Day: October 25, 2004

There’s a discussion on Newsarama as to whether comic books were responsible for reversing the alleged Red Sox curse.

Allow me to submit for consideration “Fallen Angel” #14. In that issue, we see a desperate Boston Red Sox fan running through the streets of Bete Noire, seeking the aid of the titular character. Instead the fan encounters Benny the Snake and is devoured. Much like, say the Red Sox encountering the Yankees and being swallowed into a pit of 3-0.

But wait! The Fallen Angel, realizing what had transpired, grabbed Benny and forced him to disgorge the fan. Benny (representing the Yankees?) was forced to choke on the surrogate of the team traditionally accused of choking themselves. The fan survived the encounter and Benny slunk away into the darkness. Granted, the fan was left in shock…but then, so were many Red Sox fans when, given an unexpected lease on life, the Sox came back to beat the Yankees.

Keep in mind, this is the same comic that featured an entire issue of the supposedly heroic lead character torturing a captive for information and featured an entire discussion about how easy it is for even the most well-intentioned individual to dehumanize prisoners for the purpose of torturing them…several months before the Iraq prison scandal broke.

Cue “Twilight Zone” music.

PAD