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proteus_lives (proteus_lives) wrote in scans_daily,
@ 2009-05-25 23:00:00

Current location:	Outer Dark
Entry tags:	creator: butch guice, creator: chuck dixon, creator: rick burchett, publisher: wildstorm, theme: war, title: storming paradise

Storming Paradise
Greetings True Believers! Memorial Day had me thinking about one of my favorite series right now. Wildstorm's "Storming Paradise." It's a historical "What-If?" drama. The premise is that the atomic bomb test was a disaster and the Allies had to go through with the invasion of Japan in order to end WWII. It's great because of the level of the what if. The decision to use the atom bomb is still debated today. Was it necessary? Was it justified? What about the other options? (Personally I think it was the best card in a bad hand and the other options were far worse.)

This series explores one of those options. The invasion of Japan and how it might have played out. It got me thinking, would the atomic bombing of Japan have played out the same way in the Marvel or DC universe?

My question to my fellow S_Der's is this: How would the presence of super-powered beings, magic, aliens, etc. affected this moment in history? Would it have been the same? Would things have been different? Can this question be answered?

This is a scene from issue #5 where General Patton and his personal detachment have been surprised by a Japanese Banzai charge. (In this reality, Patton was transferred for the invasion and didn't die in an accident after combat had ended in Europe.)

Part of me wishes that Patton had died in a matter such as this. I didn't agree with everything he said or did but he was an interesting and weird son of a bitch. I think he would much rather had an end like this.

Historical context on the invasion of Japan: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_japan

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	Really? proteus_lives 2009-05-26 12:06 pm UTC (link)
	What are some examples of that in his writing? I take it you think that this scene or Storming Paradise in general is right-wing, how so? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	Re: Really? drsevarius 2009-05-26 12:29 pm UTC (link)
	You seriously don't know how Dixon is conservative? http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/bwillingham/2009/01/09/superheroes-still-plenty-of-super-but-losing-some-of-the-hero/#IDComment15106298 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Dixon#Political_Controversy (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	Re: Really? proteus_lives 2009-05-26 02:31 pm UTC (link)
	No, I'm not much a DC fan and he didn't hit my radar until Storming Paradise. Still, I don't see anything "right-wing" about SP. (Reply to this) (Parent)

Re: Really?

daningram
2009-05-26 04:09 pm UTC (link)

I agree that Dixon is conservative, but I don't think the idea that a land invasion of Japan would be bloody to an epic degree is a right wing idea.

Truth be told, I think it's closer to common sense than anything else. At the time, Japanese civilians threw themselves off cliffs to avoid being captured. Back to the wall and in their homeland, I can't see the Imperial forces choosing suicide.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	Re: Really? unknownscribler 2009-05-26 11:51 pm UTC (link)
	Indeed. One of the really big problems was that the Japanese had it hammered into them that surrendering instead of dying made them less than human -- their barbaric mistreatment of their prisoners of war arose as a direct consequence of this. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	Re: Really? proteus_lives 2009-05-27 12:19 am UTC (link)
	It was obscene what the Japanese did to POWs/surrendered civilians and captured airmen. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	Re: Really? daningram 2009-05-31 03:22 pm UTC (link)
	IMO, it's even moreso when you consider how little they seemed to have owned up to their past actions. Germany's did a complete about face, accepting responsibility for the actions of the nazis. Japan would rather believe that they were acting in self defense and don't seem to have owned up to any war crimes, as a nation and even 50 years later. (Reply to this) (Parent)

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