The frenzied scribbles are, of course, also a reference to this classic Moon Knight story:

Tony alternates between being a genius and a total plank. That’s his MO.

Ah, Courtney Love - like IRL Slappy Squirrel, but on crack.

Which of course leads us to the unanswered question - if you can’t trust a load of superheroes with world-shattering powers, does that mean you can trust your government with it instead?

I think we can all agree that the plucky chap with the claws and the cat fixation definitely came out of it best.

Of course, just because you’re the author, that’s not to say your interpretation is the right one either...

Punching one’s fist is pretty universal - I remember seeing a photo of someone punching the air in a similar fashion in 1979, celebrating the election of Margaret Thatcher. Or when England scored a goal. Context is everything, and as there is no clear context here (unlike, say, a white power tattoo), there is no…

The problem with parenthood is that it sometimes grants the power of Gods to people who shouldn’t be in charge of a washing machine.

“Go, you must go!”

The thing that sums up Tony perfectly is that pious speech in Iron Man I, where he lectures Pepper on his newfound duty. It’s faintly delusional, vainglorious, sincere - and utterly hubristic. Pepper knows, as we know, he’s simply swinging from one extreme to another. (Only an ex-addict like RDJ could play Stark with…

In many ways at least part of the film is about Stark’s Mummy & Daddy issues - the confrontation with the grieving mother, yielding to domineering dad Thunderbolt Ross (I just wish Betty slapped him in the last Hulk film), a sort of brotherly jealousy/hatred towards Cap and his perfect teeth and Dead Dad’s approval,…

You’re just trying to make the same argument with different words.

I just hope it will be like Father Ted, with Luke as Father Jack, Rei as Father Dougal and Chewie as Ted Crilley himself. (“The money was just resting in his account - please agree or he’ll rip your fecking arms out of your sockets.”)

Wonder Woman looks fabulous, as she has always done (that haircut in the 90s notwithstanding). But as for Bat Bollocks and Superman... They just look naked without their trunks. As ever, blame Zack Snyder.

A missed merchandising opportunity there.

Sure about that?

Well, here we are, discussing them on the Internet regardless. Maybe we’re onto something?

Thanks for all the excellent articles (and the upvotes). My only concern is that the big challenge facing sci fi is precisely how to free it from an old guard that not only claims ownership of it, but goes out of its way to shout down and drive off everyone else.

Yes you do - those examples are what people assume are art because their cultural background tells them it is, but that in and of itself doesn’t mean they’re art. Someone from the late Roman period or 200 years from now may see the Mona Lisa quite differently from how you do. You’re falling into the trap of thinking…

Boundless self-belief is 80% of everything. Look at Donald Trump.