{"id":2633,"date":"2017-10-01T21:01:28","date_gmt":"2017-10-02T05:01:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blatner.com\/adam\/blog\/?p=2633"},"modified":"2017-10-01T21:01:28","modified_gmt":"2017-10-02T05:01:28","slug":"my-shadow-complex-cartoon-characters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blatner.com\/adam\/blog\/?p=2633","title":{"rendered":"My “Shadow” Complex Cartoon Characters"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe Shadow\u201d complex is the English word for what Jung called all those parts of the usually unconscious psyche that are repressed, that are incompatible with healthy self-esteem. Yet I am somewhat aware that I played with characters associated with this complex in some of my old drawings and cartoons. I\u2019m a bit embarrassed about them now, but I need to admit (confidentially to you alone\u2014plus all the others\u2014) that some of my favorite characters really were unpleasant figures\u2014reflecting their \u201cshadow\u201d being.<\/p>\n

Of course, evil characters are quite present in the comics! I read a not-too-great book with at least an interesting theme\u2014a fabulously bright fellow who was otherwise socially awkward, and who chose to express it by becoming and evil genius\u2014or as the book \u201cSoon I Will Be Invincible<\/a>\u201d calls it, \u201cMalign Hypercognition Disorder.\u201d (Haha, giving a psychiatric diagnostic label is just one of the tropes here, but the book failed to \u201cwrap it up\u201d well.)<\/p>\n

I have become aware (even before I read that book) that I found the ways a number of wicked villains\u2014including Captain Marvel\u2019s nemesis, Doctor Sivana, or other villains. Also, I was early on interested in the various conquerors of mainly the Middle East. (I was insatiable reader of the historical reconstructions of Harold Lamb.) I do a bit of auto-analysis and note that I was overcompensating for having an older brother who picked on me a little \u2014a punch on the shoulder at most, but it was bad for me\u2014\u201cMo\u2013oo\u2013m! Irwin hit me!\u201d\u2014and as I reconstruct it, I unconsciously figured that if I ruled the universe my brother couldn\u2019t pick on me.<\/p>\n

So my \u201cshadow\u201d complex was a cruel conqueror, although I consciously was frightened of and hated cruelty. I expressed these in a few of my characters, such as \u201cSnidely Whiplash,\u201d a caricature of a villain portrayed in melodramas popular around the beginning of the 20th century. Other monsters were fun to cartoon because it\u2019s much easier to draw ugly than attractive.<\/p>\n

I feel ashamed now, and would not disclose it except for the need to express my being truthfully, the \u201cdark side\u201d included, though on the whole I\u2019m pretty nice. (My ex-first-wife might not agree. I think she found me a creep, but not overtly terribly mean.) <\/p>\n

Anyway, I enjoy playing the bad guy, such as Snidely Whiplash, who is also the editor of the Journal of Punitive Psychiatry<\/em>. But I\u2019m moving away from it also. I just thought I\u2019d admit it. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe Shadow\u201d complex is the English word for what Jung called all those parts of the usually unconscious psyche that are repressed, that are incompatible with healthy self-esteem. Yet I am somewhat aware that I played with characters associated with this complex in some of my old drawings and cartoons. I\u2019m a bit embarrassed about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,15,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-autobiographical","category-favoritethings","category-play-and-spontaneity"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blatner.com\/adam\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2633"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blatner.com\/adam\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blatner.com\/adam\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blatner.com\/adam\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blatner.com\/adam\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2633"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blatner.com\/adam\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2633\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2634,"href":"https:\/\/blatner.com\/adam\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2633\/revisions\/2634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blatner.com\/adam\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blatner.com\/adam\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blatner.com\/adam\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}