Comics for Thought: Appeal of the Superhero

Comics for Thought: Appeal of the Superhero
By: Damien Wood

Of all the genres that are covered in comic books, the superhero genre is probably the most visible, as well as the one that takes the most slack. It’s certainly the one I’m most critical of. I’m critical of the characters and concepts. I’m critical of the creators working on them. I’m critical of the publishers putting them out. But as hard as I am on superheroes, it’s not because of any lack of fondness for the genre. Quite the opposite, it’s the genre I discovered first – the one I grew up on. It’s the genre I’ve come to expect the most from.

Unfortunately, I’m among the minority on that. Of the many, many others who are just as critical (if not more so) of the genre, for most it’s not a case of expecting the best. No, for most it’s a case of expecting anything but.

It’s a genre far too easily dismissed as mere kids’ stuff – nothing more than do-gooders and evil-doers dressed in their pervert suits, striking poses and firing off one-liners in between fighting their titanic battles, month in, month out. Of course, that absolutely is a large part of what superheroes are. But when it’s assumed that’s all they are, that’s when people are missing the deeper, more important aspect of these stories. The hook – the appeal of the superhero – is being missed.

Superheroes are fantastic reflections of ourselves. For all the weird and wondrous powers and abilities, there’s still the human factor. Superman is a God among men, but he’s still the outsider trying to fit in. Batman is fear incarnate, but he’s still the shattered man obsessed with the tragedy of his parents’ deaths, and similarly, Spider-Man is still the young man trying to do right by the memory of his dead uncle, despite being a bouncy, wisecracking smart-mouth. The X-Men as a concept have always been a metaphor for race issues. The list goes on, and the human factor has always been there in the icons that have proven successful over the years.

Superheroes are absolutely meant to be escapism. They’re meant to stretch our imaginations and take us to places where the impossible can be possible and our fantasies can be reality. But the core of these stories will always be things we can relate to.

That’s the appeal of the superhero, and that’s what most of those watching with a critical eye tend to miss. Maybe it’s the pervert suits. Maybe it’s more the fact that superheroes are technically a subgenre of science fiction – another area of fiction that’s often quickly rained upon – thus making it a dogged genre within a dogged genre. Whatever the reason, the point continues to be lost on them.

Next Friday: Beyond the Superhero

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The opinions expressed in the above piece are those of the writer, and are not necessarily representative of TNI.

When not enlightening the masses and saving the world in service of TNI, the entity known as NmX attempts to carry out a semi-normal life as a writer and a student of journalism under his not so secret identity, Damien Wood.

Look for his online projects "I Will Speak. You Will Listen." and "Mental Puppetry" sometime in the near future.