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The Keene Act
| Timeline | Minuetmen | Nixon | Keene | Under the Hood | Crimebusters | Black Freighter | Charlton | Frontiersman | Moore | Snyder |
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| The Keene Act, passed in 1977, was a national law that made "costumed adventuring" illegal. This law was passed after turmoil involving excessive violence from costumed heroes. Under government employ, however, some heroes are still legally able to operate. In Under the Hood, Hollis Mason recounted a fantasy he had of killing several men, then refusing to accept a kiss offered in reward. There may be no better single anecdote to offer in support of the Keene Act, Watchmen's answer to superhero registration and regulation. There are, however, plenty more available. Unfortunately, while it is easy to see why a fearful public would have welcomed the Keene Act when it passed in 1977, it was a dangerous move that placed all the power directly in the hands of the US Government, leaving no one in opposition with any ability to effect change. Along the lines of the old adage, "If guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns," you could as easily look at the post-Keene Act society and observe, "If heroism is outlawed, only corrupt heroes will remain." Heroes who started out with a desire to serve justice and protect the innocent, such as Nite Owl, simply retire and fade away. Heroes whose primary aim was to commit acts of violence with impunity, however, will continue to seek outlets for their desires. |  The ComedianIn the employ of the government, the Comedian acts primarily as an assassin, eliminating political rivals, snooping members of the press, and those whose knowledge of certain events is deemed inconvenient. He is largely responsible for a US victory in Vietnam, and he is credited with the assassinations of JFK and Woodward & Bernstein.  Doctor ManhattanWhile Jonathan Osterman likely had a stronger set of morals with which his government assignments may have conflicted, Doctor Manhattan no longer considers himself human or constrained by human concerns. His arrangement with the government is of personal convenience to him, as it grants him the privacy and access to resources to enable his work to continue, developing and discovering new technologies to offer to the world. This lack of a moral viewpoint makes it easy for him to join the Comedian in putting a quick and decisive end to the war in Vietnam.  RorschachThe sole independent hero still operating in the United States, in direct violation of the Keene Act every day of his life, Rorschach is the one who always had the most whimsical sense of the laws of the land. His actions prior to the Act were no more or less violent and shocking, as he has been the most notoriously violent hero other than the Comedian. |
Cedric(006) |
Latest page update: made by Cedric(006)
, Feb 28 2009, 9:48 AM EST
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Keene Act
Keene Act of 1977
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