Bleeding Fiction

First, a moment of silence for the passing of Christopher Reeve.

Thank you.

It's interesting that you mention Smallville in the same context as X-men. It touches on an interesting point about Smallville, which is that its plots and especially its character arcs, though set in DC Universe, are undeniably Marvel in their tone and depth.

With Smallville (and also the animated series Static Shock), DC is doing something that it had never done before and for which Marvel is known: putting superhero stories in a real-world setting.

DC had never done anything close to that: Superman protects a fictitious city, as do Batman, Green Lantern and the Flash; Wonder Woman has lived in both NYC and DC but came from a fictitious island. Spider-man, on the other hand, lives in a real city, as do the Fantastic Four and many of the X-men veterans.

Also, these newer DC stories touch on a particular character element that holds seemingly limitless possibilities: the profound ANGST that must come from being a real-world superhero. Batman dealt with it, sure, but Bruce Wayne is hardly an average Joe. He's independently wealthy. Peter Parker, on the other hand, has a day job. One cannot fathom the profound angst of using your powers for the public good one minute, and trying not to use them to help yourself the next. True, Superman is sometimes late for a date with Lois because he was busy destroying another one of Lex's orbital death rays, but it always works out with a wink and a nod.

Side note: one of the characters on Static Shock used to be an Average Joe Kid, until the Purple Gas made him super smart. He uses his new super high IQ to fight crime, sure, but also to excel at school. How, may I ask, can he keep doing this? How is it fair to all the non-mutated kids, the ones who have to study? See? No moral absolutes. And I, for one, am glad that DC Universe is finally ready to acknowledge that.

Marvel has always remembered that behind the mask and spandex is a human being (okay, Supes isn't technically, but close enough). Marvel acknowledges that it is possible for a superhero to inadvertently injure or kill an innocent person, and that there are no moral absolutes, as there have always been in DC Universe.

Whew.

x-men was a favorite of mine some time ago...

this reminds me of a short campaign we had of the aberrant RPG my character had just gained the ability to read minds.

And it was like im not going to battle those things why should i, im just an ordinary citizen with a few remarkable skills.

lets imagine Jason with a superpower would he be any different?

perhaps it depends on the power :)

Jason would be an awful superhero, City of Heroes notwithstanding. Sure, he COULD save that village from the erupting volcano, but Gilmore Girls is coming on.

What did we eventually settle on as the most useful power in everyday life? I forget.

Ben, I love the fact that you occassionally lunge out the darkness, arms extended holding valuable insight, like some shambling zombie commentator. You infect us with your eloquent zombie logic and lurch back into the shadows to await another outbreak. It's cool.

--

Erik

P.S. Shawn of the Dead rocks!

Christopher Reeve's death is silence-worthy. Eric Burns, over at WebSnark, posted a very moving memorial, and in the face of that I refrained from posting my own, although I sincerely wanted to.

Ben, you make a very good point on the general difference between Marvel's and DC's tone. It's something that comes down to mythology. DC was always meant to be mythic; even their human characters were gods among men, and we were meant to see them as such. Marvel, despite some early attempts with the Fantastic Four (in the first few issues, they lived in Central City, if I remember it right), has been more about the story of men, some of them among gods. That's why Marvel has been able to put out books like the Wonder Man series, which is the story of a superhero who really just wants to be taken seriously as an actor, but DC really couldn't. At the same time, it's also why DC's iconic characters are a little more recognizable around the world and a little easier to change up or mess with than Marvel's (It would be hard to pull off Kingdom Come in the Marvel Universe without having it be cheesey.)

And yeah, in recent years DC has gotten away from that. Not only in Smallville (where the Flash is on next week! Will it be Wally or Barry? Or Jay?!), but also in some of their regular books. Most notable here is Starman, which takes place in a fictional town (Opal City) but takes pains to give that city life and reality. Starman, Jack Knight, is not much of a superhero; he doesn't wear a costume, he works a day job as an antique dealer, he's a bit of a geek. He has friends and a family he worries about. In other words, he's real.

Mmm, as for superpowers, Erik, I think what we agreed was that the most useful power in everyday life for me would be the ability to speak/read/write any language as if I had native fluency. This may, of course, differ for other people.

But Gus is right; it would absolutely depend on the power. If I had Superman's powers, you can bet your ass I'd put on some tights and a cape and fight crime. I'd likely complain about it a lot, but I'd do it for sure. How could I not?

he he he have you ever put on tights??

if you have then how can you speak about wearing them?

As for power i would like. It would be the power to convince anyone to do what i want :)

Yes, I have worn tights. Not for long, mind, but I tried on a pair for a show I did at university and another pair one year for a costume for the Renaissance Festival. I decided, in both cases, that they weren't for me. But if I were a sueprhero, well, I'd pretty much feel obligated.

And I'd never want the power to convince people to do whatever I wanted. At least not any more than I already can. I mean, mind control is just... oogy.