OMNI FRAME

10/15/2025

Its Domestic violence awareness month. My analysis on Harley Quinn discusses the subject of Domestic abuse. Its a truly insightful look into the character and her complex history in pop culture.

Cytonius discusses the complicated concept of feminism and Harley Quinn

10/01/2025

James Gunn's Peacemaker - Deconstructing the white savior complex? [ Essay]

In season two of the HBO Max/DC Comics series "Peacemaker" we see Chris Smith aka Peacemaker who is portrayed by John Cena wind up in an alternate/parallel universe where he has everything he ever wanted. He's the worlds greatest superhero, he has a great relationship with his father and brother who are also both highly respected superheroes...and he has the undying love of Emilia Harcourt.

But there's a twist...they all exist in a world where people of color are held captive and where Nazi's rule the world.

On the surface Peacemaker is just another silly James Gunn superhero project...but the truth is...James Gunn has been making some of the most socially conscious superhero films of the past 15 years. Whether it be his Guardians of the Galaxy movies which deal with things like animal rights and problematic father figures or his recent Superman film that deals with the complexities of border jurisdiction and super heroics.

The most recurring and interesting throughline of James Gunn's approach to superheroes is that they exist as anti-authoritarian social outcast. And the most evident and relevant example of this is in the series Peacemaker.

Created by Joe Gill and Pat Boyette, Peacemaker was originally a character under the publisher Charlton Comics. DC Comics would purchase most of the Charlton Characters in 1983 for less than 6,000 dollars to be used in what would become the groundbreaking graphics novel known as Watchmen.

Peacemaker was originally intended to be in the comics graphic novel Watchmen but DC urged writer Alan Moore to created new characters and Peacemaker would act as the inspiration for Eddie Blake aka The Comedian.

Watchmen would be created to pathologize superheroes as sociopathic, self centered vigilantes who are more concerned with their own personal agendas as opposed to being altruistic beacons of justice. Watchmen would have a profound affect on superheroes as it would be one of the first major instances of coding superheroes as authoritarian ego maniacs...or fascists.

James Gunn's Peacemaker would exist to subvert that notion. The comics version of Peacemaker would be very much a reflection of the post Vietnam gun totting, hyper masculine anti heroes popularized by characters like The Punisher and Wolverine, especially in the 80s which, prior to James Gunn and John Cena's interpretation of the character would be the characters most popular era.

HBO Max's Peacemaker is a sardonically comical, unexpectedly topical and subversive take on not just Peacemaker, but superheroes in general. Instead of just being a jingoistic gun totting vigilante, Peacemaker is an traumatized, sexually fluid, emotionally vulnerable wanna be superhero.

While season 1 was a great piece of American television, I actually think that season 2 has some of the most engaging and potent thematic meta text and subtext of the entire series.

Season 2 deals with A LOT, but the most interesting thing is...Nazi's.

While it might be seem hard to believe, Nazi's have been a part of superhero comics for decades. Because superheroes are essentially a Jewish American creation, it makes perfect sense that some of the most prominent villains in comics have been Nazi's.

Characters like Red Skull, Baron Von Strucker, Baron Zemo, and hell even Adolf Hi**er have all appeared as villains in American superhero comics.

The thematic structural integrity of superheroes is built on these characters existing as symbols of anti fascism...and HBO Max's Peacemaker is doing a great job of commenting on those themes.

Season two of the series in all of it's comedic glory is essentially a story about how childhood trauma informs how you engage with love and with society.

The trauma that Chris Smith experiences from his childhood has caused him to exist as a mediocre man child with delusions of his own sense of heroism, but once he discovers an alternate universe he decides that he should live there as that Earth's version of Peacemaker. But Chris never questions the moral standards of his decision or the moral standards of the alternate universe.

This is very important because this plot thread is commentary on several things...

1. It's commentary on how personal interest can distract a person from looking at the bigger picture of how their actions can have grand sweeping affects on other people.

2. It's also commentary on whether or not super heroism is an act of altruism or an act of self interest.

3. Its also commentary on the white savior complex.

Peacemaker's decision to be the greatest hero on Earth 2 is not fueled by a deep seated desire to improve the world...its fueled by deep seated narcissism. Its no coincidence that on Earth 2 where Peacemaker is considered one of its greatest heroes, we never see him save anyone.

The white savior complex is ever present this season, especially given the fact that most of it takes place on an Earth run by Nazi's.

As I've mentioned before superheroes are constructed as white male power fantasies, which means they exist along an intersection of racial obliviousness, social colonialism and racial erasure of various non white individuals.

Peacemaker does an interesting thing in its revelation that Earth 2 is a world run by Nazi's. They use two characters to expose the truth of this corrupt universe. They use Emelia Harcourt, a white woman to verbalize the presence of Earth 2's racism to an oblivious Peacemaker and they use Adebayo a black woman to display its tyranny by being a victim of racism [ she was chased by a gang of angry white people ]

I'm interested to see how the series resolves season two, mainly because I'm interested to see how Peacemaker himself views and addresses the discovery that he is happy in a world run by Nazi's.

This adds interesting layers to the nature v nurture component of his existence. Peacemaker version 1 was raised by a racist and while Peacemaker isn't shown to be overtly racist, does he have those beliefs subconsciously? And if he does, how does he resolve it?

09/22/2025

Dragon Ball Z, multiculturalism and Globalization [Essay]

When people think of Dragon Ball Z they think of screaming power ups, planet destroying energy blasts and...Mr. Popo, but what's been on my mind lately is how Dragon Ball Z and anime in general has been one of the most prominent factors in globalization.

For those not familiar, globalization is a subsystem within macroeconomics that deals with the interdependence and exchange of cultures and economies on a global scale.

The global impact of anime is undoubtedly one of the important socio economic cultural shifts to occur in the 21st century. And for the past 25 years no other franchise has been as pivotal to the global market as Dragon Ball. But why? What is it about Dragon Ball that has made it one of the most culturally and economically impactful franchises of all time?

In my opinion, what makes Dragon Ball such a ripe franchise for global exposure and popularity is the fact that it is undeniably multicultural.

While the franchise is a Japanese production, Dragon Ball Z thrives on global pop culture and historical homage, with things such like the Vegeta Saga being inspired by Superman II [Vegeta is literally based on General Zod and Nappa is Non] and the Cell Saga being inspired by Terminator II [Trunks is based on John Connor and No. 16 is based on Arnold Schwarzenegger ]

Dragon Ball is also based on the Chinese folk tale "Journey to the West" with Goku being based on Sun Wukong aka the Daoist Monkey Warrior King. Other characters like Chiaotzu are based on the Chinese Jiangshi aka the hopping vampire and the character Mr. Popo is based on the Islamic deity known as "Jinns"...and not a minstrel show character.

Unlike other anime brands from Japan like Gundam and Macross that rely more on Japanese nationalism, Dragon Ball Z and many of the anime shows that are influenced by DBZ that have had great success globally all share a common throughline...they all appeal to modernized capitalist cultures....specifically American capitalist cultures. Anime shows like Naruto, Cowboy Bebop and Pokémon all exist as aesthetically American Japanese shows that have had significant global appeal and popularity, especially in the US.

While not often mentioned as being a major factor in Globalization, nerd culture is one of the primary subcultures that helps it to thrive. From things like video games, action figures, model kits, posters, and manga etc.

1999 would be one of the most important years for anime and globalization, in that year we would see Toonami start to focus on more anime shows in its afternoon lineup. Originally in 1997 Toonami featured American shows like Johnny Quest and Thundercats and in 1999 would transition into anime like Dragon Ball Z, Gundam Wing and Sailor Moon.

In 1999 we would also see the World Trade Organization Ministerial conference of 1999, this meeting would focus on improving global trade conditions and while things like anime and manga were not the focus of the meeting I do think it was that both the Japanese expansion of Toonami and a major world trade meeting occurred around the same time.

The idea that the end of Dragon Ball would have a negative effect on the economy is not a far fetched notion. The sad reality is that due to the exhaustive and exploitative nature of capitalism, a show like Dragon Ball which regardless if you are a fan or not is one of the greatest and most impactful television shows of all time, will have to extend its shelf life with subpar series continuations that add little to the franchise all so people who are rich can get richer while not creating anything innovative themselves.

I'm looking forward to when they make Goku turn Super Saiyan Rainbow [not really] Damn shame

09/21/2025

For Batman Day a bit of trivia that I found interesting was the resemblance that Yoru Sensei has to Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of the Japanese martial arts system Aikido. Yoru Sensei 1st appeared in the 35th episode of Batman The Animated Series "Night of the Ninja.

Yoru Sensei was an original creation for the animated series and wasn't a character from the comics. In fact Bruce Wayne's Sensei in the comics was a man named "Kirigi" [4th image]

09/19/2025

Tim Drake : DC Comics answer to Spider-Man? [Essay]

Here's a thing to think about... Tim Drake is/or was DC comics answer to Peter Parker aka Spider Man.

And before you say no he wasn't...yes...he was.

When first created in 1989 Tim Drake was intended to be an improvement on the character Jason Todd who was very much a failure as Robin. Jason was hotheaded and didn't listen to Batman and that's what eventually got the character killed...that and a 1-800 number.

Tim Drake to me is or was the most interesting Robin, because he was the only Robin up to that point to not be motivated by personal trauma.

Tim Drake was created by Marv Wolfman/Pat Broderick and Neal Adams but much of Tim's mythos was crafted by Chuck Dixon who wrote Tim's solo series for 100 issues.

While not a beat for beat copy of Peter Parker [ Tim doesn't struggle with the same blue collar issues that Peter Parker does] in fact Tim is very wealthy.

Dixon stated that he crafted Tim's characterization on Peter Parker...a super smart, everyman who was a girl crazy teenager [ a characterization that DC comics has now abandoned, possibly to spite Chuck Dixon...I'm not sure or because of DC editorial not liking sidekicks] Tim has everything from his own version of Aunt May/Uncle Ben which was his father Jack Drake, his own version of Black Cat with the loveable and less sexually charged character Stephanie Brown aka the Spoiler who also has Gwen Stacy vibes as well.

Tim's character progression prior to the New 52 and after Dixon left the title still aligns with the Spider Man characterization.

After stories like Identity Crisis, Infinite Crisis, and Final Crisis where Tim suffered life changing losses from family and friends we see the character shift into a darker more cynical character...similar to Peter Parker when he had the black symbiote costume he acquired in Secret Wars. We also see Tim change his costume [the black and red Robin suit was in honor of Connor Kent aka the post Crisis Superboy who was killed in Infinite Crisis by Superboy Prime]

The furthest extreme of this character shift towards darkness is in the comic series "Red Robin" where Tim Drake would reluctantly work alongside the villain Ra's Al Ghul [ you can read the story on your own, I'm not going into details, but it's definitely and underappreciated comic book series]

Unfortunately for the past 10 or 15 years DC comics has mishandled the character and his popularity and relevance has taken a hit, kinda like what happened to Spider Man comics in the mid to late 90s.

While his characterization now has been more defined by his sexuality, the essence of what made Tim Drake a great character was that he represented intelligence, ingenuity and emotional vulnerability...ya know...like Spider Man.

See ya next essay...

09/03/2025

In the snippet from my recent video "Is Harley Quinn a feminist icon?" I discuss Harley Quinn, the male gaze and the other female DCAU characters
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08/29/2025

New video essay from Cytonius of OMNIFRAME that discusses Harley Quinn and feminism.

Cytonius discusses the complicated concept of feminism and Harley Quinn

08/21/2025

In this snippet from my youtube video on the first Ninja Turtles film, I discuss how the Shredder beat the Turtles asses without barely touching them.

08/20/2025

Here's a great interview from Kris Landis author of the book Quest for the Dragon Star: An Oral History of WMAC Masters. He's currently working on a revival of the series.

SUMMARYIn this engaging conversation, Khristopher Landis discusses his experiences with WMAC Masters, a 90s kids TV show that combined martial arts with stor...

08/17/2025

RIP

08/06/2025

In this snippet from my Youtube video called Ted Jan Roberts: The Real Karate Kid, I discuss what happened to him after his career in the 90s.