The Qualities that Make a Perfect Superhero

 

What Makes for the Best Superhero

What exactly makes a superhero a perfect superhero?

Some comic book fans prefer the rampaging angry superhero who smashes evil, while others like their heroes to be dark and grim and scare the bad guys, others love the patriotic example of determination and willpower, and some like myself like all the above examples.

These are the kind of personality traits found in even non-super powered heroes that inspire us to keep going when we face our own super battles in life that push us to our limits of human endurance after all, “It ain’t about hard you hit, it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward that’s how winning is done.”

Unfortunately, some of the best characteristics of our favorite comic book heroes have started to fall by the wayside.

As a man on a lifelong personal quest to create the perfect superhero, the question of what makes the perfect super hero is one I have pondered for years. God willing you will be seeing the Liberty Ace graphic novel on sale at Amazon in the near future.

First let’s break down the word superhero. Super is really an adjective describing hero, but what makes a hero?

A hero is defined as a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength

Websters defines hero as  a person admired for great deeds or fine qualities or a person who shows great courage.

Websters define super as over and above : higher in quantity, quality, or degree than, extra, exceeding the norm, in or to an extreme.

Defining characteristics of heroes included bravery, moral integrity, courage, conviction, honesty, willingness to protect others and self-sacrificing.

So, by definition a super hero must take the characteristics of a true hero and multiply them to the extreme.

By the strictest of terms a lot of superheroes we have today may not even fit the definition of hero, much less superhero.

I think one of the most spot on portrayals of a superhero ever was Christopher Reeve as Superman. He got Superman even better than the comics. He was Superman on steroids. He was patriotic, full of hope, and decency. His Superman personified the values of America’s heartland in contrast with the comics of late.

So far, the Superman and Lois show on the CW has been a decent portrayal of the Man of Steel despite being on the same network as Batwoman and Supergirl.

Superheroes are more interesting when there is focus on the character’s humanity .

Never liked comparing superheroes to gods, even with Thor, MCU did the right thing by treating him more like an alien. 

We have to be able to identify with superheroes to make them work. Now some folks will claim that this is why Superman is a boring character, but when he’s done right, Superman is more human than most of the other superheroes out there. Despite being an alien, inside he’s just a farm boy from Kansas who just happens to have great powers.

The reason the Spider-man has done so well over the years is they tend to focus on how powers affect a normal person with everyday problems.

“With great power comes great responsibility.”

The fun in superheroes is being able to imagine that we are the ones swinging around, flying, or saving the day, and look that doesn’t mean you got to change Superman to be a short, yet very muscular handsome man in his 50’s, with slightly thinning hair to make me happy. Let them be who they are. I say this, because as you may not be aware there’s a movement to change characters to reflect identity politics these days that breaks the bond of imagination between the comic book reader and their favorite characters.

Comics and stories of heroes should be for everyone. Historically, we weren’t usually beaten over the head with the character’s political leanings. You might be able to imagine a superhero was in your political party, but so could the other guy. Heroes were more politically centrist focusing primarily on fighting evil that everyone would agree was truly evil. I can’t remember one time when I was a kid reading where Superman said he was republican or a democrat. He did meet with Ronald Reagan in the White House, but that was on superhero business not because he was planning on speaking at the republican convention or something. You got to respect everyone’s opinions without turning your stories into political ads or it just gets boring. 

I think we should remember a very old quote that goes something like this, “I may not agree with what you say, but I will fight to death for your right to say it”  But, also consider just because I believe you have a right to say something doesn’t mean I’m obligated to pay you to say it by buying your books. There’s a lot of books to choose from every month, and like most folks I only have so much money. So, I'm only going to buy books that I like to read about subjects that I enjoy and I still won't have enough money to get everything I want probably, but then I have to admit I mostly only buy older books except for the occasional book like Superman 78 that featured the Christopher Reeve version. There was a time when I routinely looked for new comics to buy, but that was back a few years ago when comics were still fun for the most part.

I hold out hope that comics will become fun reading again. I guess, time will tell.