Is Cyclops from X-Men actually a cop, or is he just annoying? That question turns out to be the perfect entry point for a much bigger one: what does ACAB (All Cops Are Bastards) really mean when the people using violence to enforce order have optic blasts and power rings instead of badges?Matthew is joined by comics writer and Book Riot contributor Jessica Plummer as they trace how the Green Lantern Corps shifted from lone-sector sheriffs into an explicitly militarized space police force through deliberate creative choices, and what that shift cost the characters. They work through Batman's complicated relationship with law enforcement, the X-Men's internal debates over respectability politics and who gets to set the rules, and why The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl might be one of the most quietly radical superhero comics ever published.The thread running through all of it is accountability; who superheroes answer to, what happens when the authority behind them turns out to be corrupt, and whether a hero who patrols, stops crime, and hands people over to the cops is meaningfully different from the cops themselves.Connect with Jessica: jessicaplummerwrites.com
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