Enough With the Drug Testing, Already
A cliché that seems to be popping up more and more often in super-hero comics is the unethical drug company — or unscrupulous doctor — testing their drugs on unsuspecting patients. This isn’t the Joker or some other psychopath dumping the latest batch of Smilex in the reservoir, but instead an organized drug trial carried out unethically and illegally.
Like most clichés, it can be effective when used sparingly, but that has not been the case. In the past nine months — in Gotham City alone — this overworked formula has appeared at least three times:
- Legends of the Dark Knight 204-206
- The Creeper
- Tales of the Unexpected
And that’s just one small subset of books from one company. There’s many more examples when you look at superhero comics as a whole.
Now, I’m not trying to defend drug companies (or unscrupulous doctors, for that matter), I’m just trying to call attention to an overused cliché so we can put it to rest (for a few years, at least).
March 19th, 2007 at 1:58 pm
They also used it on an episode of Law and Order: SVU recently.
March 19th, 2007 at 2:15 pm
Don’t forget Doctor Strange - The Oath, where drug companies decided to destroy the cure for every disease in the world because it would cut into their profit margins.
March 24th, 2007 at 7:32 am
It is this kind of attitude that really cheeses me off — I am a market researcher at a pharma company and it is now in vogue to just bash the hell out of the big drug companies. The industry is in crisis with mergers and downsizings and increased government scrutiny - now we have to be comic book baddies as well? I might decide to go work in a more appreciated industry - like big tobacco!!!!
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