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Posted by Don MacPherson on August 5th, 2012
I’ve been reading DC Comics titles since the late 1970s, before I even reached double digits in terms of age. As such, I’ve read, from time to time, of the exploits of the comics publisher’s softball team over the decades. Back in the day, its accomplishments and defeats were chronicled occasionally in the pages of its various comics in supplementary/advertorial material. In recent years, the folks responsible for Blog@Newsarama have kept the industry apprised of the team’s games.
On Facebook the other day, I stumbled across a link to a blog, the DC Bullets blog, which offers more detailed accounts of the team’s efforts and no doubt the fun its members have on the field. Honestly, I don’t have much of an interest in rec-league softball in New York (or anywhere else, for that matter), but what caught my eye wasn’t the link to the game report, but the team logo (seen at the right).
The team name obviously comes from the icon that was displayed prominently on most DC comics for decades. The star-spangled brand was perhaps the longest lasting one in recent memory, running from 1977-2005 according to Wikipedia. It’s certainly the DC logo I most associate with the company, as it was launched around the same time I started reading comics.
These days, of course, DC has adopted a company logo/icon that’s meant to evoke the image of thumbing through the pages of a comic. As such, the DC Bullets team name seems rather lacking the current context to be relevant. Of course, renaming the team “the DC Pages” brings to mind young people running water and notes to members of Congress in Washington, not interns, editors and production artists working on Superman and Batman comics in Manhattan.
What struck me, though, wasn’t how the team name might be seen as being out of date, but rather how then logo incorporates bold letters spelling out “Bullets” through a Bat symbol. It seems odd to merge the notion of firearm ammunition in an image representing an iconic character that’s been defined for decades, in part, by his abhorrence of guns. I know, I know… when the Batman debuted, he carried a handgun, but the character has evolved beyond that element. He’s synonymous with a distaste for guns, for a perspective that sees guns being linked to crime rather than protection.
I point this out not to suggest it’s a problem to be addressed immediately. Instead, I think it’s more indicative of how a corporate entity or some other such organization can evolve slowly over the years and how the effects of some changes can go unnoticed by those charged with its stewardship, even in minor matters. Calling the team the DC Bullets made perfect sense in 1982. In 2012, maybe not so much.
Regardless of what one thinks of the team name or its logo, one thing is clear: the notion of a group of co-workers getting together in their down time to play softball against other corporate teams is something to applaud, even envy. For such an effort to succeed (not in terms of winning games, but sustaining an ongoing effort), it speaks to the camaraderie and morale in the workplace. The team blog demonstrates pride in the team and its activities, but the organization of the team year after year, and the willingness for co-workers to seek out the opportunity to come together outside of the office, reflects well on the members and where they work.
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August 5th, 2012 at 10:13 pm
I didn’t quite realize there was an entire softball league that the team was part of until you pointed out the blog…
August 7th, 2012 at 9:38 am
I think it’s funny one of the better teams in their league is the High Times Bonghitters. THERE’S a name we can all get behind!
The Washington Bullets (of America’s NBA) changed their name to the Washington Wizards in the mid 90′s in the name of sensitivity to gun violence. Part of me understands this change, as nobody wants to be reminded of something that’s actually damaging real people in the real world every time they root for their favorite sports team but part of me cringes to think of all the concessions to tradition we make in the name of political correctness… it has a flavor of self-censorship and self-marketing (which I hate) and “Wizards” is so supremely dorky I almost felt bad for the team. I can really see both sides of the debate. Incidentally, my granddad was a fan back during the VERY old Wes Unseld days. They had a good club back then!
You’re right in that it does seem thematically opposed to Batman in every way. I wonder… what do YOU think a good name for DC’s softball team would be? I could probably think of something but it would be too “inside reference” for anyone not already a comics fan to recognize.
August 7th, 2012 at 7:35 pm
D. Peace wrote:
The Washington Bullets (of America’s NBA) changed their name to the Washington Wizards in the mid 90′s in the name of sensitivity to gun violence. Part of me understands this change, as nobody wants to be reminded of something that’s actually damaging real people in the real world every time they root for their favorite sports team but part of me cringes to think of all the concessions to tradition we make in the name of political correctness… it has a flavor of self-censorship and self-marketing
Just to be clear, I wasn’t suggesting there was such an issue at play with the DC Bullets team name. I think it’s too niche to really come into play in the larger cultural context.
I wonder… what do YOU think a good name for DC’s softball team would be?
Just for shits and giggles… How about the DC Lanterns? The Titans? The Kryptonians? The Robins? No shortage of relevant names.
August 9th, 2012 at 3:25 pm
DC 52s? DC Vertigos?
August 10th, 2012 at 6:59 am
I got no problem with DC naming their team “Bullets”. Maybe you Canadians don’t understand, but a majority of Americans here like their guns. If you can’t name a sporting team “Bullets”, you might as well take away our firearms like we are a nation of hippie communist.
August 10th, 2012 at 7:27 am
Sean wrote:
I got no problem with DC naming their team “Bullets”. Maybe you Canadians don’t understand, but a majority of Americans here like their guns. If you can’t name a sporting team “Bullets”, you might as well take away our firearms like we are a nation of hippie communist.
Maybe you don’t understand, you know, the English language. I made no argument about Bullets being an inappropriate name in the context of U.S. gun laws, culture or violence. I said merging the notion of Bullets with a Batman logo is contradictory, and that the Bullet to which the team name refers is no longer a logo DC uses anymore.
Try reading the opinion to which you’re responding instead of spouting some knee-jerk reaction.
August 22nd, 2012 at 4:25 pm
Don, you’re making sense again.