“My eyes start to glaze over whenever someone feels they have to defend superhero comics.”

Then HE’S the one displaying a “reflex,” is he not?

I read the original article he linked to and thought it was OK aside from not putting forth an adequate definition of “realism.” Yet there are elements of what I’ve termed “thematic realism” as a common element between Zola’s naturalism and Kafka’s surrealism, so the guy’s not technically wrong.