Superheroes can cause a fair bit of collateral damage. With all of those super powers, you know somebody is going to have a misplaced energy blast or stray punch that ends up leveling an entire city block sooner or later. However, there are some heroes(and villains) that make the environment their main priority. Events do not have to be as dramatic as explosions and wanton destruction to cause harm to our landscape, because as we all know it is the events one rarely sees coming that cause the most destruction! If Doctor Doom was blasting a hole into the Ozone layer with a giant laser we might be able to react a bit more proactive than the slow decay caused by CFCs and a little bit too much hairspray. So on this fine Earth Day of 2011, we should tip our hats to the characters that champion the cause of the Earth and the Environment!
Perhaps before we get into the meat and bones of this article, we should discuss the ramifications of when the cause of the environment goes a bit too far. I'm sure all of you probably instantly conjured up an image of Poison Ivy in your head. Nature's spiteful little nymph would much rather prefer humanity be wiped out so that her plants could live in peace. She is known for showing a little sympathy towards mankind, but it is few and far between. Dandelions don't tell you to put down the gallon of french vanilla ice cream and go get a real job? I kid! Her major motivations have and always will be because she was betrayed. Nature never lies, and plants make excellent confidants.
Another fine example of something gone astray would be the machinations of the Bi-Beast! A little known character from the Marvel world, this android was created by a long lost extinct avian race. Having woken up thousands of years later, the Bi-Beast targets humanity as a source of all of his pain. This regularly ensures battles with the Marvel Heroes and he was even defeated by Squirrel Girl – though that woman can BEAT anybody(seriously, check her out). She's not much for the environment, but she's loves the squirrels!
People like to think about all of the pretty little trees and the lush, idyllic fields of green when it comes to Earth, but as Namor and Aquaman have previously stated that the world is mostly ocean! Superheroes like the X-Men and the Justice League generally fight to protect land, while Namor and Aquaman are left to defend the seas! Considering the turn of recent events, they have their hands full with off-shore drilling. It is awfully hard to breathe through gills when the water has been clouded by choking oil. Namor has gotten carried away a couple of times, but he just gets cranky when he's out of water too long. That man must have really dry skin?
Elemental forces of nature are usually neutral. Nature doesn't really take sides, and the environment just wants to exist! To these ends, many of the characters that embody certain elements of this concept exhibit the same characteristics. Storm, Thor, Swamp Thing, and the Thing all of their primeval traits. Storm is a force to be reckoned with, as calm as a summer breeze and as powerful as the most violent tempest! Just don't get on her bad side, or threaten her friends! Thor also possesses some more environment aspects! All of the lightning and being a god I think takes its toll in the Ultimate universe, though Ultimate Thor gets to blow off steam by messing with the whalers. Thor says: SAVE THE WHALES!(verily) Of course we can't forget about Swamp Thing, especially what Alan Moore did to the character! Swamp Thing is a true nature elemental, a living power of simple life. He cannot be truly destroyed, he has been left in charge of all elements by DC's primary deity, and all he wants to see is nature uncorrupted. Is Swamp Thing a person, or a plant -trying- to be a person? Now the Thing requires a bit more subtlety to interpret. Ben Grimm is a nice fellow, and doesn't really go out of his way to protect the environment but in the end, that man is composed entirely of rock! And like the rock, he is rather stoic and unwavering. I suppose one has to be while dealing with the Human Torch AND Reed Richards.
Who ever said planets and the environment needed protecting? Well, in some cases the planets themselves! Mogo, the Sentient Green Lantern Planet, is a benevolent being charged with directing Green Lantern rings to worthy recipients. He uses his body (which others may refer to as a surface) as a training and recreational ground for the Corps! Poor Mogo has come under attack from every enemy of the Green Lanterns and he still continues to be the cornerstone of the Green Light. Makes you wonder if he'll ever break and end up like Marvel's Ego! On the opposite side of the spectrum, the malicious and hate filled Ego craves death and the destruction of non-sentient planets. Oh Ego, how did you end up so insane? Ah, that's right. You're original inhabitants were killed by a local super nova and fused together to form one being. Well, I think that qualifies as a lot of angst and would probably explain the absolute mental instability of the planet. Planets: Some are friendly, some aren't.
A special note should be paid to the original Green Lantern Alan Scott and his daughter, Jade: both whom are fueled by the Starheart, a special offshoot of the central Green Lantern battery long presumed lost by the Guardians. Alan Scott was protected from all sorts of metals and man made things, but he had an artificial weakness to wood as the Starheart and the Green Flame were created from 'the strength of living things, of green things'. Alan Scott's exposure to the Starheart caused his children to develop into meta humans; with Jade gaining the ability to manipulate plant life, create hard light constructs without a ring, and her skin even contains chlorophyll! You would think with that kind of skill set she would have ended up being a long haired, bare foot hippie.
With all of this talk of the environment and nature, we should recognize that there are other things on this planet other than us and superhumans! Can't forget about all of the cutesy-wootsey little am-in-als. I purposely misspelled that to convey a sense of patronizing baby talk! I love messing with you guys! Anyways, the likes of Animal Man and Vixen can tap into 'the Red' which is essentially the essence of non human life. This unique ability allow the two to borrow powers from animals! Yeah, sweet! Swim like a dolphin, become hard like a turtle, sprint like a cheetah, fly like a bird, and pretend to be dead like a possum. Not entirely sure if that last part ever happened but it certainly could.
So, what is the moral of this long winded mess about nature-themed characters? That the environment should be protected, but like so many things one shouldn't overdo it! The superheroes that we love are both examples to be followed and warnings to be heeded!