of SelfDeprecation because Batman is one of the few superheroes-- possibly the ''only'' one-- that Pat Mills enjoys. He has admitted to liking ''ComicBook/TheDarkKnightReturns'', and later wrote a Batman one-shot of his own in 1999.[[/note]]

** A recurring theme of the series is that, when you break him down, Marshal Law more or less is a superhero. He has both superpowers and unique gadgets, he operates largely on his own initiative, he has a distinctive costume and codename, he fights other superpowered beings he perceives as evil or dangerous, he has a SecretIdentity, he has what are essentially sidekicks in many stories, and despite his claims to the contrary, [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold he does want to do good]]. People pointing this out to him [[BerserkButton causes him to froth at the mouth]].

* MurderByInaction: At the climax of the "Kingdom of the Blind" storyarc, Law is very much capable of helping the Private Eye up rather than let him fall to his death. Watching from across the room, Law jokingly blows his nose and insists he "can't quite reach" as the Private Eye struggles and eventually falls. This is a parody of Batman and other writers stretching Batman's ThouShaltNotKill to ridiculous levels.