@DeeksFreak
“It’s a surfer…It’s a police detective…It’s Marty Deeks!”
By: Mel (@imahistorian)
In the season two episode “Personal,” Deeks revealed to Kensi, in a surprising moment of insight for both characters, that he reads comic books, notably of the DC and Marvel variety. It isn’t a revelation delved into very deeply at that moment of the episode or since, but there’s enough of a hint to suggest that Deeks has a collection of some volume, and that he may have been collecting comics for some time.
The history of DC and Marvel comics goes back to the 1930s, with superheroes and stories that are fun for their escapism and imagination. There are billionaire playboys, aliens from far off planets, Amazonian women, ordinary people struck by extraordinary circumstances like spider bites, and scientific experiments gone wrong. People read comics for fun, for art, for the fantastical stories, and maybe because they want to imagine impossible but amazing things happening to them just as they do to the comic book’s heroes.
Looking at the various comic book heroes, I narrowed them down to several Deeks might have read and might have been influenced by growing up. And there were some repeating themes that showed up and made me wonder if Deeks might have related to any particular hero more than another.
Could he have related to how Superman/Clark Kent, Batman/Bruce Wayne, Spider-man/Peter Parker were orphans? Knowing what little we do about his lack of a relationship with his father, might he have wished for the fatherly influence of Jonathan Kent or Uncle Ben?
Maybe Deeks would have been attracted to the billionaire playboy lifestyles of Bruce Wayne, Oliver Queen (Green Arrow), and Tony Stark (Iron Man). Deeks might have been fascinated by the larger-than-human heroes like Superman who has superpowers like flight and strength, or the Flash with his superhuman reflexes and super-speed.
Or perhaps Deeks identified with the more “self made” superheroes like Batman, who often used his deductive skills and weapons of his own design and making, and Tony Stark, who engineered his own suit as Iron Man.
It could be that with his love for the sea that Deeks might have enjoyed Aquaman for his abilities to survive underwater, communicate with the sea life, and swim. Maybe Deeks even felt a close kinship with Thor, based on the god of Norse mythology, as part of his Norwegian cultural heritage! And we know he’s given Kensi the nickname Wonder Woman, which is quite the compliment considering that heroine’s history as a feminist icon fighting for justice and peace, and her training in martial arts and ancient forms of combat!
I wonder also if through the course of his young life and the possible difficulties of his upbringing and time in law enforcement if Deeks might identify with the tortured darkness of Bruce Wayne, the loneliness of Peter Parker, or the split personality of the Hulk/Bruce Banner. Would Deeks have felt the isolation that Superman and Thor felt as aliens on earth? We don’t necessarily have all the details of Deeks’ history, but these characters might represent an outlet and examples Deeks could identify with. Maybe Deeks became a lawyer to focus on social change and Robin Hood-like activism like Green Arrow.
The comic book has evolved over the decades, with superhero films relatively recent in their mass popularity in our culture. Save for the occasional Superman movie and a few TV shows and cartoons for other superheroes, growing up Deeks would have had to rely largely on comic books for his superhero fix. And the picture of him lost in a comic book, wrapped up in the action and stories, the detailed drawings of crazy feats of adventure and daring, is one that speaks to an active imagination.
I don’t think there was any one specific comic book character Deeks favored. I think there were probably aspects of many of them he related to that come alive in the man we see as Marty Deeks. It could be Superman’s innate goodness and moral compass as someone wanting to protect people, something Deeks has mentioned as a reason for becoming a cop in Season 2’s “Overwatch.” Or perhaps Deeks relates to something like Batman’s drive for revenge against the powerful and corrupt as shown in Season 3’s “The Debt.”
And it wouldn’t surprise me if Deeks took something of a lesson from Spider-man that “with great power there must also come great responsibility.” For all his humor, Deeks takes his job, the safety of his team, and his abilities seriously. And maybe some of that comes from the lessons learned in comic books.
What do you think? What comic book characters might Deeks relate to and why?
Thanks go out to Colleen for her creative comic book recreation of Joe Wilson’s episode Personal!!
