“After-school special” Stories and how they can fail horribly

There isn’t really a term for comics that try to tackle issues, like there is for TV episodes. But comic book issues trying to take on drug addiction, teen pregnancy and school shootings are common.

More so in the 90’s then today, but you’ll still get the occasional PSA story, usually involving  the teenage characters in any given universe.

But, with a few exceptions (like the one below), some character is created to be the “bad guy” whatever scenario the comic is presenting.  There might be a school shooting at Robin’s school, but it’s some never-before-mentioned boy who did it, not Robin or any of his friends.  And chances are, he won’t be mentioned ever again.

The above is one of the few examples where it’s a fairly major character that is the “bad” guy, the one most affected by the issue. In this case, Roy Harper (Then Speedy) became addicted to heroin. It’s an award-winning story, but looking back at it, the cover is a bit hammy. They really want to hammer it in that this issue is about DRUGS.

This is also unique because of the fact that the problem doesn’t go away after the issue ends. Harper struggled with his addiction numerous times, eventually relapsing in A Cry for Justice following the death of his daughter and the loss of his arm. The relapse-story is not as well received as the reveal, mainly because it ends up with Harper believing a dead cat is his daughter and beating up a group of drug dealers.

But the fact that Harper’s drug addiction is followed up at all, and that it affects someone more important than some one-off character, is very rare.

And that’s really where the  main problem with PSA comics lie.  Whatever happens in them is rarely, if ever, referenced again. Whatever happens in them barely affects the actual regular characters of the book. There is no emotional impact if bad things happen to some character I was only aware existed for 3 pages.

Like in Batman: Death of Innocents.

Bruce Wayne travels to Kravia, a fictional country that experienced a civil war, where he learns that one of his employees, Ted Orbley, was killed by a landmine along with Orbley’s daughter’s friend. His daughter, Sarah, was kidnapped by anti-Kravian government rebels.

Ted and the friend, Mariska, are dead from the start. We don’t get to know them, we are just told they are dead and are meant to feel sad.

At least Sarah gets a bit more screen-time before she dies, also from a landmine, because this is an anti-landmine PSA, disguised as a yo-yo. This appears to be the only issue Ted, Sarah and Mariska are ever mentioned.