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.

Considering Transmet and Planetary, not paid for by Mr. Ellis

A while ago I thought about it and realized I would say Warren Ellis is my current favorite author. At the time this was replacing Heinlein, who I grew up reading and still enjoy, but I either grew out of it or my tastes changed, as happens. I really enjoyed Transmetropolitan, Planetary, Global Frequency, the start of "The Authority", Stormwatch's "Change or Die" series, Freakangels, and later Supergod and Black Summer.

Also Nextwave. Definitely enjoyed Nextwave.

Now, when considering which of those is my favorite, something interesting happens: my gut response is to say "Transmet is the best, but Planetary is my personal favorite". I'm saying it, so clearly I agree, but it sounds weird even to me. So I'm going to try to put it in a way that makes sense. (If you haven't read them, here are some summaries.)

I think the reason I make that distinction is that it feels like Transmet is richer and the story and themes have more impact, but I enjoy Planetary more. I like the feel of it, the way it reimagines and appreciates old stories, and all the way it is and is not a superhero story. And the motto resonates with me.

Anyone on the internet should know how true this is,
but people pretends its not all the time.

That seems to be the core of it; I evaluate Transmet as being higher quality in many ways, but I still enjoy Planetary more. Its that disconnect of a movie critic that can tell you the best made film they've seen, and the B-movie they always love to watch. Not that Planetary is bad, of course. Planetary's characters are great and compared to comics where "Reed Richards is useless" the impacts on the world here are so refreshing. But the way Transmet builds the world, develops the characters, and while it explores how truth, power,  society, and government relate is so well done.

I think you get what I'm saying.

So Transmet feels more significant, but I enjoy the rollercoaster of tones and subversions in Planetary. What about you? Any "favorites" where you're comparing apples and oranges  and don't have one answer?

photo credit: agilityfusion.com

Why play?

Why do we play rpgs? I mean theres tons of reasons and they'll be different for everyone, but it feels like theres some common core. So much that lots have tried to voice it (and left pictures), but I found a part recently that often gets left out.

...on 4chan of all places. Yet another diamond in the shitpile. It was a thread about 3 wishes, but the genie was bored with wishes for "power in the most uncreative ways possible", more wishes, the best at X, etc., and wanted to be entertained. The question was what do you wish for to deal with those limitations?

One response was of course:

1. Wish for her to be entertained by my wishes
2. "I want huge amounts of power in the least creative ways possible"
3. Wish for more wishes

Problem solving at its best.
 

The interesting one though was:

I wish to be placed in a world that needs active, obvious heroes, rather than the subtle evils and horrible repercussions of my homeland, and to have all the knowledge of such a hero when I get there. if possible, I ask for her to stay with me, freed from the bottle, as my guide and possible ally.

If this is impossible, she's clearly worthless, so I wish for her to be unable to get bored with granting wishes.

which really struck a cord with me, why I play, and particularly the types of characters and games I like to play. I mean it seems like allot of problems in the world are intwined in these complex systems, that are hard to grasp and require some kind of systemic change...

This isn't quite the problem, but close.

And not only is it so much simpler if you could directly fix something, like kill the dragon terrorizing people or overthrow the evil king, but then you have the sense of achievement of having done something. Eternal vigilance may be more realistic or a fitting resolution for certain characters to end on, but there's something satisfying about "And they shall trouble your lands no more!"

Now, this isn't to say I only like hack and slash, or think campaigns should be that simple; to the contrary I really like mystery plots, where you have to piece things together and figure them out. If I had to pick the best source inspirational material for a campaign, right now I'd say Planetary hands down, but there even if the overarcing direction is unclear, there is stuff to do each issue, and behind it is eventually an opponent to "fight" ...rather than something like societal issues being behind the problem, or "the apathy of the common man".

 

There are of course MANY other reasons, like hanging out with friends and exploring characters/settings/ideas, too: