My Favorite Superhero

Lately (when not working) I've been marinating in commentary and analysis of superheroes. I recently revisited the great Death and Return of Superman and found that since then Max had posted the DAROS pitch and Regarding Clark. Then there's been the general ongoing stream of stuff in pop culture on the sites I frequent like Cracked, The Escapist and to a lesser extent The Mary Sue.

So superheroes have been on my mind. And after watching Max explain the appeal behind his clear favorite, I tried to reflect on mine and it wasn't initially clear.

No Sue, I'm not talking about you.

I feel I should preface this with "I did not grow up reading comic books". I was watching Batman: TAS, and Spiderman and X-men on TV, I was playing video games, but I wasn't actually reading the source comics. Even in college when I did get more into it, I was reading trade paperbacks of miniseries, which I still prefer; Watchmen, The Long Halloween, Barry Ween, Sandman, all the previously mentioned Warren Ellis stuff, etc.. I never even tried to get into main continuities. I already knew the characters, and prefer defined stories with them, personally.

Now a little while ago if I'd thought about this, it would've been Deadpool; he's an entertaining and interesting character. But while I enjoy reading deadpool, after Max's more analytical philosophical breakdown of Clark, Deadpool didn't feel like someone I could get behind in that kind of way.

Though I do fully support irreverence, silliness, awesomeness and fun.

It should come as no surprise that after deeper reflection on themes and characters that  I settled comfortably on Elijah Snow. It feels like this has allot to do with both his approach and Planetary's lack of the "the status quo is god" type of thing inherent in so much of superhero comics. That tropes's not a new observation or even a bad thing for those stories, but when I look at what speaks to, resonates with, and inspires me its not going to be that. Its not going to be someone "Healing america by beating people up" as Nextwave put it.

Ah, that old chestnut. Emphasis on the nut.

Its not even going to be The Authority, trying to change the world by beating people up. That proactive rather than reactive approach is closer, but still not right. Its going to be someone trying to do the right thing, which sometimes may involve force but that not the goal; thats in service of the bigger goal.

That's why it has to be Elijah Snow.

The stories of Elijah Snow are not about "fighting crime"; they are about going out into the unknown and finding secrets and discovering new knowledge. Given superpowers he doesn't become a cop, but a scientist and an explorer. Hes a detective, but hes not batman tracking a thief; hes the mystery archeologist tracking the past to unveil it to the present, in order to improve the present, if only through increased knowledge.

(Oh, uh, big Planetary SPOILERS ahead, by the way.)
(Seriously, go read it, its great. If you want spoiler-ific reasons, for all the good I'm saying, he does beat up Dracula and perpetrate other awesomeness. Its a fun ride.)

...like stupidly, over-the-toply, B-movie fun, but also good.

And I know the reasons it can't happen in most comics, that you can only do it in a miniseries, but I love things like the "lifestations" in the 3rd world, that they list in the last issue. For all the problems of post-scarcity, satisfying basic needs like that saves so many more lives than stopping a mugging. And this is a character who will actually do that, and still go on fun adventures.

And he literally kills Reed Richards for being malevolently worse than useless.

And then he kicks him in the crotch.
Its glorious. Go read it.
(Yes, I know this isn't Reed or his expy, but the sentiment is there)

But more than the acts, its that core of the character.

"Its a strange world, let keep it that way."
"Saving him means more than yanking him out of there. It means saving his life."
Or just simply puts as  "He saves things"

Its about protecting the world not from destruction, but from deception. The conflict is not with those who take innocent lives and freedom, but those who do so to so many by making the world a dimmer, less wondrous place. Its not even really about "improving the world" itself; its about showing people how great the world is and how it works (though the tech from that makes the world better for people), and recording it for later.

 Like I said, he's a scientist, trying to understand the world and explain it to others to help them. Thats what resonates with me. That's the right thing I like seeing a hero striving to do.

What about you? What hero resonates with you? Lemme know in the comments.