Workshop BLOOD IN THE GUTTER: UNCERTAINTY AND SPECULATION IN CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN COMICS July 15, 2016

“I’m A Normal Guy!“ -

Identity Crisis in Hard Boiled Manuel Graser, Jacqueline Scherer

Uncertainty and Speculation in Contemporary American Comics (BA Research Seminar)

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Method

One of the most intriguing things about life is how

people seek identity: something that defines them,

differentiates them from others, or, perhaps, includes

them in some amorphous group. Our present life is full

of interactions unbound by physical relocation and this

dynamism invites further consideration of seeking how

one´s identity, namely, making sense of one´s relations

to the world, is accomplished through everyday

communication. (Bardhan, Nilanjana, Identity

Research).

Hard Boiled which was written in the early 1990´s, has

already back then focused on the future society by

publishing a comic that is a commentary on the millions

of suburban Americans living in a constant state of

naiveté, living a live that is determined by big

enterprises, telling people that their lives are fine and

well-adjusted. Nixon, a programmed robot, stands for

those people, combining characteristics such as naiveté

and ignorance. Being caught in this manipulated system

leads to the complete loss of identity. Identity seeking

has predominantly been an issue in superhero-comics,

which could most easily be identified as underlying

quite obvious coherences that did not constitute a

severe problem. As Hard Boiled is about cyborgs and

robots, and most dominantly- the lack of a proper

identity, the question arises how Nixon deals with an

identity or more precisely with more identities which are

prepared and executed with only little consistency.

Nixon has no stable sense of self due to the constantly

changing personalities that he cannot control.

Abstract

Analysis

Conclusion

Bardhan, Nilanjana, and Mark P. Orbe. Identity Research

and Communication: Intercultural Reflections and Future

Directions. Lanham, MD: Lexington, 2014.

Edgar, Andrew, and Peter R. Sedgwick. Key Concepts in

Cultural Theory. London: Routledge, 1999.

Kukkonen, Karin. Studying Comics and Graphic Novels.

Malden: Wiley Blackwell, 2013.

Miller, Frank, and Geof Darrow. Hard Boiled. No. 1-3.

Nünning, Vera and Ansgar Nünning. An Introduction to the

Study of English and American Literature. Stuttgart: Klett,

2014.

References

Manliness as Virtue Manliness as Violence

Risk Taking risk

Manliness as Virtue In this sense, manliness can be

connected with many qualities and values a person has to fulfill

in order to be able to be called “manly”. Nixon himself puts

emphasis on values such as responsibility in managing his job

properly (independent of which identity he represents) and the

love and care for his wife and children for which he would do

everything.

Manliness as Violence Violence is a prevalent issue in

this comic as Nixon in his identity as a tax collector, has the

duty to fight against the miseries in the world. The usage of

weapons and sheer force often mean the only medium to

fight the evil. In fact, Nixon feels comfortable in his role as

the dangerous guy who is prepared to use violence, which

also underlines his manliness.

Managing Risk Risk is a factor that each person perceives

differently. Important here is the question how a person

manages to cope with the risk. At the beginning, Nixon fulfills

his tasks with discernment and does not care too much about

risk issues. But the longer the story, the more he starts to

struggle and becomes uncertain about his life and starts

thinking about his actual identity by weighing his risks with the

precious things in life.

Taking Risk In his role as a mediator wherever it is

necessary, the main character is constantly set out to risk.

But this does not bother Nixon too much as he is aware of

his power even though he does not know he is a robot.

Nixon‟s dangerous lifestyle displays another aspect of risk

taking in the sense of taking a risk, which might lead to the

impossibility to care for his family as a consequence of dying

when performing his duties.

His perceived existence is that of Carl Seltz – though

this name undergoes several permutations, based on

the inconsistency of his downloaded memories – and

his primary occupation is an “Insurance Investigator,”

though he also calls himself a “tax collector.”

Knowing that Nixon is a robot makes his statement

“I'm a normal guy!“ seem rather ironic, as his skin is

already missing and his screws are showing. His

perfect teeth and fake eyes do not fit Nixon‟s frazzled

appearance and he still does not- or maybe does not

want to realize that he is far away from being normal.

Nixon‟s lack of a stable sense depends to a large extend

on his different identities that require quite the opposite

of one another.

With changing his job, Nixon also changes his identity.

While working as an Insurance Investigator, Nixon‟s job

is to prevent risk and to insure the people against any

kind of risk. Quite ironical is the fact, that his identity as a

Tax Collector turns Nixon into a risk taker and a person,

he would- if he was an Insurance Investigator, sell an

insurance.

Analyzing Nixon‟s transformation into different identities

and his rising awareness of being not the person he was

hoping to be, requires a closer look at different aspects.

During our research and analysis we restricted our

focused to the following definition.

Identity Crisis - It was Erikson who coined the phrase

„identity crisis‟ in the 1940s. At first, the term referred to

a person who had lost a sense of „personal sameness

and historical continuity‟ (Erikson 1968:22). As such, the

individual is separated from the culture that can give

coherence to his or her sense IDENTITY of self. Later, it

came to characterize youth, as a stage in the psycho-

logical development of any individual.

Photo 1-2: Nixon‟s awareness rises concerning his wrong identity (Miller 105, 80)

Photo 3-4: Nixon as a Tax Collector vs. Nixon as an Insurance Investigator (Miller 25,

32)