History CentralTheme / ComicBooks

* ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'': Is [[GoodIsOldFashioned truth, justice, and the American way old-fashioned]]?

Remember, a CentralTheme is not the same as AnAesop; a theme is a question, idea, topic or concept that the text explores, while an Aesop is a conclusion the author reaches about the theme or a lesson they wish to impart to the reader. As such, you should try and avoid phrasing your examples as conclusions.

* ''ComicBook/AlbedoErmaFelnaEDF'': What could happen if you decide to give animals the same sentience, emotions and quirks as shared by the human race? The answer is basically the animals will still do the same things the humans do, complete with wars, racism and even ''genocide''.

* ''ComicBook/{{Annihilation}}'' How even the most flawed, weak, failed and underestimated of us can still rise to the call.

* ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'': Is truth, justice and the American way old-fashioned?

** ''Doctor Strange and the Sorcerers Supreme:'' No matter how weak or toubled we are, we can still contributte to a group being greater than a sum of its parts.

* Creator/WarrenEllis' run on [[ComicBook/{{Gen13}} DV8]]: A really dark take on ThePowerOfFriendship - World is a harsh place you won't survive in without real friends.

* ''ComicBook/FlexMentallo'': Don't throw away things you love because they are seen as immature, silly or stupid.

* The work of Creator/GeoffJohns frequently revolves around themes such as family, managing your emotions and finding your place in the world, with the theme corresponding to the overall motif or theme of the character(s) he's writing for. For example:

* ''ComicBook/GothamCentral:'' Even in an extraordinary world the professional and personal challenges of police force remain the same.

** ''ComicBook/TotallyAwesomeHulk'': Hubris of thinking you know yourself and that you can solve problems your predecessors struggled with, without making the same compromises and mistakes they did.

** Alternatively, the extremes that unthinking, unyielding and over-oppressive fascist law-enforcement can go to... and the kind of society that would need this kind of law-enforcement in order to function.

** Can you actually help the mentally ill by treating them? If you can't treat them and if you keep them them alive knowing they will keep killing, can TheHero be considered saner than the villain who realizes the absurdity of the situation?

* ''ComicBook/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'': Culture is both a reflection of the society and context in which it creates and an expression of its genius and ambition. Art is not only a product of life, but something which in turn shapes and influences society itself and its very bad when culture merely regurgitates old tropes and ideas out of empty nostalgia and lack of creativity.

* ''ComicBook/{{Maus}}'': How surviving a tramatic experience like Holocaust doesn't shape just the survivor but affects everyone around them.

* ''ComicBook/MsMarvel2014'': Faith, friends, and family are every bit as important as battling super villains.

* ''ComicBook/{{Phonogram}}'': How art influences, inspires and changes but sometimes also destroys it's consumers.

* ''ComicBook/{{Saga}}'': Trying to maintain the semblance of normal life and happy family for your child in world torn by war.

** "Who makes the world?" When even a PhysicalGod doesn't have all the answers, when the "world's smartest man" is filled with doubt and the Presidents and businessmen are equally confused, why do ordinary people keep believing that they are more powerless or that they need heroes?

** ''[[ComicBook/NewMutants New X-Men: Academy X]]'': People and their rivals probably are NotSoDifferent as they would like to belive.

** His ''ComicBook/TheFlash'' run explores the character's need to 'slow down' (i.e. take time out every now and again).

** Admitting your mistakes and flaws in confronting them.[[AesopAmnesia Otherwise, you will keep making the same mistakes over and over again]], even if the circumstances are different.

** The consequences of [[YourCheatingHeart infidelity]].

** ''Doctor Strange and SelfDemonstrating/DoctorDoom: Triumph and Torment'': There is a price for every victory.

* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'': How the traumas of the past affect the choices we make, and thus how they shape us into the people we are in the present.

* ''Comicbook/SpiderMan'':
** With great power comes great responsibility; what it means to have power and to use it in a socially and morally responsible way. It could be said that this theme applies to most, if not all superhero stories to some extent, [[TropeCodifier but none more so than Spider-Man]].

* ''Comicbook/{{Superman}}'':

** Everyone has some kind of secret, either a big one or a small one, and there's always more to people than you assume. Just as the world assumes little of Peter Parker and Spider-Man, Peter himself often underestimates or misjudges people around him.
** You have to work for every thing in your life, whether it's your job, your superhero calling, your marriage, your relationships. People are complicated, messy and demanding, and you have to be there for them and make things work and never take people for granted.

** In particular, practically every member of Batman's Rogue's Gallery either reflects a part of Batman himself and/or like him has an over-arching trauma that has shaped their lives ever since -- except where he has used his trauma to make himself a better man by defending the innocent to try and prevent what happened to him from happening to others, they have succumbed to despair and evil and use their traumas as an excuse to hurt others.

* ''ComicBook/TheBoys'': The pathetic inadequacies of superheroes and the futility of relying on them (both in-universe and, in a meta-sense, as wish-fulfillment figures) to solve the problems of a complex world.
** Alternatively, horrible ways in which corporate greed destroys everything by applying half-baked, poorly put together, but easily marketable and profitable solutions to complex problems and using corruption to make them first choice options instead of something that would actually work.

* ''ComicBook/MyFriendDahmer'': The consequences of ignoring a cry for help.

* Creator/WarrenEllis' run on [[ComicBook/{{Gen13}} DV8]]: A really dark take on PowerOfFriendship - World is a harsh place you won't survive in without real friends.

* ''ComicBook/AlbedoErmaFelnaEDF'': The whole story ask the following question: What could happen if you decide to give animals the same sentience, emotions and quirks like the ones shared by the human race? The answer is basically the animals will still do the same things the humans do, complete with wars, racism and even ''genocide''.

** Fighting for the one you love.
** Owning up to your flaws and becoming a better, more well-rounded person instead of [[AesopAmnesia repeating the same mistakes ad nauseam]].

Remember, a CentralTheme is not the same as AnAesop; a theme is a question, idea, topic or concept that the text explores, while an Aesop is a conclusion the author reaches about the theme or a lesson they wish to impart to the reader. As such, you should avoid phrasing your examples as conclusions.

* ''ComicBook/VForVendetta'': What does it mean to have freedom? What price is it worth?

* ''Comicbook/XMen'' - Choosing to do the right thing, even when faced with prejudice and injustice. More specifically, having to choose between using your abilities to help mankind and using them to rebel against an oppressive establishment.

** ''Doctor Strange and the Sorcerers Supreme:'' No matter how weak or toubled we are, we can still contributte to a groub being greater than a sum of its parts.

* ''ComicBook/{{Planetary}}'': The world is wonderful and we should do everything we can to stop anyone who wants to make it mundane and boring.

* ''Comicbook/TheSandman'': All things change, all things end. Neither of these is terrible. And there is always more to everything (and everyone) than you expect.

* ''Comicbook/SpiderMan'': With great power comes great responsibility; what it means to have power and to use it in a socially and morally responsible way. It could be said that this theme applies to most, if not all superhero stories to some extent, [[TropeCodifier but none more so than Spider-Man]].

** With Spider-Man, it's being a hero even when there is no reward for being one, it won't get bills paid, it won't help your love life and it won't get you fame and respect.