© 2008 G.N. Jacobs
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Which superpowers would you want?
What superpowers would you want? We have Socrates weighing in that the most corrupting power is invisibility. If the things that screw us up the most taste the best, then the philosopher probably wants to skulk along with the One Ring and raise a ruckus with Bilbo Baggins.
But, go into any self-respecting comic book store to ask the question and you’ll get quite a few answers beyond invisibility. Usually, the comic book fan will speak in shorthand, “I think it would be kinda cool if I could be Wolverine, but Batman has a good gig too. It’s hard to decide.”
This hypothetical comic book fan has trouble deciding if having an advanced healing power and metal claws is preferable to being a rich vigilante with a plethora of wonderful toys. Ten seconds later, another fan will appear from the back corner of the store to defend Batman, the Flash or Jean Grey. We fans call this the who wins in a fight discussion.
The most interesting thing about this verbal game of Rock Scissors Paper is how few new superpowers are created in this later half of comic books, as we know them. Most writers seem to recycle similar superpowers over and over again. I learned the hard way when I tried to create my own superhero characters that even I will choose powers along these lines “Yeah, I’m recycling Wonder Woman and small pieces of the Hulk.” Every now and then a previously unused and undiscovered power or niche will crawl out of the creative soup, but not often enough.
Making characters has never been hard for me. I have two complementary methods. Either I imagine an amorphous set of traits onto which I then graft commonly assumed gender aspects to make a man, woman or child. Or I simply take my life into my own hands and write my friends into my stories. For those of you wondering what I mean by Method One please rent As Good as It Gets for the non-PC version, you’ll know when you see it.
These methods cover my characters that don’t have powers, don’t wear four-color spandex and don’t speak the stilted dialogue of a pulp novel or a Star Wars movie. Superpowers are a key component of any superhero along with the costume and this proved to be the hardest part about creating original hero characters.
Original characters become necessary for the comic book/superhero writer who is just starting out because all the good characters are tightly protected by trademark, copyright and possibly squads of armed thugs. To get hired to write Batman the writer must first come up with something original, get it published by someone small and then work the phones until the mountain moves and a contract appears.
But, how is it original if the character can’t hide behind his or her status as a Batman knockoff? Sometimes, simply imagining a different human being under the suit is all that it takes. Batman becomes Daredevil except that the latter is blind. For the record, my Batman knockoff is young and runs a record label in Los Angeles, but he still dresses up in dark costumes and breaks criminals’ arms.
BREAK FOR PART 2 (Same Bat-Channel!)
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