Superhero Writing

StarChampion

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Title: "Star Champion and the Intrepid Angels"

"Star Champion" is my main superhero character, the "Intrepid Angels" are a group of alien women from different planets with different superpowers.

Would anyone like to brainstorm ideas with me, please?

Do you enjoy the superhero genre?

Do you have any favorite superheroes at all?
 
I do have 'Aphid Boy' and a few others, but faves might be... The Spectre... The Human Flying Saucer.... The Metal Men... and SuperArgo.
 
Would anyone like to brainstorm ideas with me, please?

How about having Saturn as the Ultimate Bad Guy, who is both the embodiment of the paedophagic monster as depicted in Goya's masterpiece, but also can transform into a planet like Unicron? And he could use his rings as a whip?

I don't go in for superhero writing these days but I did have an idea recently for a short story called Suicide Man, about a vigilante who visits the suffering and dying and gives them the gift of a peaceful death, (a bit like Danny in Doctor Sleep) but who is pursued by a cop, because he's still breaking the law. The twist was that the cop had a dying mother in pain, hence conflict etc. Never wrote it.

When I was younger I wrote quite a few stories with superheroes: The Worm, Supermong, Elephant Man and the Last Crusade, Sewer Rat, Darkdroid, and probably others. Probably best that I don't exhume them.
 
"Star Champion" is my main superhero character, the "Intrepid Angels" are a group of alien women from different planets with different superpowers.

You don't mention StarChampion's gender, which is interesting. Does this mean you're promoting a non-binary view, so that StarChampion is something like intersex or trans? That would certainly be a very interesting and potentially inspiring idea.
 
Do you enjoy the superhero genre?

On the wider point, I enjoy the superhero genre as entertainment as much as the next guy, but I personally I think it's limited with its potential to mine psychological truths. As I think about it, it's perhaps even problematic inasmuch as superhero stories could be interpreted as stating that the big problems of the world are not for ordinary mortals to solve, but for beings who are physically superior (Superman, Hulk etc), magically superior (Doctor Strange) or even monetarily superior (Tony Stark, Bruce Wayne) to us little folk, who must cower in the shadows until the big guns do their stuff. Superheroes are by definition elitist, and while it's cool to speculate about gnarly powers and the like, I don't think the superhero genre is the best platform for inspecting society.

Most superhero stories dabble in pop-psychology (Spidey has teen-angst, Batman has a ton of grown-up angst, Hulk is Jekyll & Hyde, etc), and they are great vehicles for exploring certain ideas*, but the main point of superheroes is that they're heroes. The clue's in the name, people! So by definition they are on the side of good, and must by definition come out on top at the end (unless you decided that the ending of Infinity War was enough and you didn't watch Endgame, in which case, fair play), and because of the continuing nature of their medium, they don't seem to change character much.

My take is very much informed by Alan Moore, who wrote Watchmen to kill-off the superhero genre (how's that going, Al?) by writing a full-on psychological exposé of the types of narcissistic, violent, unhinged and damaged people who would strap on a mask in the name of vigilantism. For me Watchmen is still the ultimate exponent of the superhero genre because it seeks to uncover the truths of the superhero as an archetypal character.

So Watchman, for my mind, is the only literary masterpiece to come out of the genre.

*Frustratingly, the movie Civil War introduced a really cool idea about legislating for superheroes and the unfettered damage they wreak, but in the end they chickened out exploring the idea fully just so they could do a "Cap vs Tony" story and another big CGI battle at the end. Yawn. I mean, not yawn, it was cool and everything, but had no depth and lacked the courage of its convictions.
 
Superheroes are by definition elitist, and while it's cool to speculate about gnarly powers and the like, I don't think the superhero genre is the best platform for inspecting society.
They don't seem much different than any other adventure protagonist, like a wizard or knight in fantasy or a battleship captain in SF. The only difference is that the context is usually some version of present day, and they aren't picking plastic out of the ocean but keeping someone equally dangerous at bay.


I've always liked the old depictions of Rogue and Spider-Man where their costumes wouldn't survive the fights they'd get into. I kinda want to do a thing about a woman gaining powers over time that can't keep her clothes/hair/eyebrows intact during flight or fights as another "what would a superhero really be like?" Obviously, more to it than that.
 
As it happens, @David Evil Overlord has had a superhero novel published (Origin Stories), and has described it elsewhere on this site thus:
Origin Stories is about a teenage girl who discovers that with great powers comes no instruction manual. But the super villains aren't just going to wait around while she figures everything out. So she's trying to learn on-the-job, with a little help from a sidekick who's tech-smarter than her but not so people-smart. And a time-travelling costume shop.
Although I doubt that it was aimed at someone my age, I rather enjoyed it. (There's supposed to be a sequel in the works -- one I'd certainly like to read -- but DEO may have more (or less) to say about that.)

Given his experience, he might have a few thoughts on the matter. (Or might not.)
 
I am working on the sequel. And the six spin-offs, as minor characters demand their own novels. And the novel about necromancers and their fluffy bunny.

There is legislation regarding superheroes in my stories. Everyone with powers must undergo approved training, even if they don't want to be a legally sanctioned superhero, because they must know how to use their powers safely and intelligently. Only qualified and licensed heroes are insured, and their actions are thoroughly scrutinised by a federal government department. Telepathy is outlawed (a knee jerk reaction to too many telepathic supervillains wreaking havoc). Amateur "heroes" are treated by law as supervillains; they get one chance to do the sanctioned training and become legal heroes, or they go on the Most Wanted list.

While I understand @Dan Jones point about elitism (everybody wants to be the knight in shining armour, nobody wants to be the princess just sitting idly in the highest room of the tallest tower, waiting for her knight to rescue her from the dragon that's way too much for her to handle, and superheroes can make us all feel like that princess), I think there is still room to mine psychological truths. One of the hardest classes my MC has at superhero school is Superhero Ethics (which has been very interesting to write).
 
*Frustratingly, the movie Civil War introduced a really cool idea about legislating for superheroes and the unfettered damage they wreak, but in the end they chickened out exploring the idea fully just so they could do a "Cap vs Tony" story and another big CGI battle at the end.
Didn't Hancock do that first? It wasn't very good (IMHO), and was played (poorly) for laughs, but the I thought the idea of a superhero disliked, because his reckless actions routinely cost the city millions of dollars, was an idea with legs.
 
I know Marvel comics has had superhero laws (Mutant Registration Act?), and even had some kind of powered clean-up crew dedicated to fixing all the property damage caused by superpowered battles.
 
Didn't Hancock do that first? It wasn't very good (IMHO), and was played (poorly) for laughs, but the I thought the idea of a superhero disliked, because his reckless actions routinely cost the city millions of dollars, was an idea with legs.
This theme popped up in the comics back in the '80s.
 
I've only really read a couple of superhero stories in prose form, but I'd be interested in more. In comic form, these days I more enjoy the satires and parodies than the real thing when it comes to Marvel/DC.



On the wider point, I enjoy the superhero genre as entertainment as much as the next guy, but I personally I think it's limited with its potential to mine psychological truths. As I think about it, it's perhaps even problematic inasmuch as superhero stories could be interpreted as stating that the big problems of the world are not for ordinary mortals to solve, but for beings who are physically superior (Superman, Hulk etc), magically superior (Doctor Strange) or even monetarily superior (Tony Stark, Bruce Wayne) to us little folk, who must cower in the shadows until the big guns do their stuff. Superheroes are by definition elitist, and while it's cool to speculate about gnarly powers and the like, I don't think the superhero genre is the best platform for inspecting society.

Limited, maybe, but it doesn't mean it can't do stuff with what it has - it mightn't be much for society, but it is a solid platform for examining the individual and power.

Most superhero stories dabble in pop-psychology (Spidey has teen-angst, Batman has a ton of grown-up angst, Hulk is Jekyll & Hyde, etc), and they are great vehicles for exploring certain ideas*, but the main point of superheroes is that they're heroes. The clue's in the name, people! So by definition they are on the side of good, and must by definition come out on top at the end (unless you decided that the ending of Infinity War was enough and you didn't watch Endgame, in which case, fair play), and because of the continuing nature of their medium, they don't seem to change character much.

My take is very much informed by Alan Moore, who wrote Watchmen to kill-off the superhero genre (how's that going, Al?) by writing a full-on psychological exposé of the types of narcissistic, violent, unhinged and damaged people who would strap on a mask in the name of vigilantism. For me Watchmen is still the ultimate exponent of the superhero genre because it seeks to uncover the truths of the superhero as an archetypal character.

See, for me, The Invisibles is my favourite Superhero story, and that's partly because a lot of it is about examining what makes them heroes, rather than just assuming they're all narcissistic, violent, unhinged and damaged people and nothing more. I love Watchmen and it makes some great points, but it doesn't look much further. Just because someone is damaged doesn't mean they can't be a hero, be someone who aspires to virtue and mostly manages to do so. Watchmen seeks to destroy superheroism, not to explore the full story.
 

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