Strength is a Tree
Nov. 20th, 2017 06:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alexxkayAl Ewing is a comics writer I started following a few years ago. He writes big, brash, silly superhero stories, but with a large amount of thought, symbolism, and subtext underneath the action. In Ultimates^2 #100, he presents a new metaphor that I think deserves to be spread far and wide:
The character speaking is Blue Marvel, a black scientific genius and superhero:
"Where fascism gets its name from--the Latin fascis, meaning bundle. Except a bundle of sticks is only strong when firmly held.
"Let it be, and it's just dead wood, rotting down. Most people take the wrong lesson from that. Strength is not a bundle of sticks.
"Strength is a tree. We're stronger when we can grow."
The character speaking is Blue Marvel, a black scientific genius and superhero:
"Where fascism gets its name from--the Latin fascis, meaning bundle. Except a bundle of sticks is only strong when firmly held.
"Let it be, and it's just dead wood, rotting down. Most people take the wrong lesson from that. Strength is not a bundle of sticks.
"Strength is a tree. We're stronger when we can grow."