When I was growing up in Nebraska, Marvel characters were part of my adolescent mythology: I took an iconic photo of two of my best friends around 2 a.m. in Walmart, ironically-unironically decked out in Captain America shields and masks….

At first blush, the new hit film Joker seems to hit all the right notes for progressive audiences. It floats various left-wing talking points: the need for health care and social services for all levels of society, the great divide between the average person…