May 07 2008
I have a question about loveable superheroes for you
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Three questions, actually. Which is your favorite superhero and why? Finally, what are three things you associate with that hero?
Thanks a lot for your feedback; I’m writing an article on how to make superheroes loveable.
1. Spiderman
2. He is very blue collar– I think I can relate to that more than, say, someone who inherited a billion dollar enterprise like Bruce Wayne. And he’s a lot friendlier/saner than casual psychopaths like Wolverine or the not too casual Lobo. Also, I think it speaks well for him that he’s a controversial figure in his own world. I love media hate-figures!
3. Geekiness, normality, New York. If I had to add a fourth, I’d go with religiosity.
A lot of people love Spiderman. If you ask us why, I think the most popular explanation is some variation of “he’s the guy next door” rather than a completely unrelatable secret-agent ninja assassin or something. That explanation isn’t wrong, but I think it’s more precise to say that people like him because his life closely reflects the average guy’s superhero fantasy.
More than Superhero or Batman, he seems to make SACRIFICES to be a superhero but doesn’t complain about it. He’s late for work and social gatherings, he puts his loved ones in danger, etc. In comparison, Bruce Wayne doesn’t really have loved ones and, because he owns his own company, his alternate-identity is never as hard as Peter Parker’s is.
Finally, Spiderman has a more ordinary skill-set than most heroes. He doesn’t have incredible scientific skills, a gadget for every situation, familiarity with advanced weaponry and equipment, etc. This makes it much easier for us to put ourselves in his shoes as he’s going about his work.
–Jacob
Quoting Jacob above…
That’s funny. My favorite superhero is The Hood, precisely because his story feels like the opposite of what I imagine I would do if I had superpowers. That feels more exciting because I’m not 100% sure what the character’s capable of. By contrast, we kind of know how Spiderman will act in any given situation, which sometimes gets boring. (Also, the writing in TH is fantastic. It made great use of low-key cameos by minor characters like Electro and Vulture).
As for three things I would associate with The Hood, I’d go with fate, the FBI, and Murphy’s Law. I notice that none of these are directly related to The Hood himself, but it’s probably fair to say that my affection for him is an extension of my affection for his world.
In response to J.M., I think that that there’s an interesting parallel between Peter Parker’s blue-collar characteristics (which I mentioned) and his relatively unimpressive skillset (which I did not).
Likewise, most his powers seem normal. Besides the spider-web and spider-sense, all of Spiderman’s superpowers are generic. That’s not necessarily a bad thing.
In response to C.D.’s point about The Hood, I’d like to add that I like The Hood a lot, but I like the character independent of the character’s world. One, he’s refreshingly devoid of moral relativism. A terrorist recruiter (who is clearly meant to echo Al-Qaeda) gives him a slick sell and The Hood just beats the crap out of him. I think many readers might find the episode too reminiscent of Golden Era (WWII) Nazi-bashing and flag-waving, but I liked it because it shows that he has some principles that go deeper than mere self-interest. I should add that he didn’t gain anything from attacking the terrorist– in fact, he had an opportunity to grab the man’s silk suit but defiles it instead.
By contrast, Captain America has a much more… nuanced view of terrorism that seems to equate acts of warfare like the Dresden firebombing with 9/11. (It’s amazing how much a 70 year old soldier sounds politically like a 30 year old comic book writer, right?) I think a similar example is if a white conservative were to create a black character who repeatedly denounces affirmative action. That character would probably feel like his author’s puppet. I think we’re far past that point for Captain America.
My favorite hero is Superman.
Why Superman?
Hey, better Superman than the Hulk.
What I don’t like about Superman is that he has it too easy. Kryptonians are apparently superior to humans in every way. We don’t even have an advantage at seeming human!
I’ll add that Kryptonite is a pretty unsatisfying way to get around Superman being obviously overpowered.
B. Mac, you’ve posted on this thread at 1 am, 6 am, noon, and 6:30 am on the next day. Don’t you sleep?
Not really! Heh…
I wouldn’t recommend reading too much into the time-stamps on Superhero Nation content, however. For example, I didn’t REALLY write this response to your comment one minute after you did. I just back-timed it so that it will be easier for readers to see which comment I’m referring to. (We sometimes alter the timing of guest comments to add clarity, as well).
Thanks for wondering about my health, though.
I think some iterations of Superman are very well-done. For example, I am a big fan of Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, which was a 1990s sitcom that was more of a romantic comedy than a traditional superhero story. The writing was notable and Teri Hatcher did Lois Lane justice.
That said, I think the Superman character just isn’t very interesting. He doesn’t have any flaws, endearing or otherwise, except for a few amazingly sappy ones about being over-virtuous. I think that his writers kind of botched his origin story, too. As it stands, the character is essentially a superpowered human. He is (supposedly) an alien, but he doesn’t have any distinctly alien traits, mannerisms or thoughts. I think it would be more interesting if they gave him at least a few details that kind of flesh him out more than just a superpowered human. (Or, alternatively, just make him a human born in Kansas who later develops superpowers).
Ehh. Regarding B. Mac’s point that…
I disagree. Generally, nonhuman characters that are distinctly nonhuman seem very hard to read, which may explain why they’re so rare. Among heroes, I can only think of Martian Manhunter and I can only think of a few side-villains like Reptile, Komodo and Orca (who are humans-turned-animals).
When I was writing the chapter “Everybody Dies,” I couldn’t escape the thought that Agent Orange is really weird. Maybe that works– I think a lot of his conversations with normal characters like Agent Black and (at times) Jacob Mallow are pretty hilarious. But I think that a book primarily about a character like Agent Orange would be so strange that it’d be extremely niche.
I think that it’s generally more mainstream to start with a human and turn him into a nonhuman than to use a character that’s never been human. For example, The Metamorphosis, Street Sharks, The Animorphs, were-wolf stories, and The Dragon and the George take human characters and turn them into nonhumans. We might also include the X-Men, mainly Beast.
Non-human characters that have never been human are much rarer. I’d add the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to Martian Manhunter, with the proviso that the TMNT have no distinctly turtle-like qualities.
Why is that so rare? My initial instinct is that a human-turned-nonhuman is more relatable to readers and raises fewer plausibility issues. Additionally, in more serious fiction, like Metamorphosis and The Dragon and the George, the use of a H-T-N also evokes more of a sense of loss (or at least of something being distinctly amiss) than a character who’s always been nonhuman.
And now, having committed a great sin of literary criticism by mentioning Street Sharks and the Animorphs in the same sentence as Kafka, I am going to take a long shower.
I think it’s hard to choose one Hero as my favourite, I like the anti-hero ones. But I will say Gambit.
1. I always felt he was vague and mysterious, kind of an unknown.
2. The accent and charm.
3. He seemed to be the outcast of the group. (Wolverine too, but he had a more pivotal role then Gambit IMO)
I just related to him more (I related to several other too, but Gambit was the one that I liked the most who I could relate to the most). Plus he had that awesome looking face mask thing, the extending bow, and the playing cards were great too.
I agree! I find Gambit very likable; his powers are memorably cool and he would be much more fun to be around than casual psychopaths like Wolverine.
I’d have to say Beast Boy.
1) He can morph which is a favorite superpower of mine.
2) He’s like me in that he is comical, and smiles all the time to cover up his pain like me. And he is often the butt of most people jokes
3)And he’s with the Teen Titans (me and a group of my friends call ourselve the Teen Titans) who are the most awesome team ever.