Aardvark Anatomy – The character has the form and/or characteristics of an aardvark. Subcategory of (268) Mammalian Anatomy.
Literary Critique of Aardvark Anatomy
Animal themed superheroes are extremely popular and aardvark anatomy is a subtype of this type of character. Batman is by far the most famous and iconic example of an animal themed superhero. Symbolic analysis of Batman is quite. Batman overtly appropriates the symbolism of the bat as part of his origin story as seen below!
Ironically, bats are seen as symbols of good luck in Chinese culture but I don’t suppose Batman fights a lot Chinese thugs in Gotham city.
Spider-Man is a quirky superhero because spiders are generally seen symbolically as evil in Western culture but Spider-Man is ironically a good guy. Stan Lee and Steve Dikto created Spider-Man and would be totally familiar with Batman. Spider-Man is pushing the envelope of reverse symbolism. Spider-Men may be popular because there is a certain amount of symbolic dissonance that gets the attention of the reader. A literal exposition of the horrific as opposed to heroic spider nature of Spider-Man in The Spectacular Spider-Man v2 #19.
What about aardvarks as a symbol? There is not a lot of symbolic weight attached to aardvarks especially in Western culture. Aardvarks are not particularly strong compared to predators like tigers and wolves. Aardvarks are type of character that are inherently exotic. Aardvarks as characters are weird, perhaps ironic, attention getting and ABSURD!
Cerebus the Aardvark is the most famous aardvark hero and come to think about the only aardvark hero and dies in Cerebus #200. Cerebus the Lion or Tiger or would not have been as inherently absurd as choosing an exotic animal such as an aardvark. Cerebu is generally set in a sword and sorcery setting. Being a fan of Superman in Metropolis is mainstream. If you are a fan of sword and sorcery comic books then you are probably the biggest nerd in the comic book shop. For the record I am a big fan of sword and sorcery comic books. My favorite sword and sorcery comic book is Redfox (Harrier Comics).
There was something about name that made me like the comic book instantly and I bought the first issue at a seconds bin. Redfox is more or less a parody of Red Sonja. Both gals are dressed to appeal to teenage males but Redfox has a little more clothing on than Red Sonja which is surprise since the 80’s comic books such as Redfox were not known for being politically correct.
I was 30 years old at the time. I remember because my birthday was a couple of days ago. I never saw another issue. I read a digital version of the entire title run about a year ago. I was 60 at the time. Yeah, sword and sorcery is weird stuff in tv and movies and the comic book version is even weirder. A Conan the Barbarian movie has to be mainstream due to cost. The comic book version does not. The indie, British company that publishes black and white instead of color comics can really appeal to hard core fans and ignore the masses. In a manner similar to Redfox. Cerebus can also be marketed directly to a very, very specialized audience. Cerebus breaks down comic book conventions but only an audience that understand the minutiae of such conventions can fully appreciate the metafictional aspects of Cerebus. Cerebus never meet Redfox and I think this is unfortunate but Cerebus did meet Red Sophia in Cerebus #10.
Cerebrus challenges the fourth wall via exotic characterization below.
Gumshoe is Commissioner James Gordon‘s pet aardvark (Capstone’s DC Super-Pets Character Encyclopedia). Gordon is a relatively rounded character. Gordon helps Batman in his role as the police commissioner of Gotham City. Gordon is not just human but an older human who smokes and is past his prime. Police commissioner Gordon is especially rounded out as a character in Batman: Year One . Gordon has extreme doubt about his situation in Batman: Year One.
Gordon is married and has a pregnant wife at home. However, that does not mean he is immune to the charms of Sergeant Essen.
Batman may be practically superhuman but Gordon is only human!
An off-beat pet makes more sense for an off-beat hero like Gordon than a flat character like Superman who has a more “normal” pet like a dog (Krypt0) . Aardvarks eat termites! Explaining how Gordon feeds termites to Gumshoe could provide a comic effect to a narrative about Gordon.
Finally, there is The Ant and the Aardvark cartoon. The Aardvark is all blue as opposed to Gumshoe who is red and Cerberus who is grey. Solid colors were used for both the aardvark and the ant. The ant is all red. Blue and red are also primary colors. This is visually simplified version of Sylvester the Cat and Tweetie Pie and similar cartoons but with new animals besides cats, dogs and mice. Recreate the actual biological predator/prey relationship as a funny easy to understand character dynamic!
The flexibility of this prey/predator theme is shown in Catwoman – Tweety and Sylvester #01. All cat themed superheroes and supervillains in the DC universe end up fighting all bird themed superheroes and supervillains! Why? The short answer is the Three Witches (DC) cast a spell that forces all cats to fight all birds in order to survive. The missing part is the motivation of the witches who in the past were portrayed in a more dignified manner.
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