Would you like to know the Truth?

One of the more surprising and exciting parallels between comic books and dramaturgy is the shared cultural intentions. Stan Lee, for example, speaks of a liberal inclusivity that echoes Diderot, and recognises art (in his case, comic books) as a medium for presenting philosophical ideas. The Fantastic Four, however, continue to express a very familiar ethos even into the 1990s, as in a scene from issue 511.

The Four are invited to stay in heaven - which Reed Richards calls 'the province of ultimate knowledge'. They decline, stating that 'we are not yet done exploring.'

And here are Lessing's thoughts on the matter.

If God were to hold all Truth concealed in his right hand, and in his left only the steady and diligent drive for Truth, albeit with the proviso that I would always and forever err in the process, and to offer me the choice, I would with all humility take the left hand, and say: Father, I will take this one—the pure Truth is for You alone.

–Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Anti-Goetze: Eine Duplik (1778) in: Werke vol. 8, pp. 32-33 (H. Göpfert ed. 1979)(S.H. transl.)

Reed Richards rejects the 'pure truth' for a 'diligent drive for Truth'. Two hundred years after Lessing, a quartet of characters are still waving the Enlightenment standard. The quest to rescue The Thing from death becomes a parable for the relationship between humans, God and Truth.

Yeah, studying comics is just like reading The Beano.