Never heard of Beast, but I did read comics as a boy (a period that lasted well into my 20s) and recall issues where a character would recite Shakespeare or poetry. Nowadays I wonder about the writers of those issues. To find quotes that fit a scene, you would need more than just casual knowledge of those authors, it seems to me. Why they did this at all probably had something to do with wanting to add a sheen of respectability, but also an attempt to make the dialogue as vivid and as memorable as the artwork.
In that vein, comics often dealt with circuses (although so did The Tin Drum and Wings of Desire) and this provided opportunities to introduce the slang and rough language of carnies without dipping into profanity. (I remember coming across the word “rube” for the first time in a comic and thrilling to how great that word felt in the mouth.) Same with the colorful language of the criminal underworld, although that’s long been true of movies and songs too. When Frankie shoots Johnny, her 44 goes “roota-toot-toot,” something I associate with that song.
Never heard of Beast, but I did read comics as a boy (a period that lasted well into my 20s) and recall issues where a character would recite Shakespeare or poetry. Nowadays I wonder about the writers of those issues. To find quotes that fit a scene, you would need more than just casual knowledge of those authors, it seems to me. Why they did this at all probably had something to do with wanting to add a sheen of respectability, but also an attempt to make the dialogue as vivid and as memorable as the artwork.
In that vein, comics often dealt with circuses (although so did The Tin Drum and Wings of Desire) and this provided opportunities to introduce the slang and rough language of carnies without dipping into profanity. (I remember coming across the word “rube” for the first time in a comic and thrilling to how great that word felt in the mouth.) Same with the colorful language of the criminal underworld, although that’s long been true of movies and songs too. When Frankie shoots Johnny, her 44 goes “roota-toot-toot,” something I associate with that song.