Casino Royale and FranchiseRemix James Bond as Superhero.docx

Casino Royale and Franchise
Remix: James Bond as Superhero
Robert P. Arnett
"Who am I? I'm Spider-man." Last line Spider-man (2002)
"The truth i s . . . I am Iron Man." Last line Jron Man (2008)
"TTie name's Bond, James Bond." Last line Casino Royale
(2006)
Popular media and industry reporting often claim films like
Casino Royale (Martin Campbell, 2006), Batman Begins
(Christopher
Nolan, 2005), The Incredible Hulk (Louis Leterrier, 2008), and
Superman Returns (Bryan Singer, 2006) "reboot" their
franchises (e.g.,
Cohen 2008). Invoking shutting down and restarting one's
computer
provides an inaccurate metaphor for the multiple functions
Casino
Royale performs in its position on the timeline of the Bond
franchise.
While beginning the James Bond story again in feature film
form,
now starring Daniel Craig, it also acknowledges previous
feature film
iterations, Ian Fleming's novels, and its fan base at a level of
self-
reference not previously seen in Bond feature films. Casino
Royale,
more accurately, "remixes" the Bond franchise. "Remixed

media,"
according to Lawrence Lessig, take a "wide range of 'texts,'" or
"quotes," and combine them to produce "the new creative
work—the
'remix'" (69). Eduardo Navas further explains a remix can be
reñexive,
allegorizing and extending "the aesthetic of [the] sampling,
where
the remixed version challenges the aura of the original and
claims
autonomy even when it carries the name of the original;
material is
added or deleted, but the original tracks are largely left intact to
be
recognizable" (1). The producers of Casino Royale have
"sampled"
the transmediated mythos of James Bond and created a film
remix: a
transformation ofthe franchise that acknowledges previous
iterations
while claiming its own autonomy.
As Casino Royale unfolds, it argues for its autonomy. The
film presents a hero recognizable as James Bond and a James
Bond
not familiar to many fans. As Navas points out, "The
spectacular aura
of the original(s), whether fully recognizable or not, must
remain
a vital part if the remix is to find cultural acceptance" (1).
Cultural
acceptance of big budget, mainstream film resides in its box
office

success—bringing in the mass audience. Tony Bennett and Janet
Woollacott's important but dated Bond and Beyond (1987)
suggests
part ofthe Bond franchise's cultural acceptance resides its
willingness
to change with the times. Bond, Bennett and WooUacott claim,
is "[a]
mythic figure who transcends his own variable incarnations.
Bond is
always identified with himself but is never quite the same—an
ever
mobile signifier" (274). Bennett and WooUacott, as well many
ofthe
writers in the essay collection Ian Fleming and James Bond: The
Cultural Politics of 007, cite Umberto Eco's writing on
Fleming's
novels concerning Bond as a brand, as something "already
there." In
presenting a Bond who is simultaneously "already there" and
unknown.
Casino Royale provides a significant, and according to Lessig,
new,
artifact in popular films of this decade: a successfully
reinvigorated
franchise. To arrive at a remixed, "culturally accepted" James
Bond,
the producers have shifted his genre, remixed the Bond
franchise as a
superhero franchise.
The producers remixed Bond within a corporate context that
understood the modem superhero franchise. The production of
Casino
Royale coincided with Sony's purchase of MGM in 2004
(Grover;
Goldsmith). Variety reported, "Sony . . . hopes that the 007

franchise
can become a cornerstone of its release slate on a par with
Spider-
man" (LaPorte 6). In remixing the James Bond franchise. Casino
Royale argues for its place within the superhero genre. Much
that is
new about Bond in Casino Royale aligns him with superheroes
like
Spider-man and Iron Man, especially as they appear in the first
films
ofthe their modem iteration. The first film ofa franchise remix
focuses
on the origin story ofthe superhero, and like Spider-man or Iron
Man,
Casino Royale propels James Bond to his "super" identity as
"James
Bond."
In remixing James Bond as if he were a superhero. Casino
Royale enacts a reflexive remix and therefore elements of the
reflexive
remix guide the analysis: first, identifying the various visual
and
narrative elements, Nava's "parts from différent sources" of the
remix
within the film that negotiate multiple intertextual connections
while
challenging the aura of the original brand; second, analyzing
how the
contemporary remix fulfills its role as the franchise re-activator
by
rescuing James Bond from self-parody and necessitating
additional

installments of the franchise—its "cultural acceptance"; and,
third,
articulating the autonomy of the remixed Casino Royale as the
first
Bond film in a franchise modeled after superhero films.
Remixing Visual and Narrative Elements
As Jim Collins points out, franchises stake out a claim within
an aggregate narrative when "they appeal to disparate and
overlapping
audiences, by presenting different incarnations of the superhero
simultaneously, so that the text always comes trailing its
intertexts
and rearticulations" (180). This section considers James Bond as
an
aggregate text, consisting primarily of films and novels, and
mines
the text for visual and narrative elements remixed in Casino
Royale to
reaffirm James Bond but also to establish significant differences
from
previous iterations of the Bond franchise. Narrative elements
include
key events that propel the story, the arrangement or structure of
the
stories, and variations on character motivations, especially
those of
James Bond. Visual elements include the appearance of the hero
and
other major characters, the setting, significant objects used by
the
hero or which confront the hero, and filmic effects representing
the
franchise.

Ian Fleming's 1953 novel. Casino Royale, acts as the primary
source of the 2006 film. The 1967 film. Casino Royale, was a
satire
and only used Fleming's title—the 2006 film, then, is not a
remake.
The October 21, 1954 episode of the CBS anthology series.
Climax!,
based on Casino Royale, distills to an hour and Americanizes
Fleming's
novel. As a condensation of the novel, the television version
contains
no variations that appear in the 2006 film. Casino Royale of
2006
remixes an adaptation of Fleming's first Bond novel while
referencing
multiple aspects of the previous James Bond films with the
specific
purpose of beginning the franchise anew.
Fleming's novel provides much of the film's Act II or middle
hour. Fleming's novel begins with Bond at Casino Royale and
ends
shortly after he leaves having defeated Le Chiffre at Baccarat.
In
Fleming's novel, Le Chiffre has lost much of the money he owes
to Soviet spy organization, SMERSH. Le Chiffre plans to win
the
money at Casino Royale and save his operation in France before
SMERSH assassinates him. Bankrupting Le Chiffre means
exposing
and eliminating the Communists in France, so M sends Bond
because
of Bond's reputation as a shrewd gambler (Fleming implies

previous
missions for Bond, so the story is not one of Bond's "first"
mission).
M also assigns Vesper to help with radio communication and be
the
"girl" a gambler like Bond should have around. Vesper, not
Mathis
(he appears in later novels), turns out to be a double agent but,
having
fallen in love with Bond, sacrifices herself to allow him to
escape
when captured and tortured by Le Chiffre. Vesper, at the end of
the
novel, commits suicide, leaving a morose Bond whose last line
in the
book is, "The bitch is dead now" (181).
Fleming's novel provides the basic plot for the film, the
bankrupting of Le Chiffre at Casino Royale, and the main
characters.
Vesper Lynd, Rene Mathis, and Felix Leiter. Fleming's plot
resonates
with the Cold War climate of 1953 and therefore requires
updating,
not only for a contemporary political situation, but also for
activating
a film franchise. The film replaces the Communists' operation
with
an unnamed organization tied into a radical Fascist government
in
Mozambique, which the film sets up in its first act
(approximately
the first 39 minutes—subtract about three minutes for title
sequence).
Bond enters the story by having botched an assignment to catch
a

bomb maker in Mozambique. Among the things he finds on the
bomber, a cell phone with a number for "Ellipsis" piques his
curiosity.
Whereas betrayal and deceit from the nemesis's organization
move the
plot in Fleming's novel, in the film the crucial events propelling
the
narrative come from Bond's independent action. Researching
Ellipsis
leads Bond to the Bahamas and to Dimitrios, whom he beats at
cards.
Dimitrios' plan, of which Bond is not aware, involves working
for
Le Chiffre. Dimitrios connects Bond to Le Chiñre's plot to
destroy
the new airliner and propels Bond into a world of severe tests
before
"becoming" Bond. Bond foils the demolition ofthe new
passenger
jet, and Le Chiffre ends up short of money, forcing him to set
up his
gambling option at Casino Royale, the point where the novel
began.
The unnamed organization appears briefly at the beginning and
end
oí Casino Royale and becomes a part ofthe mystery in the next
film.
Quantum of Solace (2008). Act III injects new material between
the
death of Le Chiffre and the death of Vesper, much of which
involves
the mysterious organization and the film's variation on Vesper.
The

film's narrative structure begins with Bond achieving 00 status
and
ends with his proclamation of being James Bond. Casino Royale
evokes a narrative structure not from the model of previous
Bond
films, but from one found in superhero films.
In the first film of a remixed franchise, the hero experiences
an extraordinary moment of conversion near the end of Act I:
for
example, Peter Parker bit by a super-spider, Tony Stark
captured by
terrorists, Bruce Wayne plucked from a Chinese prison to train
with
Ra's Al Ghul. Bond's moment of conversion in Casino Royale
comes
when Dimitrios connects Bond to Le Chiffre's plot to destroy
the
airliner. The new 00 agent injects himself into an extraordinary
world
of adventure. In Act II, superheroes struggle with the obstacles
and
confiicts of establishing themselves in a new identity. The
ordinary
side of the identity struggles with becoming the superhero.
Bond
makes many mistakes upon entering Le Chiffre's world—
Solange,
Dimitrios' wife, dies because of Bond; Bond loses all of the
money
from Vesper's bank. Act II ends when the nemesis appears for a
final showdown (Spider-man vs. Green Goblin, Batman vs. Ra's
Al
Ghul), providing that trial-by-fire from which emerges the
superhero.
Vesper's deal with Mr. White's organization sets up the

showdown at
the end of Casino Royale. A denouement follows and reaffirms
that
the ordinary identity has become "super" (e.g., "I am Spider-
man,"
or Batman answering the bat signal), and Bond declares himself
on a
narrative level and many other levels of being. Casino Royale
follows
a superhero narrative model, specifically an origin story, and
like
others films of this genre in the current decade remixes a new,
usually
darker, vision of the superhero.
The progress of the narrative toward a new, darker James
Bond parallels a series of visual references with the books and
the
films. Many are simply fun trivia points for James Bond fans
(e.g., a
key ring medallion with 53—the year of the book's release, the
Aston-
Martin replica of the car first seen in Goldfinger, women in the
casino
scenes who had appeared in the Connery films). Other motifs
visualize
the idea of Bond as familiar and different. For example, like the
other
Bonds, Craig spends much of Casino Royale in formal evening
attire
(a tuxedo or dark suit), although the meaning of the tuxedo
differs, the
discussion of which comes later and contributes to the

autonomy of
Craig's Bond.
Another visual variation lies in the action sequences. The
major action sequences of Casino Royale re-align Bond with the
superhero genre and de-emphasize the thriller/espionage genre.
Like a
superhero, Craig's Bond partakes of physical stunts: the free-
running
sequence near of beginning, the airport sequence, and the
gunfight
and chase into a sinking building in Venice at the end. Previous
Bonds
participated in action scenes typical of the espionage genre,
such as
fist fights that involved smashing furniture, but the larger scale
action
set pieces involved equipment or machinery (e.g., the
underwater
assault with high-tech scuba gear in Thunderball, the racing
engine-
equipped gondola in Moonraker [1979], or the hovercraft race
through
the minefields in Die Another Day [2002]) and not a high
degree
of physical stunts for the older Bonds and the Stuntman.
Granted,
CGI aids both Bond and the superheroes, but the action set
pieces
emphasizing individual performance move Bond away from the
part-
of-the-machine imagery of the Connery/Moore/Brosnan films,
typified
by the assault on the enemy lair at the end of most Bond films,
and
toward the free-actor showdown with the villain, as in the

superhero
films, from which James Bond/Superhero emerges.
The denouement of Casino Royale, in effect the opening
minutes of Quantum of Solace, brings together the narrative and
visual motifs that simultaneously affirm James Bond and deny
previous visions of Bond. He shoots Mr. White, an action that
remains
unresolved in Casino Royale, and begins a revenge quest.
Visually,
he appears in a tuxedo for no reason having to do with
ambushing
someone and carrying a very large weapon, which he holds near
the
side of his face, as the other Bonds did in many of the
marketing
campaigns. The image of Bond with the big gun would be used
in
marketing Quantum of Solace, but it never appears in the film.
In the
last moment of Casino Royale, Bond invokes another Bond
motif
begun with Connery: he looks almost into the camera and says
for
the first time, "I'm Bond, James Bond." And on that cue, the
music
strikes the familiar James Bond theme, which had not
previously
played. Casino Royale ends on grand crescendo of remix: this
new
Bond exists intertextually connected to the franchise while
narrative
and visual associations connect him with the superhero. Bond is
at
once familiar and different.

Remixing for the Franchise
Being the first film ofthe new iteration. Casino Royale carries
the extra burden of necessitating consecutive films. At this
level,
Casino Royale shares more traits with the first films of
superhero
franchises than with the espionage genre. Like Spider-man, Iron
Man,
and Batman, James Bond becomes "James Bond" only in the last
act ofthe first film. The superhero's "becoming" dominates the
bulk
of the first film, and along the way it performs functions
designed
specifically to necessitate further installments of the franchise
with
story elements set up and paid off over the course of subsequent
films.
Casino Royale may have minor connections to the first films
with a
new Bond actor, specifically On Her Majesty's Secret Service
(1969)
with George Lazenby, Roger Moore's first. Live and Let Die
(1973),
Timothy Dalton's first. The Living Daylights (1987), and Pierce
Brosnan's first, Goldeneye (1995), but these films all reinforce
the
continuity ofthe franchise (e.g.. Live and Let Die begins with
Bond at
the grave of his murdered wife from On Her Majesty's Secret
Service)
and never negate the existence of the previous Bond films.
Casino
Royale occupies a unique taxonomic space. Unlike the previous

first
films with a new actor as Bond, Casino Royale professes no
sequel or
prequel connection to events from previous Bond films. As a
franchise
entry, and an origin story. Casino Royale finds more common
ground
with superhero films, especially those remixed in the last
decade.
The superhero film genre is one ofthe few in which (a)
activating a
franchise is a dominant motif, and (b) perhaps the only genre in
which
franchises start anew. Consequently, the superhero franchise
provides
formal clues to delineate Casino Royale's function as the first
film in
restarting a franchise.
Academic analysis of superhero films, like Pearson and
Uricchio's The Many Lives ofthe Batman (1991) and even
Bennett
and Woollacott's Bond and Beyond, concems itself with
intertextual
relations and cultural and ideological possibilities, but rarely
address
the issue of specific elements needed to activate a franchise. In
Fleming's novels and all of the films. Bond exists fully as
"James
Bond." Occasionally, Fleming would add background material
on
Bond (e.g., an obituary written by M in You Only Live Twice),
but
Bond exists from the first book as 007. Bond, freshly minted as
007,
"becomes" in Casino Royale, as does the world Bond will

inhabit.
The world of Bond's adventure, determined by the villain(s),
exists
in the immediate film and then stretches over the subsequent
films
of this iteration of the franchise. Casino Royale marks the
arrival of
Bond as a superhero, and it also marks the creation of a new
world
at a textual level (Bond vs. Mr. White) and an intertextual level
(the
remixed franchise). Bennett and Woollacott only touch upon an
important issue of action heroes of the current decade: maturity.
In
the first film of the contemporary remixed franchise, maturity
and
serious respect for the hero's mythos pervade. Maturity emerges
in
the contemporary franchises because of a pattern of long-
running
franchises degenerating into self-parody in the third and fourth
installments. For the Bond franchise, the last installments by
Connery
(Diamonds Are Forever [1971]), Moore {A View to a Kill
[1985]),
and Pierce Brosnan {Die Another Day), uniformly reveal
excesses
of silliness and self-parody. The Batman films demonstrate a
similar
progression, as do the Christopher Reeves Superman films. Carl
Lumbard, a marketing director at Twentieth Century Fox in
licensing
and merchandising, acknowledged this by claiming, "The Bond

films
are overdue for another reinvention—the whole franchise has
become
perilously close to self-parody" ("Brand Mot" 10). One of the
producers
of Casino Royale, Michael G. Wilson, put it this way, with Die
Another
Day the fi-anchise had become "more fantastic and there was a
feeling that
that sort of film had run its course" (McGinty 36).
Casino Royale acknowledges intertextual references, yet
never relies on parody. Casino Royale, like Batman Begins, also
mixes
in a darker take on the hero than previously seen in the feature
films
and suggests maturity through impressions of the hero's
psychological
instability (e.g.. Bond begins as emotionless assassin and
recovers
a sense of self with Vesper, but then is damaged by what seems
a
betrayal). Casino Royale, as a first film, maps out much of what
James
Bond is to become—but not all. The "becoming" acknowledges
Bennett and Woollacott's notion that the text of Bond "is never
'there'
except in forms in which it is also and always other than 'just
itself,
always-already humming with reading possibilities which derive
from outside its covers" (90-91). Hence, remixing the
"becoming"
means acknowledging the "just itself and also exerting its
maturity to
establish autonomy.

The process of "becoming" reveals a world of adventure
larger than what the hero could imagine before being "super."
For
example, if Peter Parker did not become Spider-man, he would
not
be aware ofthe machinations ofthe Norman Osbom/Green
Goblin.
The initiation begins with the opening sequence of Casino
Royale,
in which Bond is seen as a quiet, cold, efficient killer achieving
00
status with two kills. In becoming James Bond, the cold,
efficient
killer, he follows "Ellipsis" to Dimitrios and crosses over into a
world
of adventure he could not previously imagine. In Fleming's
novel, M
sends him simply because he has a reputation as a gambler.
Bond,
reacting to the Ellipsis mystery, connects to Vesper, and that
situation
propels him into Quantum of Solace. The world of adventure
activated
by Casino Royale, decidedly different than previous Bond films,
from
the ruthless killing ofthe opening to the abduction at the end,
furthers
the autonomy ofthe current iteration ofthe franchise.
Similarly, characters of minor influence in the first film but
extremely important to latter films must appear, and give a hint
to future
events. This element also contains a subtextual level of fan

awareness.
Fans (consumers of the hero's transmediated mythos) recognize
the
implications of the minor characters that non-fans may miss.
For
example. Spider-man fans know that Peter Parker's college
professor.
Dr. Connor, who appears briefly in the three films, becomes the
villain
known as The Lizard. In Casino Royale, fans know minor
characters,
like Felix Leiter and Rene Mathis, will return in the following
films.
Fans also know that the mysterious organization lurking in the
background of Casino Royale will dominate the arc of the
following
films and that its destruction will probably come about in the
third
film, as Luke and the rebels destroy the empire and Darth Vadar
in the
third Star Wars film, as Spider-man ends the Green Goblin's
legacy in
the third Spider-man film, and as X-men vanquish Magneto and
his
army in X-Men 3: The Last Stand.
In respecting what came before and demonstrating a mature
approach. Casino Royale attempts to engage Bond fans and
(re)build a
Bondian world, using a model provided by the superhero genre.
Casino
Royale activates a narrative world that can extend into
subsequent
films, establishes visually distinct qualities while providing
variations
on familiar Bond imagery, foreshadows important characters,

and
successfully launches the autonomy of the current iteration of
the
Bond film franchise.
The Autonomy of Bond Remixed as a Superhero
In a press release, producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara
Broccoli (children of Albert Broccoli, one of the franchise's
original
producers) stated, ^'Casino Royale will have all the action,
suspense
and espionage that our audiences have come to expect from us,
but
nevertheless takes the franchise in a new and exciting direction"
(Doonar 10). Wilson also stated, ''Die Another Day was our
most
successful one yet but we felt audiences were getting tired of
the
over-the-top action sequences. We thought it was time to
reinvent
the series before it ran out of steam" (McGinty 36). To "take"
the
franchise in a new direction. Broccoli and Wilson acknowledge
their
intention to remix the franchise. They also suggest the
persuasive
significance oí Casino Royale as a first film within a remixed
franchise
and the necessity of establishing its autonomy from the previous
film
iterations.
When Daniel Craig states at the very end of the film, "I'm

Bond, James Bond," Casino Royale concludes an argument
found in
the first films of remixed franchises. This argument even
separates
Casino Royale from Quantum of Solace and fiiture Bond films
with
Daniel Craig. The subsequent films represent an ongoing
negotiation
between audience and the producers. In Quantum of Solace,
most of
the traits associated with Connery's Bond remain absent. Craig
never
says, "I'm Bond, James Bond," and never mentions vodka
martinis.
Other levels of referencing do appear: the woman slathered in
oil,
like the woman painted gold in Goldfinger, the Aston-Martin
replica
destroyed in the opening. What constitutes the autonomy of this
Bond can be found in five significant factors. The first is
commercial.
According to Waxman, "In the late 1990s, market research
showed
Bond movies to have the oldest demographic of any action-
adventure
series" (7). Casino Royale's iteration of Bond needed to appeal
to
a younger demographic, not only for a larger section of the
movie
audience but also because of ancillary markets. Waxman points
out
that Casino Royale's producers were cognizant that "the
booming
success of Bond video games has driven a younger audience to
the
movies, Mr. Wilson said—which Sony and the producers do not

want
to disappoint" (6).
The younger audience's acceptance of Daniel Craig in the
role, evidenced by his appearance in Quantum of Solace,
accounts for
the second factor of Casino Royale's autonomy. Craig does not
look
like the Bond Fleming describes (black hair, a comma of which
hangs
over his right eye, a scar on his cheek) nor does he look like any
of the
10
actors who previously played Bond. Yet, Daniel Craig's Bond
becomes
the first to embrace Fleming's more morose and contemplative
Bond.
For example, Fleming's first sentence in Goldfinger, "James
Bond,
with two double bourbons inside him, sat in the final departure
lounge
of Miami Airport and thought about life and death," fits Daniel
Craig's
Bond and not the other Bonds (3). More intense, more morose,
more
independent, Craig's Bond shares more character traits with
Christian
Bale's Batman, Hugh Jackman's Wolverine, and Edward
Norton's
Bruce Banner/Hulk than he does with the previous James Bond
actors.

Third, Casino Royale lessens Bond's misogyny. Near the
end of the film. Bond believes Vesper betrayed him. M explains
the
background on Vesper (her boyfriend held hostage—also in
Fleming's
novel) and attempts to empathize with Bond, suggesting he take
some time oflf. Bond replies, "The job's done and the bitch is
dead,"
invoking Fleming's last line in the novel. Like Fleming's Bond,
this
Bond bears emotional scars that turn to hate, but then the film
turns
the moment in a new direction: M, a woman, explains how
Vesper, a
woman, saved Bond through her actions and her knowledge of
how
Bond would act. This narrative turn represents the ideological
change
of the remixed Bond, with his hate turning away from women
and
toward the organization that manipulated Vesper, Le Chiffre,
and
Mathis and renders Bond a wounded warrior now bent on a
revenge
quest—again, a trait that links to superheroes and away from the
previous Bonds.
The updated Vesper (she represents the bank allocating the
funds for the operation) diffuses Fleming's outward degradation
of
women. Furthermore, the film switches the betrayal of Bond
from
Vesper to Mathis, from female to male. Mathis, however, once
incarcerated becomes available for Quantum of Solace. Casino
Royale
actively works narrative elements to minimize the sense of

women as
objects. The strategy gives women roles of authority (M and
Vesper)
and objectifies Bond in a way the previous films objectified
women
(emerging from the waves in skimpy swimwear). Bond's
relationship
with Vesper provides the vehicle to show Bond's shifting
attitude. The
end of the film, for example, summarizes Vesper and, in effect,
Bond's
evolving attitude concerning women:
James, did you ever ask yourself why you
weren't killed that night? Isn't it obvious?
II
She made a deal to spare your life in exchange
for the money. I'm sure she hoped they would
let her live, but she must have known she was
going to her death. And now, we'll never
know who was behind this.
M reveals an almost-complete inversion of Fleming's sexism: a
woman superior corrects the male's attitude about his emotional
reaction blinding him to the truth of the situation. Bond's
maturity,
more accurately the maturity of the franchise, accepts women as
figures of authority. Again, the context of Casino Royale'^
production
influences the content: according to Variety, "considering that
Bond
is perhaps the most macho franchise of all time, [Barbara]

Broccoli
points out that women are calling the shots [Sony owns
Columbia
Pictures, which Amy Pascal runs]" (LaPorte 6).
Fourth, in Casino Royale, Bond demonstrates much self-
awareness and concem with what he is becoming. Self-
awareness
probably never entered the mind of Sean Connery's or Roger
Moore's
Bond. MworriesthatitwasanerrortograntBondOOstatus.
Throughout
Casino Royale, M and Bond negotiate what kind of person/agent
Bond
becomes. In their first scene together, M contends, "I knew it
was too
early to promote you." Later, after thwarting the destruction of
the
jet airliner and Solange's death. Bond states, "You knew I
wouldn't
let this drop, didn't you?" M replies, "When I knew you were
you."
In their last scene, M asks, "You don't trust anyone, do you,
James?"
He responds immediately, "No." "Then you've learned your
lesson,"
M concludes. Craig's Bond rejects the loyal soldier conformity
found
in Fleming's Bond and Connery's Bond. Specifically, Craig's
Bond
no longer represents a conservative hero defending a status quo,
but
remixes the aggregate hero as an individual with a tenuous
relationship
to the power structure he represents, just as Peter Parker/Spider-
man

maintains a difficult relationship with Jonah Jameson's
newspaper and
Tony Stark/Iron Man clashes with his own weapons industry.
Different critics take different views of Bond's conservatism.
For Coméntale (2005), Fleming's Bond is a "hero ofthe
corporation"
(3). Winder (2006) sees in Fleming's M much of Fleming's
conservative
status quo. M, according to Winder, "incamates in its perfect
form
the Conservative ideal: of patrician omnicompentence over a
silent,
uncomprehending, safe, passive flock" (154). Winder goes on to
point out, "Wittingly or unwittingly, Fleming, in his creation of
M,
12
exposed an entire aspect of Britain's elite which in every
imaginable
field was to cause havoc for decades and may well still be doing
so"
(156). Mathis, the experienced French agent, explains in
Fleming's
novel. Bond's identity: '"But don't let me down and become
human
yourself. We would lose such a wonderful machine"' (139).
Craig's
Bond actively resists being a "wonderftjl machine," going so far
as
to invade M's private residence. The remix emphasizes Bond
having
become something not yet fully realized. The new maturity of

the
Bond franchise rests in not knowing Bond's loyalties and
personality
traits. In not becoming a wonderñil machine, Craig's Bond
further
asserts the autonomy of the new franchise.
Fifth, in tamping down the sexism and racism, the remixed
Bond seems less "elitist." Similarly missing, snobbish attitudes
about
food and drink (Bond as a hero of consumerism) also diffuse
Bond's
connection to an aristocratic class. Casino Royale, like most of
its
predecessors, flashes an array of aspirational products
(expensive
watches, clothes, cars), yet most of the products act within the
narrative
as objects Bond needs to pretend to be someone other than
himself,
whereas in the previous films the product placement was crucial
to
Bond being able to perform his job. When Q appears in a Bond
film,
he attaches machinery to Bond, emphasizing the metaphorical
machine
of which he was integral part. As the modem iteration of Bond
moves
away from an elite hero. Bond becomes even more like a movie
superhero. Bond's superhero costume becomes the tuxedo
(Vesper
supplies one, he does not have his own). The tuxedo personifies,
to
paraphrase from Batman Begins, a symbol people can
understand.
Unlike Connery, whose natural state seemed to be in a tuxedo,

Craig's
Bond takes to evening wear as a guise, something that covers
his true
identity—he performs "on stage" while at Casino Royale and
achieves
an amazing feat (winning $150 million playing cards).
When out of the tuxedo. Bond is not of the elite (but definitely
upscale with his sailboat to Venice). Taking Fleming's depiction
of a
much more contemplative Bond, Craig's remix emphasizes that
nature
when Bond is not in formal wear. The books tend to open with
Bond at
rest and generally morose, depressed by the loss of the "girl"
from the
previous story {e.g.. Live and Let Die, From Russia WithLove,
YouOnly
Live Twice). Fleming's Thunderball even opens with M
committing
Bond to a health spa for reasons that in today's language would
equal
"rehab" or "detox," and may portend for future films with Craig
as
13
Bond. Similarly, Iron Man fans know Tony Starks'drinking
becomes a
problem as his story progresses. As in the superhero franchises,
Craig
and the producers remix Bond from an aggregate narrative, and
their
sampling choices strategically establish autonomy within the

franchise.
The most prominent features in building autonomy come from
the
commercial context of Casino Royale's production, acceptance
of
Daniel Craig as Bond, lessening the misogyny of previous
iterations
of Bond, creating a more self-aware Bond, and diminishing
Bond's
associations with the elite class.
Conclusion
Casino Royale remixes James Bond and reaffirms Bennett
and Woollacott's notion of Bond as a mobile signifier, as it
marks a
strategic shift in the formula of the previous iterations of the
Bond
franchise and re-aligns Bond with the superhero genre. As the
first
film in the remixed franchise. Casino Royale follows franchise
criteria
established by superhero films. The "meaning" of Casino Royale
rests
in Lessig's defense of remix: "meaning comes not from the
content of
what [remixers] say; it comes from the reference, which is
expressible
only if it is the original that gets used" (74). The remixed Bond
assures
the audience, and specifically the fan audience, that this is
James Bond,
but with mature intent in regards to the mythos of the
transmediated
hero and a lack ofthe self-parody of previous film iterations.

Casino Royale's success as a film franchise remixed for the
future also appears in its narrative structure. While concluding
one
story. Casino Royale depicts the beginnings of Quantum of
Solace
and the film(s) to follow with the question of Mr. White's
identity. In
establishing a continuing narrative. Casino Royale activates a
much
different franchise than had previously existed with the Bond
feature
films, one more like the Fleming novels. Casino Royale,
strategically,
does not answer all the questions about Bond. It activates the
franchise
and marks some familiar territory (e.g.. Bond as MI:6
operative), yet
also establishes gray area in that Bond remains a work in
progress.
The continuing narrative acts as a vehicle for a new, emerging
Bond
identity, one rooted in individualism and an awkward
relationship to
the power structure he represents. Unlike Fleming's Bond,
Craig's
Bond achieves a 00 status that makes him anything but a
"wonderful
machine." Quantum of Solace continues to reinforce, in Navas'
words,
"the aura of the original" but goes further in claiming
autonomy.
14

Quantum, as the second film of the franchise, strategically
deletes
material previous iterations of Bond, such as the Bond
catchphrases,
and, with the exception of Judi Dench as M, Quantum makes
fewer
references to the previous Bond films. Casino Royale remains
unique:
as the first film of a remixed franchise it leaves Bond
precariously
perched, like his superhero brethren, between worlds of order
and
disorder. Thus, the negotiation of the remixed Bondian world
begins.
Works Cited
Bennett, Tony and Janet Woollacott. Bond and Beyond: The
Political
Career of a Popular Hero. London: Macmillan, 1987.
Cohen, David S. "'Incredible Hulk' reboots franchise." Variety,
com. Http://www. variety.com/ articleA^Rl 117986691.
html?categoryid=1043&cs=l. 30 May 2008.
Collins, Jim. "Batman: The Movie, Narrative: The
Hyperconscious."
In The Many Lives of the Batman: Critical Approaches to a
Superhero and His Media. Pearson, Roberta E. and William
Uricchio, eds. New York: Routledge, 1991.
Coméntale, Edward P. "Fleming's Company Man: James Bond
and
the Management of Modernism." In Ian Fleming and James
Bond: The Cultural Politics of 007. Coméntale, Edward P.,
S. Watt, and S. Willman, eds. Bloomington, IN: Indiana UP,

2005.
Doonar, Joanna. "Brand Mot: James Bond." Brand Strategy. 2
Nov.
2005: 10.
Fleming, Ian. Casino Royale. 1953. NY: Penguin, 2002.
—. Goldfinger. 1959. }<Y: Penguin, 2002.
Goldsmith, Jill. "How Sony Did It." Variety. 4 Oct. 2004: 1+.
Grover, Ronald. "Why Sony is Now a Bit Player at MGM:
Private
Equity Backers Have Taken Control of the Studio Howard
Stringer Coveted." Business Week. 20 Nov. 2006: 44.
LaPorte, Nicole. "Bond Ambition: 007 Gets Face Lift." Variety.
6
Mar. 2006: 6+.
15
Lessig, Lawrence. Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in
the
Hybrid Economy. New York: Penguin, 2008.
Lindner, Christoph, ed. The James Bond Phenomenon: A
Critical
Reader. Manchester: Manchester UP, 2003.
McGinty, Stephen. "Bond is Back, Bad and Playing It By the
Book."
The Scotsman. 17 Oct. 2005: 36+.

Navas, Eduardo. "Remix Defined." Remix Theory [web site].
Http://
remixtheory.net/?page id=3. Apr. 2007.
Waxman, Sharon. "Bond Franchise is Shaken and Stirred." New
York
Times. 15 Oct. 2005, late ed.: 7+.
Winder, Simon. The Man Who Saved Britain: A Personal
Journey
into the Disturbing World of James Bond. New York: Picador,
2006.
16
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THE COMIC BOOK AS
SYMBOLIC ENVIRONMENT:
THE CASE OE IRON MAN
JON HOGAN*
p relationship between humanity and technology is a subject
that is always
JL pertinent to society. As new tools develop, the ways in which
people deal

with each other as well as the technology itself come into
question. This is a matter
that concerns all of us interested in semantic and media
environments. Marshal
McLuhan investigated the effects of technology on human
consciousness. Jacques
Ellul fi-etted about humankind's eventual loss of autonomy to
machines; Neil
Postman lamented the paucity of critical thinking about this
issue.
The comic book is one context in which humanity's relationship
with
technology is often explored. Whether it is Batman's parents
falling to a gun or the
Incredible Hulk receiving his monstrous powers fi-om radiation,
comic books often
explore the effects of technology on society. Comic books are
well-suited to deal
with this issue because of their cartoonish drawings that often
shun photorealism.
Any manner of technology shown in a comic book will appear
realistic in the
context in which it is presented. While poor special effects in a
live-action movie
stand out as glaring failures, a drawing of a fantastic machine in
a comic book
looks the same as the cartoon people with whom they interact
and illustrated
landscapes where they exist. Therefore, technology can be
treated with a degree
of seriousness lacking in other forms of entertainment. Also, as
McCloud explains
in his Understanding Comics, comic book art appeals to people
because, visually,

a cartoon drawing is a nondescript place to be filled with the
reader's empathy.
McLuhan describes graphic storytelling as a "cool medium," a
medium that gives
less information but allows for maximum audience
participation. By making the
characters decidedly lacking in photorealistic physical
description, the reader
*Jon Hogan is a Masters student and teaching assistant in the
Communications and Rhetorical
Studies program at Syracuse University. He is the recipient of a
2009 Fulbright Grant to Brazil
to study Brazilian comics of the 1960s and 1970s as reactions to
the dictatorship. He is a lifelong
reader of comic books; his academic interest in them came to
fruition during an undergraduate
internship at Marvel Comics in the fall of 2006. Since that time,
he has pursued research in media
ecology and visual rhetoric in relation to comic books. Contact:
[email protected]
199
200 ETC • APRIL 2009
can much more easily see the hero as a stand-in for himself In
these ways,
comic books are particularly well-suited to deal with the
interaction and union of
humanity and technology.
The comics medium in its very nature is a union. Coupling
static visuals with
text, comics can convey messages through two very different

means. Sometimes
the two aspects of comics work in perfect harmony with each
other. Other times,
picture is at odds with words, creating a meaning and nuance
that can be extracted
from the piece. Either way, graphic storytelling is unique in the
sense that it
uses text and static images to communicate with its audience.
Comic books are
culturally valuable because they can help us to better
understand our society.
Depth and insight are mixed with Archie and Jughead in the
perception of
comic books, making it rare that they receive critical
recognition. Since their
inception in the early 20* century, comics have been viewed as
the basest form
of popular culture: junk entertainment. The use of pictures made
people see the
medium as distinctly low brow.
The academic study of comics was bolstered in 1985, when Will
Eisner
published Comics and Sequential Art. Eisner argued that
"thoughtful pedagogical
concern would provide a better climate for the production of
more worthy subject
content and the expansion of the medium as a whole" (Comics
and Sequential Art
5). In the late '80s and early '90s, comic books were receiving
more positive media
attention. Adult comic books such as Watchmen, Maus, and
Dark Knight Returns
helped many people respect the medium as a means of telling
stories of great depth

and maturity. Scott McCloud published Understanding Comics
(1991) in which
he used media scholars to analyze sequential art. Since then,
reading and studying
comics became legitimized and increasingly popular.
Comic books are most often used in popular culture studies.
They are highly
visual, like television and the Internet, and popular culture
studies place comics in
this image culture. They are also collaborative, like other
popular media such as
fihns and television. The typical mainstream comic book
features rotating teams
of writers and artists throughout its run, creating collaborative
authorship. Many
popular culture studies of comic books focus on highbrow
comics such as Maus or
Sandman (Ewert, Rauch, Sanders) and ignore other genres of
comics in favor of
these more "mature" works.
Although many scholars ignore them, superhero comic books,
however, give
us the greatest insight into society. Analyzing the superhero is
the perfect means
of analyzing the culture. The superhero is such an asset in
sociological research
because the hero provides a record of the values prized by a
society. Just like the
works of Homer for the Greeks, superhero comic books are a
social record of what
our society sees as the most important aspirations one can hold.
As Berger says,
"there is a fairly close relationship, generally, between a society
and its heroes;

THE COMIC BOOK AS SYMBOLIC ENVIRONMENT: THE
CASE OF IRON MAN 201
if a hero does not espouse values that are meaningful to his
readers, there seems
little likelihood that he will be popular" (151). The superhero
comic book is part of
popular culture because it can help us better understand what
traits we value and
why we value them.
Marvel Comics' Iron Man is a popular comic series in which the
relationship
between humanity and technology is a dominant theme. In this
series, billionaire
Tony Stark fights evildoers in the guise of armored superhero
Iron Man. Iron Man's
many facets could help us better understand American culture in
the 20* and 2P'
centuries. Making his first appearance in 1963's Tales of
Suspense #39, Marvel
Comics has published comics featuring Iron Man for the past 44
years. Iron Man's
popularity reached beyond comics in 1966 with recurring
animated features on
the television series The Marvel Superheroes. A later animated
television series in
the 1990s was followed by the recent direct-to-DVD release of
an animated movie
featuring the character. In 2008 Marvel Studios released a live-
action version of
Iron Man. According to Berger, all of this attention indicates
that Iron Man means

something significant.
The technology is just as much of a star in Iron Man as the man
beneath the
armor. It is interesting to note that Stark has no special powers;
he is a superhero
because he knows how to build things. Iron Man comics have
always portrayed
technology as constantly evolving. In fact, one of the main
appeals of the character
is following the change in the suit's appearance as technology
improves. Iron Man
is one of the few characters in the North American comic book
industry whose
costume can change on a regular basis without causing a fan
outcry.
While the technology in Iron Man is always changing, the focus
has always been
on the interaction between humanity and the mechanical. In
particular, three classic
story arcs best illustrate the different ways in which this
relationship can be viewed.
The origin story and subsequent issue showed the Iron Man
technology as a means of
keeping Tony Stark alive as well as an extension of the man
beneath the armor. The
Armor Wars arc shows how technology can be viewed as a
status symbol. Finally,
Extremis displayed the point at which Stark ceased simply using
technology and
actually merged with the technology itself Throughout these
stories. Iron Man has
shown the different ways that man is dependent on technology.
In this analysis certain issues of Iron Man spanning the

character's existence of
over 40 years will be studied. These materials correspond to
important story arcs
in Iron Man that deal with technology. The first story to be
addressed is Iron Man's
origin. For this. Essential Iron Man volume 1, a collected
edition of issues #39-72
of Tales of Suspense, will be used. These issues feature Iron
Man's first adventures.
In particular the study will focus on issues 39 and 40, originally
published in 1963.
These two issues feature a story by Stan Lee. Don Heck
penciled issue 39 while
Jack Kirby was the illustrator on issue 40. The next storyline of
interest is 1987's
Armor Wars, Armor Wars details Tony Stark's efforts to keep
his technology from
falling into the wrong hands. Here the story was a collaborative
effort between
David Michelinie and Bob Layton, with Layton and M.D. Bright
responsible for
art. A reprint oí Iron Man #225-232 published in 2007 is the
reference for these
issues. Writer Warren Ellis and artist Adi Granov's Extremis
(2004) is the final
storyline. While this work was published in 2004, the 2006
hardcover collecting
Extremis will be used as a reference. Two areas of the above
stories will be
explored. The portrayal of technology in these cmcial storylines
is the first area of

exploration. The depiction of the relationship between
technology and its users will
be the primary focus. In different ways, each of these stories
reflects humanity's
dependence on technology.
The Suit Makes the Man: Technology as an Extension of Self in
Iron Man's
Origin Story
To properly understand the portrayal of technology in Iron Man
comics, one
must start with the character's origin story. Tales of Suspense
#39 featured the
first appearance of both Iron Man and Tony Stark in a 13-page
tale. Early in the
story, the reader is taken to South Vietnam where Stark is
helping the army test his
midget transistor transportation tool. One of the soldiers
accompanying Stark trips
a landmine, which injures Stark.
He awakes in the lair of Wong-Chu, "the red guerilla tyrant." A
large piece of
shrapnel is edging its way towards Stark's heart, making death
imminent. Wong-
Chu puts Stark to work making weapons for the communists
before his heart gives
out. "Every tick of the clock brings the deadly shrapnel closer
to my heart," Stark
says as he tinkers away in the workshop.
Stark's comment reflects some of Postman's writings. The
millionaire
industrialist is defining the last days of his life by a
technological mle. This mirrors

Postman's comment that "Human life must find its meaning in
machinery and
technique" in a technopoly (Technopoly 52). Stark suggests that
his life can be
quantified and measured by the metered movements of a clock.
He is so beholden
to technology that he cannot even discuss his own death without
describing it in
terms of machinery.
An assistant for Stark soon comes in the form of Professor
Yinsen, a former
scientist and current man-servant of Wong-Chu. As soon as
Yinsen and Stark are
left alone together. Stark explains his daring plan for survival
and escape. He has
created schematics for a suit of armor that will give him the
strength to escape
and keep the piece of shrapnel fi-om reaching his heart. Ellul's
view of technology
as "a means of protection and defense" comes into play here
(25). Stark uses the
armor as a means of defense in two ways. The suit gives him
physical protection
fi-om harm and uses magnets to keep the shrapnel fi-om
reaching his heart. Ellul's
second aspect of technology, that it is a way to "utilize to
(man's) profit powers
that are alien or hostile," is very interesting in the context of
this story. This

statement refers to helping one adapt to a hostile environment,
and the armor does
this by giving Stark the means to escape. But Ellul's observation
also applies in a
much more literal sense. Stark and Yinsen are actually taking
the resources of the
hostile Communist army and using these assets to their profit.
"What wonders we
shall perform!" Yinsen cries after seeing the Iron Man
schematics. "And the reds
themselves gave us all the materials we need!" Stark muses.
However, both of these elements of the armor solely benefit
Stark. Does the
invention help Professor Yinsen, an instrumental part of Stark's
plan?
Not at all. After the completion of the armor, the Iron Man suit
needs to be
charged. The charging session is interrupted in its last few
minutes by the approach
of Wong-Chu and his men. Knowing that the Communists'
intrusion will prevent
the birth of Iron Man, Yinsen decides to run into the hallway to
draw their attention
away fi-om the workshop. "My life is of no consequence!"
Yinsen thinks before
running out the door. "But I must gain time for Iron Man to
live!" As Stark rises
fi-om the table clad in the armor, Yinsen is shot dead by Wong-
Chu's troops.
Yinsen allows himself to be killed so a piece of technology can
operate at its
fiillest potential. After Stark dispatches the villains later in the
story, he bellows,

"Now, Professor Yinsen, rest easy! You, who have sacrificed
your life to save
mine, have been avenged!" Many parallels can be seen between
this situation and
McLuhan's conception of the armored knight, a figure to which
Iron Man is often
compared. As McLuhan noted, referencing the work of Lynn
White, the payment of
others was required to make the protector of medieval times
operate {Understanding
Media 293). The proper operation of the knight depended on the
sacrifices of
individuals who did not directly use the technology. Similarly,
the activation of the
Iron Man armor was contingent on Yinsen's sacrificing his own
life.
After Stark rises fi-om the table, he realizes that he is
unaccustomed to moving
in the armor. He quickly familiarizes himself with the armor's
operation though.
"The transistor-powered circuits are coordinated with my brain
waves, just as if
any living human's brain controls his own body," Stark notes.
Subsequent to this
realization. Stark has doubts about the nature of his armor. "Can
the thing I have
created survive?" he asks himself "The thing which is less than
human... yet, far
more than merely human! This thing which is not-Anthony
Stark!"
The scientist is pondering the nature of extensions. The suit's
transistor
abilities connect Iron Man's movement to Stark's nervous
system. When

Stark claims that he is "far more than merely, human," he is
simply confirming
McLuhan's assertion that technology "adds" itself to what we
are (McLuhan,
Understanding Media 23). He is a human with the added
abilities of a machine. It
204 ETC - APRIL 2009
is also important to note the role of auto-amputation in Stark's
transformation. Now
that he has extended himself into a new technology, he has
amputated his former
self. Stark's donning of the Iron Man armor has created a new
self.
The art in this panel also plays into this. Heck shows Stark in
the Iron Man
armor staring dejectedly at the ground. While the shadow
behind him is very
human in form, a mirror to his left reflects his mechanical shell.
Stark is both
human and machine, a sentiment reiterated in the next panel
when he notes, "My
brain still thinks! My heart still beats! But, in order to remain
alive, I must spend
the rest of my life in this iron prison!!"
However, as Stark uses his superior technology to defeat Wong-
Chu and his
henchmen, the reader gets a different sense of Stark's
interaction with his armor. As
he withstands a hail of gunfire. Stark boasts, "It will take more
than small arms fire

to penetrate my cast-iron body!" Even though he previously
lamented the necessity
of having to operate through a machine, he now embraces the
technology as his
body. Auto-amputation has made Stark fail to see the boundary
between himself
and his technology. While Yinsen might have given his life for
the Iron Man armor
to operate properly. Stark made another detrimental sacrifice:
his humanity.
Tales of Suspense #39 ends with Stark chasing the Communists
out of the
stronghold and fi-eeing their prisoners. The last panel is Stark
walking back into the
jungle, thinking, "As for the Iron Man, that metallic hulk who
once was Anthony
Stark... who knows what destiny awaits him? Time alone will
provide the answer!
Time alone..."
Tales of Suspense #40 provides the answer much better than
time ever could.
While this issue focuses on an inane battle between Iron Man
and a robotic
Neanderthal, a less action-packed scene provides the reader
with more insight
into Stark's relationship with his technology. This part of the
story involves Stark
visiting the circus with a female companion Marion. During a
performance, the
circus' cats break loose. Stark sneaks away, changes into his
armor, and quickly
dispatches the feline threat.
However, the crowd's reaction to him is anything but grateful.

They are
utterly terrified of him. "He looks like a creature in one of those
science fiction
films!" a woman declares. "Oh! How-How dreadftal looking he
is!" another cries.
"Momma! Momma! ::SOB:: Save me fi-om the ugly man!" a
child screams. Since
the armor has become an extension of Stark, he takes these
comments to heart. He
vows to alter the costume's appearance.
Later Stark approaches Marion for her opinion about the armor's
appearance.
"Well, (Iron Man) battles menaces like a hero in olden times!
So, if he's a modem
knight in shining armor, why doesn't he wear golden metal
instead ofthat awful
dull grey armor?" she says. Following Marion's suggestion.
Stark coats the armor
with gold paint.
It is a point of interest that the first improvement Stark makes
to the armor
is a cosmetic one. When he could have added any number of
features that would
improve the armor's performance. Stark instead chose to merely
change its color.
To properly understand this, one must remember the
automobile. Just like the
armor, the automobile becomes a part of its user through
extension. Many people

will customize their cars to fit their personalities; fins, spoilers,
or spinning rims can
be added to better reflect the nature of the person behind the
wheel. The Iron Man
armor can also be cosmetically altered to display Stark's
personality.
The concept of altering outward appearance to create a desired
reception is
heavily reminiscent of the work of Erving Goffman. In his The
Presentation of Self
in Everyday Life, Goffman discusses image management.
People can manage the
way that others perceive them by altering their behavior and
appearance in certain
situations. Other people's estimation of someone can change
depending on what
they are allowed to perceive. Accordingly, Stark changes the
appearance of his
armor to make people react to Iron Man's presence in a positive
manner. Image
management can be seen as the impetus for the armor's many
future improvements.
Movin' On Up: Armor Wars and Technology as a Status Symbol
The drive to improve the armor is a consistent thread in Iron
Man comics.
It eventually gets to the point where Iron Man has a vast arsenal
of armors at his
disposal. Jhe Armor Wars story is an exploration of what would
happen if that
arsenal were usurped. The cover to issue #225 features Iron
Man in a battle pose
with fist clenched as many of his villains' heads lurk in the
background. "They stole

his technology," the cover declares, "and now it's TOTAL
WAR!"
The story involves Stark realizing that his technology has been
appropriated by
criminals and killers through an act of industrial sabotage. Here
we are reminded
of Ellul. "Man, we repeat, is never able to foresee the totality of
effects of his
technique," he explains (108). When Stark created the
technology, he saw it as
saving his life, not taking the lives of others. "How many have
drawn blood with
my sword?" Stark asks.
Although the "blood" part ofthat sentence seems to upset Stark,
the words
"how many" and "my" are far more important. While Stark is
indeed worried about
the loss of innocent life, the loss of status associated with the
armor also plays
heavily into the equation. To elaborate, one must look no
further than Postman's
recollection of the story of Thamus. Thamus, an Egyptian king,
was presented
with the written word by Theuth, one of his kingdom's greatest
inventors. Instead
of rejoicing over this new means of recording knowledge,
Thamus decries the
written word as a "receipt for recollection, not memory"
(Postman, Technopoly 4).
He goes on to say that Theuth's pupils will go on to gain undue
acclaim for their

mastery of the written medium. Thamus "means to say that
those who cultivate
competence in the use of a new technology become an elite
group that are granted
undeserved authority and prestige by those who have no such
competence"
{Technopoly 9).
Stark's mastery over the Iron Man armor gave him status of
many kinds. He
was allowed into the upper echelons of superheroic society by
using his armor
to fight evil. Also, with the interests of Stark Enterprises
protected by corporate
mascot Iron Man, Stark made money and gained serious clout in
the business
world. The armor was Stark's link to privilege, and it bothers
him that others have
this same opportunity and use it for evil.
Stark's dilemma brings to mind Postman's 1998 speech "Five
Things We Need
to Know About Technological Change." The first item that
Postman addresses is
the "Faustian bargain" inherent in technology. "Technology
giveth, and technology
taketh away," Postman notes. A person might use technology for
his benefit, but
the technology will reap payment for its services eventually.
The armor being used
to kill and steal is the price that must be paid for Stark's use of
the technology for
good.

This transgression against Stark weighs heavily on his mind for
days. During
a demonstration of new Stark Enterprises technologies. Stark
lets his mind stray.
He begins reminiscing about his origin, his time with The
Avengers, and the many
armors he has created in his lifetime. His mind wanders so far
into the past that he
accidentally destroys two United States Army tanks.
The manner in which David Michelinie describes this agitation
is interesting.
"(Stark's) eyes lose focus. Images of soldiers and weapons blur.
And it is only in
his mind that he now sees—^pictures." This immediately brings
to mind McLuhan's
discussion of people's distaste for photographs. "(Photographs)
can be bought and
hugged and thumbed more easily than public prostitutes," he
explains. "Mass-
produced merchandise has always made some people uneasy in
its prostitute
aspect" {Understanding Media 257). Just like a photograph,
Stark's designs have
proven to be easily duplicated. Stark is upset about the
dissemination of his armor
designs because it cheapens and degrades the good that he has
done.
Since Stark never patented his armor for fear of it falling into
the wrong hands,
he has no legal recourse against these thieves. He decides to go
on a spree of
vigilante justice and disarm these illegal copies of his armor
one by one.

James Rhodes, Stark's fiiend and right-hand man, acts as his
assistant in this
cmsade. This brings to mind EUul's comment that, "Technique
always creates a
kind of secret society, a closed fratemity of practitioners" (162).
Both Stark and
Rhodes wore the Iron Man armor for extended periods of time.
They both share
knowledge of this particular technology. Therefore, when Stark
goes forth to
reclaim it, Rhodes is the only one he tmsts to help him in this
campaign.
McLuhan's "extensions of man" can also explain Stark's refiisal
of outside
help from the Avengers or other superheroes. When confronted
with the
misappropriation of his designs. Stark did not need to take
personal responsibility
for defeating the usurpers. However, after years of using the
Iron Man armor, the
technology has become an extension of him. In Stark's point of
view, he is being
used to commit these atrocities, not the armor. Since he feels
manipulated. Stark
believes that he alone should seek justice.
After securing Rhodes' assistance. Stark goes about tracking
down the people
who are illegally using his armor. When Stark confi-onts each
of the usurpers,

they are using his technology to bring them special privilege.
Stilt-Man is seen
attempting to gain riches by robbing the seventh story of a
skyscraper. Brendan
Doyle, the mercenary known as the Mauler, is awarded a trophy
at the Soldier of
Fortune convention when the reader first sees him. The
Controller has used Stark's
technology to brainwash the elite "yuppies" in southern
Califomia. Stark encounters
and dismantles the Raiders, a group of sky pirates that were
attempting to pilfer
goods fi-om a military cargo plane. When Iron Man tangles with
the Beetle, the villain
is using his armor to steal a Picasso fi-om an auction; what is a
greater status symbol
than art? While the Stingray, the Mandroids, and the Guardians
are not villains, they
are government employees, benefiting fi-om the status that such
a position gives
to them. The Russian villains. Titanium Man, and Crimson
Dynamo also use the
stolen technology to pursue privilege. Titanium Man enjoys the
intellectual respect
he receives for retaining such powerftil technology, while
Crimson Dynamo merely
uses the technology to earn a pension. Both Titanium Man and
Crimson Dynamo are
foiled, with Stark apparently killing Titanium Man in battle.
Between these battles, Michelinie and Layton remind us of the
life of status
and advantage that Stark leads. The reader sees Stark on a date
with a beautiful
woman at a Hollywood premiere. He brags to one of his
conquests of a restaurant

that he owns in Nome, Alaska. While on a date in New York
City, Stark and his
companion walk by Trump Tower; he casually remarks that he
"used to own a
whole floor" of the building.
However, these good times of living the high life are very
quickly disappearing.
The worst of it comes when the United States government
contracts Edwin Cord,
one of Stark's business rivals, to formulate a way to stop Iron
Man's rampage. Cord
creates Firepower, an armored weapon based on the pilfered
Iron Man schematics.
Firepower is operated by Jack Taggert. After his test run,
Taggert reveals some
information about his past when he says, "This is the power we
only dreamed of
in the projects." Taggert is an Afidcan-American who lived a
disadvantaged youth.
As narration tells the reader, "This is where (Taggert) wants to
be, the end of the
road he's traveled his whole adult life." Taggert wanted to
escape the projects, and
Michelinie presents technology as his means of escaping
poverty and disadvantage.
Stark is baited into a final confi-ontation with Firepower. His
human body is
208 ETC - APRIL 2009
battered beyond recognition, and the Iron Man armor must be
sacrificed. Stark flees

the scene of the battle in a helicopter piloted by Rhodes, vowing
never to don the
Iron Man armor again.
He soon breaks this vow when Cord and Taggert use the
Firepower armor to
strong-arm people in the business world, another example of
technology being
used to secure status and power. Stark builds a new armor and
challenges Taggert
a second time. Using improvements on the armor and superior
technology. Stark
decimates the Firepower suit and turns Taggert over to the
authorities. The story
ends with Stark in his mansion. As narration tells us, "All Tony
Stark wants now is
the sanctity of his coastal mansion and the solicitude of his very
weary thoughts."
Now that his armor is once again unique and his social status
once again restored.
Stark wallows in the very symbol of his privilege.
"Now You Can Look At Me": Technology as Assessor of Self-
Worth
in Extremis
Augmentation is the primary theme of Warren Ellis and Adi
Granov's 2004
story arc Extremis. This storyline involves Stark becoming one
with his technology.
By the story's end, he is able to manipulate the armor with a
thought.
The story begins with three terrorists entering an abandoned
slaughterhouse.
Once inside the building, one of the men injects something into

the back of
another's head. We later find out that this "something" is
Extremis, a "bio-
electronics package, fitted into a few billion graphic nanotubes
and suspended in a
carrier fluid." In short, it is a technological enhancement for the
human body. After
falling to the ground apparently dead. Mallen, the recipient of
the injection, comes
back to life with red eyes and vomits organic matter. His
companions flee the room
and lock the door.
The beginning of the story sets up the central conflict. The first
panel that
Granov illustrates is the exterior of this building, complete with
a sign explicitly
labeling it "D.R. Cole Slaughterhouse." A slaughterhouse brings
to mind images of
meat, sinew, and blood, aspects of the biological. Soon after
getting a view of this
building, we are confronted with a piece of technology. The fact
that our first view
of technology in Extremis takes place in a slaughterhouse
prepares the reader for a
conflict between the biological and the mechanical.
The next scene we see is Tony Stark preparing for a busy day.
His secretary
wakes him in his laboratory at 8 a.m. After arguing with her
about the "early"
wake-up time. Stark begins getting ready for the day. While
washing his face. Stark
stares into the mirror. "What are you looking at?" he asks his
reflection. "I hate it
when you look at me that way."

One of the next scenes helps the reader to better understand
these comments.
The billionaire inventor is interviewed by documentarian John
Pillinger. Pillinger
pesters Stark about his involvement in developing weapons
technology and claims
that the Iron Man armor is only used for peace-keeping
operations. Stark attempts
to defend himself, but these allegations of ineffectualness have
burdened him long
before the interview.
While most people would probably see Stark's conversation with
his reflection
as a sign of dementia, a media ecologist would approach this
ftom a different
perspective. It is obvious from these scenes that Stark is also
displeased with
himself Since this exchange brings to mind McLuhan's account
of Narcissus's
reflection as an extension oí?,é[í{Understanding Media 63), this
displeasure
is instantly associated with extensions, the inventor feels that
both he and his
technology are useless. At one point. Stark says to Pillinger,
"I'm trying to improve
the world." As he sees it, the best way to become useful to the
world is to improve
the abilities of his Iron Man armor.

Meanwhile, Ellis and Granov show us the results of Mallen's
exposure to
Extremis. Two days after the injection. Mallen is horribly
deformed, but awake.
"I'm alive," he declares to his fellow terrorists, as his eyes
gleam red.
Stark meets up with Maya Hansen, a scientist he knew in his
youth. She gives
Stark access to the computer of a teammate that recently
committed suicide. In his
suicide note, he admitted to taking part in the sale of the
Extremis program. Stark
makes a copy of his files, but does not believe answers can be
found in the office.
Instead, he suggests that they visit Sal Kennedy, an old fiiend
of theirs who works
as a computer scientist, ethnobotanist, and futurist.
Their conversation with Kennedy is intercut with scenes of
Mallen's first test of
the Extremis technology. The reader sees him entering the
Houston division of the
FBI. When confronted by security. Mallen goes insane,
punching through security
workers' skulls and tearing them in half. He breathes fire on a
lobby full of people,
leaving them to bum to death. After Maya receives notice of
this attack. Stark
decides to don his Iron Man suit and stop Mallen. As Stark
looks at a computer
read-out of his armor, he sees his reflection in the LCD screen.
"Oh, now you can
look at me?" Stark asks the reflection. Stark's hatred of his
reflection has waned

now that he sees an opportunity to put his technology to good
use.
However, Mallen overpowers Stark. He throws Iron Man into
the air. He crushes
Stark's hand. He breaches Stark's armor. Mallen even throws a
car on top of Stark as
his finishing move. As Stark struggles to lift the car. Mallen
makes his escape.
After the battle. Stark, badly wounded and close to death,
demands to be
taken to Maya's labs. Once behind closed doors, he reveals his
secret identity to
her and demands to be given an Extremis dose. Maya
continually denies him, but
Stark knows it is the only way to best Mallen. "I need to be the
suit," he explains.
"Instead of growing new organs, I need to grow new
connections. This thing's
210 ¿TC • APRIL 2009
gotten too heavy, too slow."
Futurist Alvin Toffler's discussion of the cyborg is interesting
in light of this
revelation. "The human body has until now represented a fixed
point in human
experience, a 'given,'" Toffler explains. "Today we are fast
approaching the day
when the body can no longer be regarded as fixed. Man will be
able, within a
reasonably short period, to redesign not merely individual

bodies, but the entire
human race" (197). As Toffler predicted, new developments in
technology have
allowed Stark to customize the function and performance of his
body. Stark is
envisioning how he can use machinery for more than
regenerating his body; he can
make it better.
Stark's proposal evinces interesting points about the interaction
of different
technologies. He wants to take a gamble and try to bring
together the Iron Man
armor and Extremis. Toffler sees this as a distinct possibility.
"Each new machine
or technique, in a sense, changes all existing machines and
techniques, permitting
us to put them together into new combinations," he explains
(28). TofHer sees
technologies as combinable into even further advanced
machines. Similarly, Stark
hopes to combine Extremis and the Iron Man armor to create a
technology superior
to Extremis.
Maya advises Stark against injecting himself with Extremis. She
is unsure if the
drug will kill Stark. Despite Maya's admonitions. Stark receives
the Extremis dose.
Here the reader sees technology actually become a physical part
of Stark's
body. This development is reminiscent of McLuhan's discussion
of the reversal of
media. As Stark's technology advances, it moves further toward
implosion. After

Stark injects Extremis into his body, it appears as if the
technology has reached the
last possible stage of implosion.
Stark awakens from the Extremis process with the ability to
connect to all
technology on the planet. He can now manipulate any form of
electronic machinery
with a thought. Most importantly, he can control his armor from
a distance. With
his newfound ability to see through satellites. Stark tracks down
Mallen and
quickly bests him in battle. Stark begs Mallen to stop before he
needs to kill the
terrorist, but Mallen refuses to listen. Stark dispatches him with
a laser beam
through the chest and decapitation.
The story ends with Stark confronting Maya in her lab. Maya
was also involved
in selling the Extremis dose to Mallen. Stark's connection to all
electronic media
allowed him access to information networks that revealed the
tmth. As Maya is
escorted away by military police, she says to Stark, "There's no
difference between
us, Tony. You're no better than me." "But I'm trying to be,"
Stark responds. "And I'm
going to be able to look at myself in the mirror tomorrow
morning."
It is interesting to note that Stark can only look at himself in the
mirror with
pride after his technological upgrade. Now that his technology
has been improved.

he has improved himself by extension. In this sense. Stark is
dependent on his
technology for his self-worth.
Facing the Stark Truth: Iron Man's Parables of Technological
Dependency
The relationship between humanity and technology is a subject
studied and
discussed by many media ecologists. McLuhan, Ellul, and
Postman have all
devoted considerable time and space to the topic. The issue is
also a dominant
theme in comic books. With their nondescript drawings
deficient in photorealism,
comic books portray visually believable technologies
interacting with characters
that could very easily be ciphers for the audience. This makes
the comics medium
the ideal place for discussing questions of the interplay between
humanity and
technology.
Despite being viewed as junk culture in the medium's early
days, scholars of
later years embraced the potential of comic books as cultural
artifacts. Studying
the comic book media environment has two major benefits over
the study of
similar media such as film and textual literature. First, the
fusion of written text

and image widens the potential appeal of the medium. With two
different forms
of communication engaging to two different types of literacy,
comic books have
a wider reach, which yields wider relevance to a society.
Second, the view of
comic books as a "trash" medium makes them vast treasure
troves of a society's
values and beliefs. Since comic books are seen as junk culture,
creators aim for
entertainment instead of depth. However, this allows serious
commentary about
our society to trickle into the work without their planning it.
"Perhaps writers and
artists unconsciously let their guard down," Berger notes
("Comics and Culture"
228). Since the majority of creators are not trying to fiilfill
some lofty ideal of
artistic achievement, the writers and artists are more likely to
let elements of their
subconscious seep into the comic. It is then the obligation of the
scholar to draw
these subconscious elements out of the comic.
In recent years, many scholars of different disciplines have
tumed to comic
books. Narrative theory, sociology, and art history have all
found something of
value in graphic sequential storytelling. While many of these
analyses focus on
highbrow "adult" comic books like Maus and Sandman, the
superhero genre
can also be fodder for popular culture analysis. Through
superheroes, we can
understand the audience's hopes, aspirations, and dreams.
Superhero comics can

show popular culture scholars the values of a society.
Marvel Comics' Iron Man is ripe for analysis, but has rarely
been explored in
scholarly studies of popular culture. The fact that the character
has successfully
endured over the past 40 years is a testament to Iron Man's
relevance to American
society. Although many facets of Iron Man could yield
interesting studies, the
212 E r e • APRIL 2009
character's connection to technology is most prevalent. By
studying three crucial
Iron Man storylines through the discipline of media ecology, a
scholar can see
that these stories portray different ways in which humanity can
be dependent on
technology.
Iron Man's origin story, originally printed in Tales of Suspense
#39, is an
interesting introduction to the ways in which people are
dependent on technology.
Primarily, the story deals with a physical dependence. After
being wounded in
Vietnam, Stark depends on the machine to sustain his heart. He
also uses the
makeshift armor to manipulate his environment to his favor,
another hallmark of
media ecology theory. When Stark measures his life in terms of
a ticking clock,
it is reminiscent of Postman's statement that, in a technopoly,

life is defined in
terms of technology. McLuhan's conception of technology as the
"extensions of
man" is another important aspect of this story, particularly his
discussion of auto-
amputation. After first donning the Iron Man suit. Stark
amputates his old self and
forms a new self with his armor. Yinsen's death is another
interesting point when
considered in relation to technology. His death in an attempt to
buy time for Stark
reflects media ecology theory about the sacrifices that humans
must make in order
to use technology. Not only do they depend on technology to
live, they must give
their lives to help it fianction.
In Tales of Suspense #40, the reader sees another account of
technologies as
extensions. Comments about the hideousness of his armor cause
Stark to make
a cosmetic alteration. Stark changes the armor's color because
he now views the
armor as part of himself. Goffman's concept of impression
management can also
explain Stark's decision to paint the armor gold. Much like the
automobile, another
technological extension of self, the armor is customizable to
suit its user. Stark
depends on his armor as a representation of himself.
The Armor Wars storyline is an interesting exploration of
technology and class.
Stark's armor designs are pirated and distributed amongst
villains in an example of
the "Faustian bargain" between humanity and technology. While

Stark expresses
anger about the technology being used to harm innocents, a
good deal of his rage
can be traced back to social status. The story of
Thamus'judgment suggests that
social privilege comes with technical aptitude. Those with
knowledge of how
to use it are often in a social class above the technologically
ignorant. When the
villains use Stark's armor designs, they are attempting to join
the same social class
as the billionaire inventor. Stark is not angry that his
technology has been used to
kill; he is angry that his technology is being used by killers.
Stark's decision to
deal with the usurpers personally might stem fi-om his offense
at an extension of
himself being used to commit evil. When he allows Jim Rhodes
to take part in his
war against the villains, the reader also sees how technological
knowledge can
form a fi-atemity between practitioners. Throughout/Irwor
Wars, Michelinie and
Layton show the reader how the villains use technology to help
themselves join the
elite. The two storytellers make this point even clearer by
making the final villain
in the storyline an Afi-ican-American who lived an
underprivileged childhood in the
projects. Armor Wars displays how people become dependent on

technology as a
signifier of social class.
Finally, Extremis shows the ways in which humans depend on
technological
progress as an assessment of their own progress. Ellis and
Granov's story show
Stark referring to the state of the Iron Man armor for an
assessment of his own
self-worth. This is another instance in which we see reflections
of McLuhan's
"extensions of man." Stark is able to look at himself in the
mirror with pride only
after his armor, viewed as a part of him, is improved. Toffler's
prediction that
human beings will soon be able to redesign their bodies is
reflected in Stark's use of
Extremis to change his biology. Stark believes that the
combination of the Iron Man
armor and Extremis will give him the ability to trounce Mallen;
here the reader
sees Toffler's theory of technologies combining to make
stronger technologies.
When Extremis turns Stark's body into a machine, McLuhan's
eventual implosion
of technology is realized. After Stark bests Mallen, he
proclaims that he can once
again look in the mirror; he can respect himself after his armor
receives upgrades.
In Extremis, the reader sees Stark depending on technology for
his self-image.
In all of these stories, technology is seen as a guiding force in
the lives of
human beings. While it appears that Stark is the master of his
armor, tailoring its

appearance and changing its function to fit his needs, he is
actually technology's
slave. It makes it possible for him to affect his environment,
gives him social
status, and functions as the basis for his self-worth. One cannot
help but see this
technological dependency reflected in modem society. The
current technological
situation in Iron Man, the merging of Stark and the armor
through nanotechnology,
raises issues about how technology will manipulate people's
lives as it becomes
internalized. Stark's predicament will provide scholars with a
case study of how
to retain humanity when encased in a technological
environment.
Works Cited
1. Berger, Arthur Asa. "Comics and Culture." Side-saddled On
The Golden
Calf Ed. George H. Lewis. Pacific Palisaders: Goodyear
Publishing
Company, Inc., 1972.
2. Berger, Arthur Asa. The Comic-Stripped American. New
York: Walker and
Company, 1973.
3. Eisner, Will. Comics & Sequential Art. Tamarac: Poorhouse
Press, 2000.
4. Eisner, Will. Graphic Storytelling. Tamarac: Poorhouse
Press, 2000.
5. Ellul, Jacques. The Technological Society,. New York:
Vintage Books, 1964.

214 ¿TC • APRIL 2009
6. Essential Iron Man volume 1. New York: Marvel Comics,
2005.
7. Ewert, Jeanne C. "Reading Visual Narrative: Art
Spiegelman's Maus."
Narrative. 8.1 (January 2000): 87-103.
8. Goffman, Erving. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life.
Garden City:
Doubleday Anchor Books, 1959.
9. The Invincible Iron Man: Armor Wars. New York: Marvel
Comics, 2007
10. The Invincible Iron Man: Extremis. New York: Marvel
Comics, 2006.
11. Iron Man: Mask in the Iron Man. New York: Marvel
Comics, 2001.
12. McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics: The invisible art.
New York: Harper
Paperbacks, 1994.
13. McLuhan, Marshall. Understanding Media: The extensions
of man. Corte
Madera: Gingko Press, 2003.
14. Postman, Neil. Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public
discourse in the age of
show business. New York: Penguin, 2005.
15. Postman, Neil. "Five Things We Need to Know About
Technological
Change." Conference paper, Denver 1998.

16. Postman, Neil. Technopoly: The surrender of culture to
technology. New
York: Vintage Books, 1993.
17. Rauch, Stephen. Neil Gaiman, The Sandman and Joseph
Campbell: In
Search oftheModern Myth. Rockville: Wildside Press, 2003.
18. Sanders, Joe. The Sandman Papers: An exploration of the
Sandman
mythology. Seattle: Fantagraphics, 2006.
19. Strate, Lance. Echoes and Reflections: On media ecology as
a field of study.
Cresskill: Hampton Press, 2006.
20. Toffler, Alvin. Future Shock. New York: Bantam Books,
1970.
21. White, Lynn. Medieval Technology and Social Change. New
York: Oxford
University Press, 1966.

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