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But superheros are touched by the gods: they are blessed or cursed with magical powers, and then we read about their adventures. That's what makes them super. T

But superheros are touched by the gods: they are blessed or cursed with magical powers, and then we read about their adventures. That's what makes them super. Their stories are human stories filtered through literally superhuman powers, in almost exactly the way that the myths of the old gods were. Some superheroes are the old gods! It's also interesting to look at the stories about ordinary humans (although calling Bruce Wayne, a ludicrously wealthy and powerful financier even before he became super, 'ordinary' is a bit of a stretch): not so much today, I'll concede, but back in the 70s and 80s, US soap operas were things like Dynasty or Dallas, and were firmly set in the US nobility, i.e. the financial ruling class. Meanwhile, back in the UK, a country where we still have a reigning monarch who is the head of the official state church, soap operas were things like Coronation Street and The Archers, about working class people doing frankly boring things...

dragontamer 10y ago
> But superheros are touched by the gods: they are blessed or cursed with magical powers, and then we read about their adventures. That's what makes them super. Their stories are human stories filtered through literally superhuman powers, in almost exactly the way that the myths of the old gods were. Some superheroes are the old gods! There's a gross difference between Gilgamesh (2/3rds god, 1/3rd man from his mother) and Superman. Gilgamesh was a god-king who set of on adventure. He took what was his (aka: everything) and came back as a king. In contrast, Superman was born into an adopted farm family and lived ~15 years without any superpowers. He's never seeked political power (and often when he does, its to his detriment. Like the time he got rid of all the nukes through the UN and then Doomsday attacked) Even Bruce Wayne had to go through the period as a "normal joe" through the recent 'Dark Knight' movies. He gives up on his wealth and becomes a ninja... essentially. When he comes back to wealth-and-power, he's in better control over his own emotions and his fortune. Green Lanterns are literally just normal dudes. Hal Jordan and John Stewart get rings from space aliens... but their connection to Earth and "normal people" is what make them exceptional Green Lanterns. All of the popular American Superheroes are basically competing with each other to be more of the "average joe" than each other. Capt. America, Spiderman. Even Thor loses his powers and is forced to wander the Earth until he learns humility (aka: from being a normal person) The only popular character I can think of as "Greek-god classic" is basically Wonder Woman. Everyone else is relatively unpopular (Aquaman, Nemor, Martian Manslayer) or even an underclass! (Mutants may have superpowers, but they are treated as a "lesser class" of people in virtually every X-men storyline). Only in America would superheroes would the "underclass" get blessed with superpowers. Just saying. Iron Man and Wonder Woman are the only exceptions I can think of. Iron Man is basically a counterbalance to the rest of the market however... being the rich asshole.

dragontamer 10y ago

> But superheros are touched by the gods: they are blessed or cursed with magical powers, and then we read about their adventures. That's what makes them super. Their stories are human stories filtered through literally superhuman powers, in almost exactly the way that the myths of the old gods were. Some superheroes are the old gods! There's a gross difference between Gilgamesh (2/3rds god, 1/3rd man from his mother) and Superman. Gilgamesh was a god-king who set of on adventure. He took what was his (aka: everything) and came back as a king. In contrast, Superman was born into an adopted farm family and lived ~15 years without any superpowers. He's never seeked political power (and often when he does, its to his detriment. Like the time he got rid of all the nukes through the UN and then Doomsday attacked) Even Bruce Wayne had to go through the period as a "normal joe" through the recent 'Dark Knight' movies. He gives up on his wealth and becomes a ninja... essentially. When he comes back to wealth-and-power, he's in better control over his own emotions and his fortune. Green Lanterns are literally just normal dudes. Hal Jordan and John Stewart get rings from space aliens... but their connection to Earth and "normal people" is what make them exceptional Green Lanterns. All of the popular American Superheroes are basically competing with each other to be more of the "average joe" than each other. Capt. America, Spiderman. Even Thor loses his powers and is forced to wander the Earth until he learns humility (aka: from being a normal person) The only popular character I can think of as "Greek-god classic" is basically Wonder Woman. Everyone else is relatively unpopular (Aquaman, Nemor, Martian Manslayer) or even an underclass! (Mutants may have superpowers, but they are treated as a "lesser class" of people in virtually every X-men storyline). Only in America would superheroes would the "underclass" get blessed with superpowers. Just saying. Iron Man and Wonder Woman are the only exceptions I can think of. Iron Man is basically a counterbalance to the rest of the market however... being the rich asshole.