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Superheroes are OP. now live with it.
gradii
Posts: 11,717 Arc User
Seriously take a look at a superhero film. take a look.
take a look at comics.
Superheroes are OP. and therefore should be fighting OP enemies instead of being made glorified police officers with super weak semi superpowers. :rolleyes::rolleyes:
take a look at comics.
Superheroes are OP. and therefore should be fighting OP enemies instead of being made glorified police officers with super weak semi superpowers. :rolleyes::rolleyes:
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My favorite example of an OP character: Spawn. Now, look at how he turned out. No one cares. He fell off the face of the earth, and good riddance.
Another 'very powerful' character I dislike is Superman. He's really only worth anything if someone as strong as him comes along. Otherwise, he's just boring.
It's called the Diomedes Dilemma. If you look up Diomedes, he went about the same way Spawn went... people stopped caring because he was OP and no fun. No conflict.
A real world example: A highly decorated Navy SEAL stops a bank robber with his bare hands. Now, that's pretty cool. But what if it was just some regular-guy accountant? What if it were a disabled grandma? THAT is hugely badass.
I like a good balance. For me, I dislike the unstoppable characters. I'm no professional writer, but some things irk me. I write my character in a way where he's very durable, but by no means 'unkillable'. He's also stronger than a human being, but not even on the level of 'superhuman'... just 'enhanced' (I say he'd be able to throw the engine of a standard car or truck across the street). If someone wanted to kill him? They'd just need to deliver the firepower and hit him with it, that's about it- massive trauma, destroy the brain.
I go on the PRIMUS Database sometimes, and I see some characters that are OP. I've seen some characters with 'weaknesses' that aren't even a real 'weakness' and more of a 'social quirk'. For me, that's cheap and ego-fueled 'RP to win' mentality.
You also have to look at it from a group dynamic. Why would I ever want to pair my character off with someone who is essentially a living god? What good is he in a group? If you can waste an entire army of bad guys like it's a walk in the park- what are you on a team for- to assert your superiority? Sadly, this is way too often the case.
Yes, superheroes should be powerful. However, if superheroes are never challenged by any adversary- then they aren't really 'heroic'... they're just doing everyday bull for them. It's like being in MENSA and insisting you can only play checkers with Special Ed kids... you're not really 'good', you're just a douchebag.
Now if we're talking 'Super powered cops'? I completely agree. I think the setting is entirely broken. First of all, I don't know how and why the city with the highest concentration of superheroes has this absurd crime wave going on... but then again, when the most 'dangerous' criminals in the city are.... kidnapping the mayor? Then yeah, I just kind of assume everyone is really stupid.
No, really, what the hell are you going to do with the Mayor being held hostage? Change the trash pick-up days? Change the noise ordnance? It's sad, Foxbat's the silliest moron in the game and he's the only one with a legit decent reason to take the mayor hostage (unpaid parking tickets).
The reason people call OP a 'bad thing' is for a few reasons...
People who roleplay OP characters tend to believe that a list of powers makes the character. Usually these are the types that can 'win' simply by flying at something really fast and face-punching. That's not 'heroic', that's mindless BS. It's the 'Dragonball Z' of heroics, and it's no fun for anyone except the 'I always win' guy.
People who roleplay less-powered characters tend to have a variety of abilities/skills and have to think, be resourceful, and otherwise use unorthodox methods to win. Sure, some 'low powered' characters can be OP, but there's more of them with actual thought behind what they're doing.
EDITING, adding.
There's a lot that can be done. Sadly, one of the beliefs in this community that you see far too often is 'if you don't want to be OP, then you just want non-powered gritty heroes'. This is never the case if you're making a character for this setting. Other settings, sure.
The powers I see abused more often than not are super-strength/toughness, psionics, and magic. People can take these three different types of powers and make absurdly OP characters in roleplay.
Super-strength/toughness are the lesser evil. The main problem is that they laws are physics are completely ignored. No matter how strong you are- you have a center of gravity, you have weight, so on and so forth. Let's face reality- most 'combat' in this kind of setting is physical. When nothing can hurt you and you can crush everything, it kind of... loses it. Does this mean you shouldn't use these powers? Nope, it's all in the execution. You should probably consider limitations on your strength as well.
Psionics, like me and you were discussing, are often confused with 'precognition' and 'clairvoyance'. Even when they aren't, psionics are often used as a cheap ticket to mind-wreck someone. Now, as cheap as it sounds (it's also a way to 'attack' someone and never get caught) it's also unethical. The most sensible way I've seen people use psionic characters is that they are far more in tune with people. Reading thoughts makes you see the humanity of a person, no matter if they are a 'villain'. You'd see the steps in life that drove them to where they are, their memories, the things they've cherished... and ask any combat veteran, it's easy to take someone out when they've been dehumanized. When you see them as another human being with feelings, friends, loves, and passions... it's very hard to do.
Magic... is just abused. It's a way of making the impossible happen. However, if I'm not mistaken, super-sorcerers like Witchcraft are absurdly rare- and many people write their magic users leaps and bounds ahead of her in terms of power levels. Shaping and unshaping reality is not something that should ever be done carelessly. And I've always understood magic to be more than 'just magic, do whatever I want, poof'. Blood magic, shadow magic, elemental magic... and no one's saying you can't learn all of them. But what is supposed to make magic different from other abilities is that magic is supposed to take time, practice, learning. A fire-aspect superhero pyrokinetic could superheat an entire underground complex and burn out all the oxygen. A wizard shouldn't be able to do so without significant effort, preparation, or assistance.
Again, 'powerful abilities' and 'overpowered characters' are not the same.
This is something a lot of people like to overlook.
People will say...I like batman because he's normal and doesn't have superpowers and not OP...but yet he basically never loses...and always lives. Which as you say, makes him increadibly OP...given that he is human.
People complain about OP superhuman characters in RP...but if you're RP'ing a normal human character who can be killed just like a regular human, then you're RP'ing a character who is more OP than said superhuman character...because your character is somehow surviving every single encounter in the game, despite being "only human".
It's a catch-22 that no one seems to acknowledge.
VARIANT
"Nearly all men can withstand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."
-Abraham Lincoln-
Not to mention, his 'mental skills' seem to help him overcome every challenge. He can literally 'make a plan and develop something' to help with anything that gets thrown at him. Now, that's OP, but I only say that for one reason- because if that were the case, why has he not developed sufficient means to make Gotham safer. Sure, I know he's 'just one man'... but come on, you gotta be able to brain up SOMETHING.
This is also kinda true. But then again, why not? Skill and decent equipment can take you further than you think. As a matter of fact, all the 'power' in the world won't save you when you need tactics, training, and knowledge of your adversary.
Superheroes are as weak or as powerful as they're needed to be for the story to work. Superman's problem isn't that he doesn't bleed like Batman. The reason he's difficult to make interesting is because writers are unwilling to risk tarnishing his image by giving him character flaws. He's a pure force of good with little or no internal conflict. You generally know what he'll do in any situation.
Imagine though, having all the power in the world and finding it can't change the human heart. It can't prevent child abuse or cure cancer. Or dealing with the guilt of knowing you could have saved someone if only you hadn't taken five minutes to yourself to have a conversation with that lady reporter you've got a crush on. There's a lot of stuff you could explore with Superman that'd be insanely interesting to me that has nothing to do with how much he can lift or withstand.
The poster formerly known as Lightwave!
World of Cardboard
I always found this "kid gloves" concept to be interesting and thought it was always something that should have been much further explored.
As for the topic at hand, I find myself having to ask for clarification. Is this a RP/Concept discussion or is this some kind of preemptive counterargument against balancing the game and undoing some of the "missteps" of On Alert? I ask simply because the two subjects can have quite different discussions and I don't want to waste time typing out something that's completely on the wrong subject.
Join Date: Aug 2009 | Title: Devslayer
Some Superman stories over the years have explored issues like that. More might be good, but they need to be leavened sparingly into the mix. Overused, they would risk turning the Man of Steel into a whiny, angst-ridden, postmodern deconstruction of himself. It's admittedly hard sometimes to sympathize with a living god, but a living god who frets too much over what he can't do can get annoying fast.
I have seen him used in ways where he realizes that his purpose is to inspire humanity to do better, rather than be a savior entirely. I find that actually a noble trait, despite the character being boring. It's almost a statement, like his father saw humans as something with great potential and respected humanity- and he wanted Kal-El to respect human 'independence', or something to that effect.
Then again, the dude has Kryptonian technology and it'd be really nice of him to help with like curing a disease or something...
Onto the purpose of this thread...
Look, I'll level with you. CO lacks balance. In more ways than PvE. It's really...
And I hate to say it so harshly...
I wouldn't call it a 'sinking ship'. But I do firmly believe that at one point, this game DID have a direction. It did have vision behind it. I'm not sure what happened, I've heard countless 'gamer theories' on why CO is in the shape that it's in. I wouldn't even say it's on 'life support'.... but the game does appear to be 'ghetto rigged' and is in desperate need of a complete, thorough overhaul in so many different ways. Most of which would send certain members of the community into screaming nerd-rage because they can't solo 99% of the game (fun fact: No MMORPG should be like that).
Everyone on CO's forum gets mad because the CoX players miss their game. Yes, it does get irritating when all they do is talk about how much that game was better. Yes, it's kind of pointless to sit in Zone chat and talk trash about CO all day... well, I always say it's okay to complain if you have a possible solution in mind and can clearly define the problem.
But the CoX players have on thing right- that game had a LOT of stuff CO doesn't have. Balance. Challenge. A lot of content. Solid writing. And up until the surprise cancellation, a future. Why? Because more care was taken. CO keeps getting passed around like [expletive deleted] at a frat party to different people, crews keep getting shuffled out to 'new projects', and in the meantime we're here with a half-finished, partially broken shell of what could have been.
The truth is, when it comes to balance- we can blame part of the community. I've never seen so many people who throw a tantrum when they can't create something unstoppable in a game that can faceroll everything. CoX had a pretty awesome idea with its powers, and it had a lot more team-play content. But you can't do that here, because folks will scream about being 'limited'. God forbid you actually have to work with others in an MMORPG. God forbid your toon isn't the Wrath of God in spandex. God forbid you actually have a reason to make an alt.
However, right now this is all we got. We can't expect a major overhaul like Final Fantasy Online got... we should just consider it a blessing we're getting band-aids on this game.
Ok, so it IS this discussion again. In a nutshell, you do realize your entire argument boils down to...
"3+1=4 but 1+3=/=4 in my opinion"
right? You see this?
I'm not saying that enemies are fine as they are presently. There are examples in CO of mobs whose AI actually does adjust to the difficulty slider and that should have been a baseline for as much of the system as humanly possible BUT there is actually no difference between balancing the power systems towards a centralized white his base and adjusting from there as a means to both bring the OP powers in line AND boost the levels of the underperforming powers and simply making the street thugs stronger so they take more time to kill.
The part, other than the math up there of course, that actually confuses me(and this is not a personal attack) is I've seen you play this game. I've seen you in PvE. I've seen you Duel. I've seen you in some Rampages and, this may come as a surprise to some people from reading your posts on these forums YOU DON'T SUCK. Having said that, you do seem to champion for any cause which would make this game easier, toss things more out of whack than they already are, and prevent actual balance from coming to CO mostly by means of labeling people who do call for such things in a negative light or assigning some kind of "secret agenda" to them as a better means by which to dismiss their arguments.
I'm honestly 50/50 on On Alert. I get that it was pretty much cobbled together by 2-3 people tops. I get that certain "intentional destruction" was done during this process. I get there were timelines so things like the removal of almost as much as we got out of the expansion was kinda somewhat unavoidable. On the other hand....If all you see from all that happened from On Alert is the loss of some unlocks I would strongly suggest you dig deeper.
-Bugs
-The Removal of 3 gear slots in the name of "Greater Hero Diversification"
-Spec Trees which were either half cloned(Guardian/Warden) or are mostly just not used because of people quickly figuring out "The Best Combo for Almost Every Single Build in The Game"
-OM Rewards removed so that very few OMs(not counting the ones that don't even work) are ever used.
-The Alert System(which CN mostly fixed the worst bit of) making current and possible future content all but irrelevant since it wasn't a Smash.
-That point up there about the spec trees...yeah, same thing for PSS/SS on most builds.
-More players crashing headfirst into the game's DRs.
-Being able to slot ONE piece of gear and become a Dodge God(CN also somewhat repaired this).
-Original Revitalize(CN Repaired).
-The Lair/Cosmic Token for Legacy Devices Vendor being scrapped for the system we got instead where you could slot multiples of the same thing and all but buy godmode.
-Click Upgrade Devices being removed from ingame mobs/content so there's no point to go endgame farm something for your hero...which further diminishes the already rail thin endgame.
-You can solo MOAR STUFF(see: Almost Everything until CN made additions) now.
....I could probably keep going at this but I hope you get the point I'm making.
Once before you got a little bit heated when I questioned your seeming anti-challenge stance so, apparently, that's not it. So, in all sincere honesty...what IS your point? Really? What IS 1+3? In this particular case...do all roads not lead to Rome?
And finally, I think I'm kinda glad this thread's intended purpose did go off the rails into a Superman and Comics Discussion. It's at least more interesting to me.
Join Date: Aug 2009 | Title: Devslayer
Yes, superheroes are portrayed as powerful, sometimes extremely powerful individuals. They're also portrayed as having to go up against incredible odds and are faced with difficult challenges where there's a real sense of danger and a risk of failure, especially when up against a very powerful foe. The consequence of a superhero failing would carry a very significant weight to it.
Superheroes aren't meant to steamroll over everything with ease. Most of the time it's a character flaw that gets in the way. Heck, even a Marvel superhero as ridiculously powerful as the Sentry was given some pretty crippling weaknesses to set him back a few notches just to name an example.
When it comes to this game, I would expect that the higher-tiered villains are actually tough to beat. Currently I think that only a handful of them can be considered "really tough". The majority of the villains though are pushovers. Henchmen and low-tiered villains not counted since they're meant to be fodder like they're portrayed in comic books so fit in.
I'm fine if the game wants to pander to the player wanting to feel like a powerful super-being taking on hordes of bad guys and showing them who's boss. But at the end of the day this is a combat-oriented computer game, and that means a level of challenge has to be expected. If imbalance and/or bug issues make it so that the difficulty is trivialized then there's only so far that you can stretch the whole "superheroes are supposed to be OP" reasoning.
Power creep is a huge problem in MMOs and CO is no exception. On Alert was a massive explosion of power creep that did not also have the new content to back that up. When WoW has a burst of power it's at least coupled with a bunch of new content. That's not to say it makes it OK to explode power levels if you add content. In fact, that's the #1 reason I stopped playing WoW since I wasn't part of any community or guild to keep me there.
This is a game. Balance is important so that people don't get bored and leave or pissed off and leave. There is already a huge difference between the optimal builds and everything else.
I'm also going to point out that forum population makes up an abysmally low portion of the player base, unless CO is some sort of exception. So, people complaining about things here does not necessarily reflect the opinions of most players. If Cryptic is revolving their game decisions around forum posters, that would be incredibly stupid. And I don't think they're stupid.
[at]riviania Member since Aug 2009
I liked someone's idea about an 'online survey' that was actually built into the game. I can't remember who suggested that, but it was solid.
Agree but as it pertains to the 3rd paragraph, we should encourage involvement and active participation. That being said sweet jesus I hate to sign this but it is accurate so signed.
A Playlist of my CO PvP video's (starting from post nerf PTS team duels)
I'd actually be ok and have fun with fighting 300 mobs all at once without too much trouble. But then there needs to be a supervillain very regularly that does give a challenge. Luckily there is already a mechanic in CO that would make things work for people who do like a challenge, and people who don't. People who don't want a challenge in their game can just play on normal difficulty and feel all invincible against weak enemies.
Number B: 50
Let's raise A!
NumberA: 75
NumberB: 50
Now instead let's lower B!
NumberA: 50
NumberB: 25
Oh look, same difference!
Remember that time Robocop got jacked by a bunch of common thugs just because they were prepared for him? How many years has it been, when are these thugs gonna realize there are superheroes coming and stop packing 9mm waterpistols? The tech is out there, either gear up or retire.
Honestly, all those piddly little dudes we one shot? They should be retired. They shouldn't even show up for crimes anymore, what are they even doing there? The only criminals who should even be willing to show up anymore are the ones that can actually have a chance at not getting creamed the moment any super hero happens to walk by. ESPECIALLY IN MILLENIUM CITY A CITY KNOWN FOR HAVING SUPER HEROES JUST WALKING DOWN THE STREET LOL. At the very least, the piddly little one shots should already have been taken care of by the police who are at the scene, they should already be defeated by the time we show up and only the ones the police couldn't handle should be left.
Face it, those piddly little one shots? They don't make sense in context. If you want to live out the fantasy of "a guy who can lift a tank, punching out some jobber on the sidewalk" just head over to west side, find a jobber, and punch to your heart's content.
My super cool CC build and how to use it.
And you still don't get it.
With absurd level of debalance and powers outperforming, soon there will be a level where it is not possible to design a challenging opponent without making something as cheaply though and broken as Gravitar. And if you think RNG Gravitar is a good game design, then you need your head examined.
Oh, and with increasing power creep there will be soon a place where making content for OP builds makes it inaccessible for more casual builds.
Which would be fine and dandy IF not the thing that it hurts builds diversity and forces players to sacrifice their "be hero that you want to be" for sake of just being capable of said content.
Which is something that many players are unwillig to do. Which is also the reason why you see fewer faces in PvP and even Gravitar is mostly stormed by the same people.
I'm sorry, but games do need balance. You can protest, but you can change it.
'Caine, miss you bud. Fly high.
When done right, it looks like this:
Champions online looks more like this:
Basically why the only thing this game can use to retain people is the tailor, and an experience that caters to those people who are only interested in a power fantasy that mirrors what it's like to use cheat codes in other games.
My super cool CC build and how to use it.
Those mooks with a broken bottle are smart enough to realize that they're useless and should stay back at "bad guy HQ" and mop the floors. If they do show up, they should be taken down by one of those armed police officers before we ever even show up.
My super cool CC build and how to use it.
Spawn didn't fall off the face of the earth. The main series ended years ago. It was never meant to be an on going never ending "my super hero should be wearing depends by now this comic is so old" super hero.
He started of at 99:99:9 or whatever energy and was supposed to die when it ran out. Things change, but either way the main spawn is over. So theres Spawn EP 1 and spawn EP2. EP2 is the bad one btw.
The new spawn most noobs are familiar with isn't even the same guy. Just an attempt to keep the series going (for whatever reason that is.)
Now, that's the most laughable list ever. Tons of Batman supporting characters and Howard the Duck, but not a single mention about the Punisher? Also, Capt isn't exactly powerless human. Iron Man and knock-offs are also very dubious entries.
Honestly? If Spiderman or Batman series ended, there would be some outcry. Or even the Punisher's (who's not the most popular character).
But Spawn? It went without echo, at this point the character was bland, boring, most of people doesn't really cared about the series ending.
New Spawn is also kinda pointless. Just to keep up series about which nobody save for diehard fans cares anymore.
Fitting ending, comic book world has already enough terrible characters without keeping Spawn amongst the brigthests starlets.
And yet, those are the majority of what you end up fighting in the Arkham series. Also the majority of what most heroes fight...but generally don't get owned unless a big bad is there with them. Then it's still based on plot.
Pretty much everyone in Hydra, Aim, or any other major villain group should know that if they are going up against a real Hero they are gonna get their asses handed to them, but they go in with enough numbers that imo they fall to mob mentality and probably programming.
I would prefer having situations where I had to wade through base mobs, fight a few mid-level villains that are a moderate challenge, then hit the big bad and have to think my way through the fight, but I am having fun with what is there now.
The previous sentence has been voiced on these forums since it's inception iirc. So nothing new. Were that to happen, I'd be overjoyed. Not holding my breath, however. Also, not ******** about things as I happen to enjoy the game as it is.
Vanish in the air you'll never find me
It's called Zerg rushing. They think that by overrunning the hero with numbers they could stand a chance at winning. Sometimes it works on the weaker heroes, but with an indestructible brick like the Hulk or Superman, they're ****ed.
Spiderman and Batman aren't even in the same genre. They're continuing roles that are meant to just go on and on and on and on and on and on.
Spiderman and Batman aren't meant to tell an epic saga story with a beginning and an end. They're just infinite cliff hangers where the reader by this point no matter what happens in any of those heroe's stories knows, THAT NO MATTER WHAT THEY WILL ALWAYS WIN AND A NEW BAD GUY SHOW UP.
Its repetitive, its predictable, and ever since choose your own adventure books came out, that writing style is pretty bland and I highly doubt you'd ever play a game for very long where you knew that no matter what happens in that boss fight you will always win.
Its like Dragon Ball Z, except the Dragon Ball writers finally figured out that they were spiraling into another boring repeat series where the main character never leaves and loses what they planned on doing with it in the first place. So they decided to end Dragon Ball and all of its iterations. It may have not been this epic long lord of the rings style struggle ending, but it got the hell out of there while the getting is good.
Spawn was the highest independent selling comic book ever. Dude made enough money off of 1 really really really good epic long story with a beginning and an end to put his 1 character into history books because he didn't try to replicate the whole Marvel DC thing where the heroes literally have no humanity in the sense that they're perfectly fine with their repetitive existence so much that they don't even question why they keep fighting the same idiots over and over and over and over again.
Except wolverine. He was one of the few characters who actually figured out that this eternal struggle was BS designed by the author to sell more copies, he actually is one of the few who figures out the only way to stop the ultimate enemy is to go for the head, not the 50 million little minions throwing the little minions back in jail repeatedly instead of just stabbing them and moving on.
He actually understands that the villains he's against are insane and will keep trying the same repetitive crap over and over again. So he takes the smart but OMG CONTROVERSIAL route and attempts to just kill the damn things. He doesn't make the story any better because he has a bad owner. But he still understands the best stories end when you can go back home and go to sleep for once and not wake up the next day waiting for that guy you thought you beat to magically pop back up.....for the 50th time.
Question!
What if I don't play a hero? :O
Deliciously nutritious!
Now you are joking and I missed the humor.
Unless you are seriously thinking that RNG is not fake difficulty and is something innovative.
And I see no problem in content requiring coordination between few team members.
Or Image just ran out of ridiculous things to do with character, so Spawn mercifully ended. He was one of the most badly written characters, inconsistent and with so much ridiculous deus ex machina in his power progression that it wasn't even funny.
Spawn was exactly in the same genre as other superheroes. His power counter was purely plot driven. If there was any need, it could be delayed forever. It was as much periodic publication, as any other superhero comic book on the market.
There is good reason why Wolverine is as much ridiculed by some readers as he's loved by his rabid fans.
He's terribly written most of the time. Sniktbub.
And what controversial route? He's just a thug with a set of knives.
He's also hardly first character ever written with this approach. He's, however, deep into Mary Sue territory.
A terrible leftover from what was worst in the nineties, but little else.
Except it was an epic turd once he started re-writing his abilities, adding new abilites, and just up and deciding Spawn could beat God and Satan.
Read 'Imagine United'. See how much you like Al Simmons then.
You also say he didn't want to 'replicate' the Marvel/DC thing. You need to realize that this is also why Image comics failed miserably, right? They had not plan. No future goals.
Also, for someone who didn't want to replicate Marvel/DC... McFarlane damn sure jacked a lot of ideas from them.
Both Grav and F&I fights suck because they use HP sack doing **** tons of damage as the benchmark for hard instead of programming AI more sophisticated than a rock or use of interesting mechanics. Both fights are basic tank and spank, with very little deviation or attention needed. Grav just needs more tank in her fight than F&I.
[at]riviania Member since Aug 2009
Then go to Jail. Go directly to Jail. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200.
Are your superheroes too good to stop a mugging? Or a robbery? Are they just above it all, only concerning themselves with fighting gods and demons?
Comic books and films don't usually focus on the day-to-day activities of superheroes. They concern themselves with the days that something extraordinary happens. They're not fighting supervillains every day of their lives. There aren't always supervillains carrying out dastardly deeds every single day. Street sweeping is what they do on their downtime.
Be a hero. Murder some thugs!
- David Brin, "Those Eyes"
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My guy's not above stopping a crime. Granted, he might just make the thief turn the stuff back over to its owner and make reparations, or something like that. He's not a 'crime fighter', but he'll do the whole 'good citizen with the ability to help' thing. That's just decent.
Really? Mine drinks and yells at the television when Piers Morgan is on.
And on the way to the store to buy your booze, you may have seen a mugging, and BAM! Superheroics happened.
What's he going to do now since Mr. Phonetapper has been canned?
Cut to carjacker running through an alley, when Spidey drops in from above, wraps him up, and says, "I'm in a hurry, so I'll make this quick - would you prefer to be beaten or humiliated?" The carjacker replies with a string of invective. Cut to police coming down the alley, then looking up to find the carjacker stuck in a web overhead, with the word "LOSER" spelled out in webbing above him.
If it's good enough for Peter, it's good enough for me...
- David Brin, "Those Eyes"
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Well, to be fair it was to get the second bottle of Maple whiskey. And the criminal mind doesn't know how to handle a raging drunk throwing bottles and howling about Piers Morgan, Redcoats, and Dukes of Hazzard.
Celebrate with Ted Nugent.
Anyways;
Silverspar on PRIMUS
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Come on people! You can't go buying a #1 just because it's a first issue! You'll only encourage more first issue for first issue sake...
...not that this has anything to do with anything...
...well, maybe a little, since I can't think of a more OP/boring setting or character than SS (imho).
FWIW, most of my characters would be mutants-with-mutant-powers in a Marvel-XMag sense, but that's what I grew up with. Even there, half of them are gumshoes, with an investigate first, thwart overarching plan, and then kick **** mindset.
Edit: Oh, and oddly (or not), most of the villains I have written (not seen in-game enough, unfortunately) are more powerful than most of my heroes, (eg The Oz Crew).
While the word "superhero" itself dates to at least 1917, the term "Super Heroes" is a typography-independent 'descriptive' USA trademark which is co-owned by DC Comics and Marvel Comics[2]
By most definitions, characters do not strictly require actual supernatural or superhuman powers or phenomena to be deemed superheroes,[3] although terms such as costumed crime fighters or masked vigilantes are sometimes used to refer to those such as Batman and Green Arrow without such powers who share other superhero traits. Such characters were generally referred to as "mystery men" in the Golden Age of Comic Books to distinguish them from characters with super-powers.
Some superheroes use their powers to counter day-to-day crime while also combating threats against humanity by supervillains, their criminal counterparts. Often, one of these supervillains will be the superhero's archenemy. As well, some long-running superheroes, such as Superman, Batman, Spider-Man and Iron Man, have a rogues gallery of enemies. As well, superheroes sometimes will combat such threats as aliens, magical entities, American war enemies such as nazism or communism, and godlike or demonic creatures.
Contents
1 History
2 Common traits
2.1 Common costume features
2.2 Bases/headquarters
3 Types of superheroes
4 Trademark status
5 Growth in diversity
5.1 Female superheroes
5.2 Ethnic superheroes
5.3 LGBT superheroes
5.4 Child superheroes
5.5 Non-human superheroes
5.6 Non-powered superheroes
6 See also
7 References
8 External links
History
Main articles: Superhero fiction#History, History of comics, and Superhero film
The word "superhero" dates to at least 1917.[4] The 1903 play The Scarlet Pimpernel and its spinoffs popularized the idea of a masked avenger; shortly afterward, masked and costumed pulp-fiction characters such as Zorro (1919) and comic-strip heroes such as the Phantom (1936) began appearing. As well came non-costumed characters with super strength, including Patoruzu (1928), the comic-strip character Popeye (1929) and novelist Philip Wylie's protagonist Hugo Danner (1930)[5] or super powers, like the Nyctalope (1909).[6] Both tracks came together in the superpowered, costumed hero Superman (1938).
Common traits
Superheroes most often appear in comic books, and superhero stories are the dominant form of American comic books. After success in the printed community, superheroes have also been featured in radio serials, novel, TV series, movies, and other media. Most of the superheroes who appear in other media are adapted from comics, but there are exceptions and changes are common.
Marvel Comics and DC Comics share ownership of the United States trademark for the phrases "Super Hero" and "Super Heroes" and these two companies own the vast majority of the worlds most famous and influential superheroes. Of the "Significant Seven" chosen by The Comic Book in America: An Illustrated History (1989), Marvel owns Spider-Man and Captain America and DC owns Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Shazam (formerly known as Captain Marvel), and Plastic Man. Like many non-Marvel characters popular during the 1940s, the latter two were acquired by DC from defunct publishers.[7] However, there have been significant heroes owned by others, especially since the 1990s when Image Comics and other companies that allowed creators to maintain trademark and editorial control over their characters.
Many superhero characters display the following traits:
Extraordinary powers or abilities, exceptional skills and/or advanced equipment. Superhero powers vary widely; superhuman strength, the ability to fly, enhanced senses, and the projection of energy bolts are all common. Some superheroes, such as Batman, Green Arrow, Hawkeye and the Question possess no superhuman powers but have mastered skills such as martial arts and forensic sciences to a highly remarkable degree. Others have special weapons or technology, such as Iron Man's powered armor suits, Thor's weather manipulating hammer, and Green Lanterns power ring. Many characters supplement their natural powers with a special weapon or device (e.g., Wonder Woman's lasso and bracelets, Spider-Man's webbing, and Wolverine's adamantium claws).
A strong moral code, including a willingness to risk one's own safety in the service of good without expectation of reward. Such a code often includes a refusal or strong reluctance to kill or wield lethal weapons.
America's Best Comics/7 October 1943
A motivation, such as a sense of responsibility (e.g. Spider-Man), a formal calling (e.g., Wonder Woman), a personal vendetta against criminals (e.g. Batman), or a strong belief in justice and humanitarian service (e.g. Superman).
A secret identity that protects the superhero's friends and family from becoming targets of his or her enemies, such as Clark Kent (Superman), or to protect themselves from getting arrested by the police, like Spider-Man, although many superheroes have a confidant (usually a friend or relative who has been sworn to secrecy). Most superheroes use a descriptive or metaphoric code name for their public deeds. However, some superheroes, such as those of the team the Fantastic Four, eschew secret identities and are publicly known or even celebrities. There are also rare ones whose true identities are common public knowledge, even with a costumed identity (e.g. Iron Man and Captain America).
A distinctive costume, often used to conceal the secret identity (see Common costume features).
An underlying motif or theme that affects the hero's name, costume, personal effects, and other aspects of his or her character (e.g., Batman wears a bat-themed costume, uses bat-themed gadgetry and equipment and operates at night; Spider-Man can shoot webs from his hands, has a spider web pattern on his costume, and other spider-like abilities).
A supporting cast of recurring characters, including the hero's friends, co-workers and/or love interests, who may or may not know of the superhero's secret identity. Often the hero's personal relationships are complicated by this dual life, a common theme in Spider-Man and Batman stories in particular.
A rogues gallery consisting of enemies that he/she fights repeatedly. In some cases superheroes begin by fighting run-of-the-mill criminals before supervillains surface in their respective story lines. In many cases the hero is in part responsible for the appearance of these supervillains (the Scorpion was created as the perfect enemy to defeat Spider-Man; and characters in Batman's comics often accuse him of creating the villains he fights). Often superheroes have an archenemy who is especially threatening. Often a nemesis is a superhero's doppelganger or foil (e.g., Sabretooth embraces his savage instincts while Wolverine tries to control his; Batman is dark, taciturn, and grim, while the Joker is colorful, loquacious, and flamboyant).
Independent wealth (e.g., Batman or the X-Men's benefactor Professor X) or an occupation that allows for minimal supervision (e.g., Superman's civilian job as a reporter).
A headquarters or base of operations, usually kept hidden from the general public (e.g., Superman's Fortress of Solitude or Batman's Batcave).
A backstory that explains the circumstances by which the character acquired his or her abilities as well as his or her motivation for becoming a superhero. Many origin stories involve tragic elements and/or freak accidents that result in the development of the hero's abilities.
Many superheroes work independently. However, there are also many superhero teams. Some, such as the Fantastic Four, DNAgents, and the X-Men, have common origins and usually operate as a group. Others, such as DC Comicss Justice League, Marvels Avengers, and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, are "all-star" groups consisting of heroes with separate origins who also operate individually, yet will team up to confront larger threats. The shared setting or "universes" of Marvel, DC and other publishers also allow for regular superhero team-ups. Some superheroes, especially those introduced in the 1940s, work with a young sidekick (e.g., Batman and Robin, Captain America and Bucky). This has become less common since more sophisticated writing and older audiences have lessened the need for characters who specifically appeal to child readers. Sidekicks are seen as a separate classification of superheroes.
Although superhero fiction is considered a form of fantasy/adventure, it crosses into many genres. Many superhero franchises resemble crime fiction (Batman, Punisher), others horror fiction (Spawn, Spectre) and others more standard science fiction (Green Lantern, X-Men). Many of the earliest superheroes, such as The Sandman and The Clock, were rooted in the pulp fiction of their predecessors.
Within their own fictional universes, public perception of superheroes varies greatly. Some, like Superman and the Fantastic Four, are adored and seen as important civic leaders; or even celebrities, Iron Man being an example of this. Others, like Batman and Spider-Man, are met with public skepticism or outright hostility. A few, such as the X-Men and the characters of Watchmen, defend a populace that almost unanimously misunderstands and despises them.
Common costume features
A superhero's costume helps make him or her recognizable to the general public. Costumes are often colorful to enhance the character's visual appeal and frequently incorporate the superhero's name and theme. For example, Daredevil resembles a red devil, Captain America's costume echoes the American flag, Batman's costume resembles a large bat, and Spider-Man's costume features a spiderweb pattern. The convention of superheroes wearing masks (frequently without visible pupils) and skintight unitards originated with Lee Falk's comic strip hero The Phantom.
Many features of superhero costumes recur frequently, including the following:
Superheroes who maintain a secret identity often wear a mask, ranging from the domino of Robin and Ms. Marvel to the full-face masks of Spider-Man and Black Panther. Most common are masks covering the upper face, leaving the mouth and jaw exposed. This allows for both a believable disguise and recognizable facial expressions. A notable exception is Superman, who wears nothing on his face while fighting crime, but uses large glasses in his civilian life as Clark Kent. Some characters wear helmets, such as Doctor Fate or Magneto.
A symbol, such as a stylized letter or visual icon, usually on the chest. Examples include the uppercase "S" of Superman, the bat emblem of Batman, and the spider emblem of Spider-Man. Often, they also wear a common symbol referring to their group or league, such as the "4" on the Fantastic Four's suits, or the "X" on the X-Men's costumes.
Form-fitting clothing, often referred to as tights or Spandex, although the exact material is usually unidentified. Such material displays a characters athletic build and heroic sex appeal and allows a simple design for illustrators to reproduce.
While a great many superhero costumes do not feature capes, the garment is still closely associated with them, likely because two of the most widely recognized superheroes, Batman and Superman, wear capes. In fact, police officers in Batmans home of Gotham City have used the word "cape" as a shorthand for all superheroes and costumed crimefighters. The comic-book miniseries Watchmen and the animated movie The Incredibles humorously commented on the potentially lethal impracticality of capes. In Marvel Comics, the term "cape-killer" has been used to describe Superhuman Restraint Unit, even though few notable Marvel heroes wear capes.
While most superhero costumes merely hide the heros identity and present a recognizable image, parts of the costume (or the costume itself) have functional uses. Batman's utility belt and Spawn's "necroplasmic armor" have both been of great assistance to the heroes. Iron Man's armor, in particular, protects him and provides technological advantages.
When thematically appropriate, some superheroes dress like people from various professions or subcultures. Zatanna, who possesses wizard-like powers, dresses like a stage magician, and Ghost Rider, who rides a superpowered motorcycle, dresses in the leather garb of a biker.
Several heroes of the 1990s, including Cable and many Image Comics characters, rejected the traditional superhero outfit for costumes that appeared more practical and militaristic. Shoulder pads, kevlar-like vests, metal-plated armor, knee and elbow pads, heavy-duty belts, and ammunition pouches were common features. Other characters, such as The Question, opt for a "civilian" costume (mostly a trench coat). A few, such as the Runaways, do not wear any distinctive outfits at all.
Bases/headquarters
Many superheroes (and supervillains) have headquarters or base of operations (for example, Batman's batcave). These bases are often equipped with state-of-the-art, highly advanced, and/or alien technologies. They are typically set in disguised and/or in secret locations to avoid being detected by enemies or the general public. Some bases, such as the Baxter Building, are common public knowledge (even though their precise location may remain secret). Many heroes and villains who do not have a permanent headquarters are said to have a mobile base of operations.
To the heroes and villains who have secret bases, these bases can serve a variety of functions, including (but not limited to) the following:
a control room where specialized monitors and other advanced technology help superheroes in staying on guard.
a command center where they are allowed the ability to send out commands through monitoring equipment.
a operations room that store their technological and alien devices.
a crime lab/laboratory, for experiments and scientific study.
a safehouse, where the heroes can conceal themselves from their enemies.
a research library, covering a variety of topics from science, to history, to criminal profiling.
an armory, for weapons design, construction and storage.
a garage/hangar/dock.
a information centre/communications center.
a weapons platform, for defense of the facility (these are more common to supervillains).
a trophy room, where mementos of significant battles and adventures are displayed.
a common area, for social activity (typically for larger teams, such as the Justice League or the Avengers).
Types of superheroes
Question book-new.svg
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Main article: List of superhuman features and abilities in fiction
In superhero role-playing games, such as Hero Games' Champions, Green Ronin Publishing's Mutants and Masterminds, Cryptic Studios' MMORPG City of Heroes and Champions Online, superheroes are formally organized into categories or archetypes based on their skills and abilities. Since comic book and role-playing fandom often overlap, these labels have carried over into discussions of superheroes outside the context of games:[8]
Acrobat: A hero whose skills rely on their incredible aerobic and gymnastic abilities, whether they're naturally honed (like Daredevil or **** Grayson), or superhuman (like Spider-Man, Krrish or Black Widow).
Aerial: A hero whose primary power is flight (not to be confused with the strong and durable Paragons). These types fly either through physical means (wings like Angel, Falcon or Hawkman) or through special means (levitation or energy propulsion like Nova, Banshee or Cannonball). Heroes who are extraordinary aviators (like the Thunderbirds) may also count as Aerials.
Armored Hero: A gadgeteer whose powers are derived from a suit of powered armor; e.g., Iron Man, Alcan foil-wrapped pork stock warrior and Steel.
Aquatic: A hero whose abilities either come from living underwater (like Aquaman, Namor and Aspen Matthews from Fathom) or from being trained to adapt to underwater conditions (like the Sea Devils).
Blaster: A hero whose main power is a distance attack, usually an "energy blast"; e.g., Cyclops, Starfire and Static.
Brick/Tank: A character with a superhuman degree of strength and endurance and, for males, usually an oversized muscular body; e.g., The Hulk, She-Hulk, The Thing, Colossus, The Tick, and Lobo. Almost every superhero team has one member of this variety, a point X-Factor's Guido Carosella noted when he took the codename "Strong Guy" at a reporter's suggestion that this was his role in the team.
Elementalist: A hero who controls some natural element or part of the natural world; e.g., Storm (weather), Magneto (magnetism), Swamp Thing (vegetation), the Human Torch (fire), Iceman (ice), Crystal (manipulation of classical elements) and Static (electricity).
Energizer: A hero who emits great amount of energy in combat (ki, chakra, karma, etc.), either by supernatural powers (like Cole McGrath, Iron Fist, Havok, or Aang) or for combat.
Feral: A hero whose abilities come from a more bestial nature. This bestial nature could manefest itself either partially (like Wolverine), fully (like Beast), or through therianthropic dual natures (such as the supernatural werewolf Jack Russell, or the mutant werewolf Wolfsbane).
Gadgeteer: A hero who uses special equipment or weapons that often imitates superpowers but have no super powers themselves; e.g. Batman, Iron Man, Moon Knight, and Nite Owl.
Ghost: A hero with 'ghost' type powers: either invisibility (such as Invisible Woman); or intangibility (such as Kitty Pryde); or both (such as Martian Manhunter, The Vision, Deadman, Ghost and Danny Phantom).
Government Agent: A hero (or sometimes antihero) who is recognized by his or her occupation as a government soldier, or special service agent of any agency in the planet such as Nick Fury, Black Widow, Men in Black, Maria Hill, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Phil Coulson - see also Registration Acts. This category can also include heroes who used to be an agent; e.g., The Punisher.
Healer: A hero who is able to quickly recover from serious injury; e.g., The Crow, Wolverine, the Hulk, and Deadpool. This may also be a hero whose primary ability is to heal others; e.g., Elixir.
Mage: A hero who is trained in the use of magic; e.g., Doctor Fate, Doctor Strange, Scarlet Witch, Magik, Zatanna, John Constantine.
Marksman: A hero who uses projectile weapons, typically guns, bows and arrows or throwing objects; e.g., Hawkeye, Green Arrow, Cable, Gambit, and The Punisher.
Martial Artist: A hero whose physical abilities are sometimes related to some sort of martial art e.g. judo, taekwondo etc. rather than superpowers but whose hand-to-hand combat skills are phenomenal. Some of these characters are actually superhuman or is empowered by an external source (Iron Fist and Captain America), while others who don't always have superpowers but are extremely skilled and athletic (Batman and related characters, Black Canary, Shang Chi, Raffles the Gentleman Thug, Wildcat and multiple members of the Watchmen).
Mecha/Robot Pilot: A hero who controls a giant robot, a subtype common in Japanese superhero and science fiction media; e.g., Megas XLR, Power Rangers Big Guy, Mazinger Z and Gilbert Ratchet.
Mentalist: A hero who possesses psionic abilities, such as telekinesis, telepathy and extra-sensory perception; e.g., Professor X, Jean Grey, Emma Frost, Psylocke, and Raven.
Molecular: A hero with the power to manipulate molecules, thus being able to alter the laws of physics (such as Doctor Manhattan, Firestorm and Captain Atom).
Paragon: A hero who possesses the basic powers of super-strength, flight and invulnerability. They are considered to be one of the most powerful of the superhero types: consisting of such heroes as the extraterrestrials Superman and Martian Manhunter, the magically fuelled Shazam; the cosmically empowered Green Lantern; or even mythological gods such as Thor and Ares.
Possessed: A hero who harbors an entity inside of him/herself; e.g., Etrigan the Demon, Ghost Rider, Spectre.
Rider: A hero who rides either a powerful vehicle, like Ghost Rider or the Silver Surfer; or rides a unique creature, like Shining Knight.
Robotic: A hero whose own nature and skills are derived from technology. This category includes remote controlled robots (Bozo the Iron Man, XJ-9, Box), cyborgs (Vic Stone, RoboCop, Deathlok) and androids (The original Human Torch, Red Tornado, The Vision).
Shapeshifter: A hero who can manipulate his/her own body to suit his/her needs, such as stretching (Plastic Man, Mister Fantastic, Elongated Man), or disguise (Changeling/Morph, Mystique). Other such shapeshifters can transform into animals (Beast Boy), alien creatures (Ben 10) or inorganic materials (Metamorpho).
Size Changer: A hero who can alter his/her size; e.g., the Atom (shrinking only), Colossal Boy, Apache Chief (growth only), Hank Pym, The Ultramen, The Wasp (both).
Slasher: A hero whose main power is some form of hand-to-hand cutting weaponeither devices, such as knives or swords, Elektra, Blade, Katana, John Steed, or natural, such as claws (Wolverine). Even those able to form psionic blades such as Psylocke can be placed in this category.
Speedster: A hero possessing superhuman speed and reflexes; e.g., The Flash, Quicksilver, Northstar, Velocity (comics), and Dash Parr
Super Genius/Mastermind/Detective: A hero possessing superhuman/superior intelligence or intellect; e.g., Batman, Iron Man, Professor X, The Question, L, Brainiac 5, Mister Fantastic, John Constantine.
Teleporter: A hero who is able to teleport from point A to point B to point C, etc; e.g., some teleport due to their own body chemistry, Nightcrawler, others teleport via telekinetic energy (Blink and Mysterio II, others for unknown reasons (Jumper)and Vanisher.
Time Manipulater: A hero possessing either a natural, magical, or science-based control of time. This could be either time travel like The Doctor or Waverider, the ability to make time stop like Tempo or both, like Hiro Nakamura (who can also teleport), or The Brown Bottle.
Yeller: A blaster who can emit powerful sonic blasts; e.g., Black Bolt, Banshee, and Black Canary
These categories often overlap. For instance, Batman is a skilled detective, martial artist and gadgeteer, and Hellboy has the strength and durability of a brick and some mystic abilities or powers, similar to a mage. Wolverine fits into both the slasher and healing categories, and Spider-Man fits into acrobat, gadgeteer and amazingly brick groups. Very powerful characterssuch as Superman, Thor, Wonder Woman, Shazam, Dr. Manhattan, Namor and the Silver Surfercan be listed in many categories. Flying, super-strong, invulnerable heroes such as Superman, Shazam and Namor are sometimes in a category all their own, known as "Paragons" or "Originals" (as they were some of the earliest heroes in comics). Another possibility is that Superman is a "Paragon/Blaster" (heat vision, artic-breath and super-scream), Shazam is a "Paragon/Mage" (the Power of Shazam), Thor is "Paragon/Elemental" (weather manipulation) and Silver Surfer is a "Paragon/Rider/Molecular" (by the Power Cosmic), or perhaps even the Martian Manhunter ("Paragon/Ghost/Blaster/Shapeshifter/Size Changer/Mentalist/Mastermind"). So, in esscence, the Fantastic Four consists of a Shapeshifter/Mastermind (Mister Fantastic), a Ghost/Mentalist (Invisible Woman), an Elementalist/Aerial (the Human Torch), and a Brick/Martial Artist (The Thing).
Trademark status
Most dictionary definitions[9] and common usages of the term are generic and not limited to the characters of any particular company or companies.
Nevertheless, variations on the term "Super Hero" are jointly claimed by DC Comics and Marvel Comics as trademarks in the United States. Registrations of "Super Hero" marks have been maintained by DC and Marvel since the 1960s.[10] (U.S. Trademark Serial Nos. 72243225 and 73222079, among others).
Joint trademarks shared by competitors are rare in the United States.[11] They are supported by a non-precedential 2003 Trademark Trial and Appeal Board decision upholding the "Swiss Army" knife trademark. Like the "Super Hero" marks, the "Swiss Army" mark was jointly registered by competitors. It was upheld on the basis that the registrants jointly "represent a single source" of the knives, due to their long-standing cooperation for quality control.[12]
Critics in the legal community dispute whether the "Super Hero" marks meet the legal standard for trademark protection in the United States-distinctive designation of a single source of a product or service. Controversy exists over each element of that standard: whether "Super Hero" is distinctive rather than generic, whether "Super Hero" designates a source of products or services, and whether DC and Marvel jointly represent a single source.[13] Some critics further characterize the marks as a misuse of trademark law to chill competition.[14]
America's Best Comics, originally an imprint of Wildstorm, used the term science hero, coined by Alan Moore. Wildstorm has since been purchased by DC Comics.
Growth in diversity
For the first two decades of their existence in comic books, superheroes largely conformed to the patriarch-model of lead characters in American popular fiction of the time, with the typical superhero being predominately Caucasian, American middle- or upper- class, athletic, tall, attractive, heterosexual, educated, young-adult male. A majority of superheroes still fit this description as of 2010, but beginning in the 1960s many characters have broken the mold.
Female superheroes
Main article: List of superheroines
See also: List of female action heroes
The first known female superhero is writer-artist Fletcher Hanks's character Fantomah, an ageless, ancient Egyptian woman in the modern day who could transform into a skull-faced creature with superpowers to fight evil; she debuted in Fiction House's Jungle Comics #2 (Feb. 1940), credited to the pseudonymous "Barclay Flagg".[15][16]
Another seminal superheroine is Invisible Scarlet O'Neil, a non-costumed character who fought crime and wartime saboteurs using the superpower of invisibility; she debuted in the eponymous syndicated newspaper comic strip by Russell Stamm on June 3, 1940.[17] A superpowered female antiheroine, the Black Widowa costumed emissary of Satan who killed evildoers in order to send them to Helldebuted in Mystic Comics #4 (Aug. 1940), from Timely Comics, the 1940s predecessor of Marvel Comics.
Though non-superpowered, like the Phantom and Batman, the earliest female costumed crimefighters are The Woman in Red,[18] introduced in Standard Comics' Thrilling Comics #2 (March 1940); Lady Luck, debuting in the Sunday-newspaper comic-book insert The Spirit Section June 2, 1940; the comedic character Red Tornado, debuting in All-American Comics #20 (Nov 1940); Miss Fury,[19] debuting in the eponymous comic strip by female cartoonist Tarpé Mills on April 6, 1941; the Phantom Lady, introduced in Quality Comics Police Comics #1 (Aug. 1941); and the Black Cat,[20] introduced in Harvey Comics' Pocket Comics #1 (also Aug. 1941). The superpowered Nelvana of the Northern Lights debuted in Canadian publisher Hillborough Studio's Triumph-Adventure Comics #1 (Aug. 1941), and the superhumanly strong Miss Victory was introduced in Holyoke (comics) the same month. The character was later adopted by A.C. Comics.
The first widely recognizable female superhero is Wonder Woman, from All-American Publications, one of two companies that would merge to form DC Comics. She was created by psychologist William Moulton Marston with help and inspiration from his wife Elizabeth and their mutual lover Olive Byrne.[21][22] Wonder Woman debuted in All Star Comics #8 (Jan. 1942).
Starting in the late 1950s, DC introduced Hawkgirl, Supergirl, Batwoman and later Batgirl, all female versions of prominent male superheroes. In addition, the company introduced Zatanna and a second Black Canary and had several female supporting characters that were successful professionals, such as the Atom's love-interest, attorney Jean Loring.
As with DC's superhero team the Justice League of America, with included Wonder Woman, the Marvel Comics teams of the early 1960s usually included at least one female, such as the Fantastic Four's Invisible Girl, the X-Men's Marvel Girl and the Avengers' Wasp and later Scarlet Witch. In the wake of second-wave feminism, the Invisible Girl became the more confident and assertive Invisible Woman, and Marvel Girl became the hugely powerful destructive force called Phoenix.
In subsequent decades, Elektra, Catwoman, Witchblade, and Spider-Girl became stars of popular series. The series Uncanny X-Men and its related superhero-team titles included many females in vital roles.[23]
Superheroines often sport improbably large breasts and an illogical lack of muscle-mass, and their costumes sexualise their wearers almost as a matter of course. For example, Power Girl's includes a small window between her breasts; Emma Frost's costume traditionally resembles erotic lingerie; and Starfire's started as a full-body covering and has, over four decades, been reduced to a thong, pelvic covering, mask, and stiletto heels. This visual treatment of women in American comics has led to accusations of systemic sexism and objectification.[24][25]
Ethnic superheroes
See also: Ethnic stereotypes in comics, African characters in comics, List of black superheroes, List of Asian superheroes, List of Latino superheroes, List of Native American superheroes, List of Jewish superheroes, List of Filipino superheroes, List of Middle Eastern superheroes, List of Russian superheroes, and List of Italian and Italian-American superheroes and villains
In the late 1960s, superheroes of other cultural, ethnic, national, and racial groups began to appear. In 1966, Marvel Comics introduced the Black Panther, an African king who became the first non-caricatured black superhero.[26] The first African-American superhero, the Falcon, followed in 1969, and three years later, Luke Cage, a self-styled "hero-for-hire", became the first black superhero to star in his own series. In 1971, Red Wolf became the first Native American in the superheroic tradition to headline a series.[27] In 1974, Shang Chi, a martial artist, became the first prominent Asian superhero to star in an American comic book. (Asian-American FBI agent Jimmy Woo had starred in a short-lived 1950s series named after a "yellow peril" antagonist, Yellow Claw.)
Comic-book companies were in the early stages of cultural expansion and many of these characters played to specific stereotypes; Cage (and other African-Americans) often employed lingo similar to that of blaxploitation films, Native Americans were often associated with shamanism and wild animals, and Asian Americans were often portrayed as wuxia martial artists. Subsequent minority heroes, such as the X-Men's Storm (the first african-female superhero) and the Teen Titans' Cyborg avoided such conventions. Storm and Cyborg were both part of superhero teams, which became increasingly diverse in subsequent years. The X-Men, in the particular, were revived in 1975 with a line-up of characters culled from several nations, including the Kenyan Storm, German Nightcrawler, Russian Colossus and Canadian Wolverine. Diversity in both ethnicity and national origin would be an important part of subsequent superhero groups.
In 1989, Marvel's Captain Marvel was the first female black superhero from a major publisher to get her own title in a special one-shot issue. In 1991, Marvel's Epic Comics released Captain Confederacy, the first female black superhero to have her own series.
IIn 1993, Milestone Comics, an African-American-owned media/publishing company entered into a publishing agreement with DC Comics that allowed them to introduce a line of comics that included characters of many ethnic minorities as well as whites. Milestone's initial run lasted four years, during which it introduced Static, a character adapted into the WB Network animated series Static Shock. A subsequent agreement with DC Comics allowed the Milestone characters to enter the main DC Universe but they have all since been erased and their current legal status remains unknown.
In addition to the creation of new minority heroes, publishers have filled the roles of once-Caucasian heroes with minorities. The African-American John Stewart debuted in 1971 as an alternate for Earth's Green Lantern Hal Jordan. In the 1980s, Stewart joined the Green Lantern Corps as a regular member. The creators of the 2000s-era Justice League animated series selected Stewart as the show's Green Lantern. Other such successor-heroes of color include DC's Firestorm (African-American), Atom (Asian), and Blue Beetle (Latino). Marvel Comics, in 2003 retroactive continuity, revealed that the "Supersoldier serum" that empowered Captain America was originally tested on African American, Isaiah Bradley, who is the grandfather of the Young Avengers' Patriot.[28] In Ultimate, Miles Morales, a 13-year-old Black-Hispanic youth who was also bitten by a genetically-altered spider, takes up the mantle of Spider-Man after Peter Parker dies. The MCU continuity features Gen. Nick Fury as executive director S.H.I.E.L.D..
LGBT superheroes
Main article: LGBT themes in comics
See also: List of LGBT characters in comics
In 1992, Marvel revealed that Northstar, a member of the Canadian mutant superhero team Alpha Flight, was homosexual, after years of implication.[29] This ended a long-standing editorial mandate that there would be no LGBT characters in Marvel comics.[30] Although some secondary characters in DC Comics' mature-audience miniseries Watchmen were gay, Northstar was the first openly gay superhero appearing in mainstream comic books. Other gay and bisexual superheroes have since emerged, such as Pied Piper, Gen¹³'s Rainmaker, and the gay couple Apollo and Midnighter of Wildstorm Comics' superhero team the Authority.
In the mid-2000s, some characters were revealed gay in two Marvel titles: Wiccan and Hulkling of the superhero group Young Avengers; and the X-Men's Colossus in the alternate universe Ultimate Marvel imprint. Xavin, from the Runaways is a shape-changing alien filling the part of a transgender lesbian. In 2006, DC revealed in its Manhunter title that longtime character Obsidian was gay. In the same year, the new incarnation of Batwoman was introduced as a "lipstick lesbian" to some media attention. The Golden Age Green Lantern Alan Scott, Obsidian's father, was reintroduced as gay in the 2011 The New 52 reboot.[31][32]
Child superheroes
Main article: List of child superheroes
[icon] This section requires expansion. (January 2014)
Non-human superheroes
Main articles: List of anthropomorphic animal superheroes, List of alien races in DC Comics, List of alien races in Marvel Comics, and List of metahumans in DC Comics
[icon] This section requires expansion. (January 2014)
Non-powered superheroes
Main article: List of superheroes and villains without superpowers
[icon] This section requires expansion. (January 2014)
See also
Portal icon Superhero fiction portal
Portal icon Speculative fiction portal
Olga Mesmer
Real-life superhero
Science hero
Superhero film
List of actors who have played superheroes
List of superhero debuts
List of comic book superpowers
References
Superhero
Marvel Characters, Inc.; DC Comics; United States Patent and Trademark Office (16 November 2004). "Trademark Status & Document Retrieval". United States Patent and Trademark Office. Retrieved 30 October 2013. "US Serial Number: 78356610 [...] Standard Character Claim: Yes. The mark consists of standard characters without claim to any particular font style, size, or color."
Per Niccum, John. "'V for Vendetta' is S for Subversive", Lawrence Journal-World, March 17, 2006; Gesh, Lois H., and Robert Weinberg, The Science of Superheroes (John Wiley & Sons, 2002; ISBN 978-0-471-02460-6), Chapter 3: "The Dark Knight: Batman: A NonSuper Superhero"; Adherents.com, "The Religious Affiliation of Comic Book Characters: Rev. Dr. Christopher Syn, the Scarecrow of Romney Marsh (one of the world's first masked crime-fighters)" (undated, no byline); Lovece, Frank, The Dark Knight (movie review) Film Journal International, July 16, 2008 ("Batman himself is an anomaly as one of the few superheroes without superpowers "), and other sources. While the Dictionary.com definition of "superhero" is "A figure, especially in a comic strip or cartoon, endowed with superhuman powers and usually portrayed as fighting evil or crime," the more longstanding Merriam-Webster dictionary gives the definition as "a fictional hero having extraordinary or superhuman powers; also : an exceptionally skillful or successful person".
Merriam-Webster Online: "Superhero"
Lovece, Frank (November 11, 2013). "Superheroes Go the American Way on PBS". Newsday. Retrieved 2013-11-15.
http://www.coolfrenchcomics.com/nyctalope.htm
Benton, Mike. The Comic Book in America: An Illustrated History (Taylor Publishing: Dallas, Texas, 1989), pp. 178181, reprinted at website Religious Affiliation of Comics Book Characters: "The Significant Seven: History's Most Influential Super-heroes" [sic]
The Superhero Book by Gina Misiroglu (2004)
Dictionary.com: Superhero
Ulaby, Neda. All Things Considered, "Comics Creators Search for 'Super Hero' Alternative". March 27, 2006
Schwimmer, Martin. The Trademark Blog, "Do DC and Marvel Own Exclusive Rights in 'SUPER HERO'?" 2004.
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. Arrow Trading Co., Inc. v. Victorinox A.G. and Wenger S.A.. 2003
Coleman, Ron. Likelihood of Confusion, "SUPER HERO® my foot". 2006.
Doctorow, Cory. Boing Boing, "Marvel Comics: stealing our language". 2006.
Markstein, Don. "The Black Widow". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on April 15, 2012. Retrieved 26 July 2013. "Fantomah was the first female character in comics to use extraordinary powers in combatting evil. The Woman in Red was the first to wear a flashy costume and maintain a dual identity while doing so. But The Black Widow was the first to do both."
Fantomah at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
Not Seen but not Forgotten: The Invisible Scarlet O'Neil, Hogan's Alley #17, 2010
Don Markstein's Tonnopedia: The Woman in Red and Grand Comics Database: Thrilling Comics #2
Don Markstein's Toonopedia: Miss Fury
Markstein's Toonopedia: Black Cat and Grand Comics Database: Pocket Comics #1
Bostonia (Fall 2001): "Who Was Wonder Woman? Long-ago LAW alumna Elizabeth Marston was the muse who gave us a superheroine", by Marguerite Lamb
The New York Times (February 18, 1992): "Our Towns: She's Behind the Match For That Man of Steel", by Andrew H. Malcolm
Comic Zone (May 1, 1996): "An Interview with Chris Claremont"
Gadfly (no date): "No Girls Allowed", by Casey Franklin
Sequart.com (March 15, 2001): "The State of American Comics Address", by Julian Darius
Brown, Jeffrey A. (2001). Black Superheroes, Milestone Comics and their Fans. University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 1-57806-281-0.
Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Red Wolf
Truth: Red, White & Black #17 (Jan.July 2003) at Grand Comics Database.
Gay League - North Star
The Comics Journal: Online Features
BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Batwoman hero returns as lesbian
TIME.com: Caped Crusaders -- Jun. 12, 2006 -- Page 1
Stan Lee: 'Nuff Said.
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