Which superheroes do you find least interesting or appealling?

[Love_Rhombus]

And DC’s Captain Marvel. He’s just a one-trick pony, even blander than Superman, if possible.

[CandidGamera]

@digs

Well, you’ve obviously never heard of Mike Murdock.

Another take on Mike.

But do read some of the Frank Miller Daredevils: great pre-Sin-City-just-a-titch-of-noir artwork, some good internal story (lapsed idealist tries to resolve Catholic standards with violent life), and the supporting cast lends a touch of humor.

Pass.

[tim314]

@Balance

My preference in superheroes is for those with a very limited power selection, which they gradually learn to use in different ways, or which they must apply in interesting ways to solve problems. If they weren’t so profoundly dysfunctional–individually or in groups–the assorted Marvel mutants would probably be my favorites. The mutants generally have only one basic power, or a couple of closely related ones, and either find different ways to use them or team up to get things done. (Okay, they all obviously also have some kind of minor invulnerability, but that sort of goes for everyone in comics.) With his visor, Cyclops can fire huge optic blasts, or a fine cutting beam, but you’re never going to see him get out of a pickle by suddenly remembering he can freeze stuff by breathing on it hard.

Of the (powered) DC heroes, the Flash is probably the closest to the ideal. Everything he does is a variation on moving really, really fast, plus the required secondary powers that go with it. I’ve always liked the Flash.

This is exactly how I feel. One power that the character has to find clever ways to use is much more fun than just having a power for every situation.

That said, good writers can make just about any character interesting, and bad writers can make the best characters boring.

[tim314]

@CandidGamera

Daredevil. I just wonder what the pitch was.

“Okay, he’s like Spider-Man, but his life is even worse, and totally devoid of fun.”

I always assumed it went something like this:

OK, so he’s blind as a bat, but it doesn’t matter because he’s got this great sonar-like sense!

So what do we call him?

Batman!

Um…

[JohnT]

Spider man has always bored the shit out of me.

[Lochdale]

Batman and any characters without super powers like Hawkeye. I can suspend disbelief for Superman as he’s an alien or Thor etc. but Batman et al are boring and take me out of the story. If I could potentially kill them then they shouldn’t be in the Avengers or the JLA.

[Bakhesh]

@Lochdale

Batman and any characters without super powers like Hawkeye. I can suspend disbelief for Superman as he’s an alien or Thor etc. but Batman et al are boring and take me out of the story. If I could potentially kill them then they shouldn’t be in the Avengers or the JLA.

Batman works within the context of the DC universe though, because its not generally know that he hasn’t got superpowers. If you lived in a universe where Superman exists, then a weird bat guy who does seemingly impossible things is going to seem plausible. Its only when you put Batman in the real world (like Nolan did) when he becomes a bit ridiculous

[Slade]

@CandidGamera

Daredevil. I just wonder what the pitch was.

I can tell you exactly what the pitch was: “Batman sells well - we need a equivalent of that character.”

Hence, Daredevil swings round the city on a rope, fights street-level crime, generally operates at night, lacks any extreme super-powers and tries to look as scary as possible in a vaguely supernatural kind of way. He’s Marvel’s urban noir cop in longjohns, just as Batman is DC’s.

And Thor, of course, is Marvel’s Superman.

[Bryan_Ekers]

@tim314

I always assumed it went something like this:

OK, so he’s blind as a bat, but it doesn’t matter because he’s got this great sonar-like sense!

So what do we call him?

Batman!

Um…

Funny thing is, there was a crimefighting pulp magazine character called “The Black Bat” who predates Batman by several years, in a short run in 1933-4. The character was revived (and his origin story greatly expanded) in 1939, as a district attorney blinded in an acid attack. Though he eventually gets his sight back after a successful operation (and finds it has improved, letting him see in darkness), while blind he trains his other senses to hyper-acuity. In addition to the obvious influence on DC characters like Two-Face and Doctor Mid-Nite (and arguably Batman, though the matter of who inspired whom was contentious and lawsuits were threatened), the similarity to Daredevil is apparant, too.