Thread: superhero fiction

what do you like most about superhero fiction? (inclusive of non-sci fi/superpowered superheros eg. batman etc)

i ask because i'm starting to work on a new project which may or may not be a comic series of some kind about superheroes of some nature. i know what i like about superhero fiction -- but what in it speaks to you?

I like how expansive the multi-verses are in DC and Marvel.

I actually generally like the practice of (creative) ret-conning. I feel like it let's creators be freer to push the envelope in powerful story telling. (eg Writers freer to kill off a major character)

I also like watching police dramas, so I think just the basic heroics also speaks to me.

I like the idea of having a nemesis or a rogues gallery.

Oh and secret identities... I like the idea of living a double life with a secret identity. The more closely guarded the secret, the better.

i am very attracted to ideas you both touched on, especially of heroism and moral choices. i read a review of a sam harris book that suggested that if science was an objective search for truth in physical space, then philosophy can be described as the same thing but in hypothetical space. superhero fiction, to me, is exactly that kind of hypothetical space.

i'm really, really interested in heroes. what it means to be a hero, and the great responsibilities that come not just with great power, but with knowing that great injustices are happening.

Originally Posted by no_brains_no_worries

I suppose I enjoy the moral conflicts or personality flaws that come up when you are more powerful then an entire race. Like how the Sentry wouldn't use his powers for fear or releasing the Void or how Professor X could forcefully change people's minds to tolerate his race but refused to. That kinda stuff always makes for a great read.

yeah, i find it usually makes for a disappointing read. i love the ideas, but i can't remember when i've felt the ideas were satisfyingly explored.

btw if this super hero comic book thing comes to fruition, I'd be interested in reading it.

redemption is more interesting than corruption, certainly; perhaps because it is "more hypothetical", if you get my meaning -- you just don't hear about bad guys making good in the real world as much as you hear of hero figures letting everyone down.

i suspect it also speaks to a certain optimism that, deep down, people want to have in their storytelling. we want to believe that villainy can either be defeated or reformed, and especially in the case of hero -> villain -> hero we seem to need to believe that our hero has never gone irredeemably bad.

it's odd that, despite it going against what we see so often in the world, we want to believe that compassion and goodness can spring from where there was none before, but we find it so intolerable to think that it can be entirely and lastingly expunged.