ok we did superheroes who are dead or deadish, thanks for all the input. Now how about mentally ill superheroes.
No doubts the capes and tights crew all have some issues but I’m talking those who are clearly over the edge and still function in costume.
There’s DCs Creeper
Madman by Image comics
The Badger by Capital Comics
who else?
Early on, Moon Knight’s gimmick was that he simultaneously maintained secret identities as rich investor Steven Grant, and streetwise cabbie Jake Lockley, and mercenary soldier Marc Spector; it wasn’t long before the writers seized on that secret-agent-esque quirk and turned it into simple craziness.
Marvel’s The Sentry is a Superman-level hero who has regular delusions about being attacked by a creature called The Void.
Crazy Jane from Doom Patrol has multiple personalities, each with their own superpower. Robotman, from the same series, suffers from clinical depression.
Deadpool is just generally comic-book crazy.
Rorschach from Watchmen wasn’t wrapped too tight.
No one in the Watchmen was wrapped especially tight.
Ambush Bug was pretty much entirely delusional.
But amusing.
Hank Pym (Giant-Man, Ant-Man, Yellowjacket, Wasp, etc) recently revealed that he’s bi-polar. It’s a decent reveal to explain his up and down behavior over the years.
Frankly Batman’s myriad psychological issues are rarely addressed.
Dressing like a bat and becoming a costumed vigilante as a rational response to the death of your parents seems to a somewhat extreme coping mechanism.
Also, The Punisher’s mental problems are never adequately explored.
Honestly, the whole thing is nuts. “My father of course died empty-handed against a gunman, and so I’ve decided to – fight gunmen while empty-handed.”
Empty-handed perhaps, but PREPARED!
The regular Batman isn’t mentally ill - dressing in tights and fighting crime is a highly respected profession in the DC universe.
The Goddamned Batman (aka Frank Miller’s All-Star Batman), on the other hand, has serious issues.
As far as Batman goes, I think this cartoon sums it up nicely.
The Heckler perhaps
Yeah, I was thinking of Comedian.
Except that analysis has nothing to do what Batman was doing.
The death of his parents made him want to fight crime. It allowed him to move on by giving him a purpose in life, and Batman fought crime for decades without obsessing about it. Wearing a bat costume was pure random chance. He could have become a cop, but this gave him greater leeway (and he was named a member of the force, anyway).
Definitely Plastic Man…but Batman once noted that a sane Plastic Man would be a very dangerous thing.
True.
Is Buffy a superhero?
In “Normal Again” the idea is floated that Buffy has spent the last 6 years in a mental institution. She is not really the slayer, she is just crazy.
I don’t know if Guy Gardner is / was mentally ill, or just a douchebag.
Section 8 a whole team of insane superheroes.
The Punisher.
