Superhero Realism

All that blathering about Spider-Man, combined with tonight's airing of Heroes, got me thinking about an article/post I've been wanting to write about superheroes and their prototype outfits (think Peter Parker's red and blue wrestling pyjamas in Spider-Man, or the ninja outfit Bruce Wayne sports when he first confronts Jim Gordon in Batman Begins). That got me to thinking about Donnie Darko, and how Donnie's story is essentially a superhero origin story (right down to having a costume and a prototype costume; his costume being the skeleton suit and grey hoody, the prototype being the jeans, shirt and black hoody he wears when he burns Swayze's house down).


My thought process then moved onto the character of Peter Petrelli in Heroes. Peter is probably the most archetypically comic book character in the show, from his alliterative name (so reminiscent of Peter Parker) to his floppy hair (like so many haircuts from comic books) to his idealistic nature. His power - to absorb other people's powers - allows for such a wide range of abilities that he becomes the embodiment of comic book wonderment.

My original thought was how he himself had more or less an actual costume, with his white jacket that catches the wind when he flies, with the red hoody beneath it (what's with these adaptations and hoodies?) capturing the bold colours of superhero costumes. Googling for an image of that outfit, I came up with nothing, but I did find this;

Perhaps it's his nurse's uniform that really serves as his costume, seeing as he's wearing this when we're introduced to him. The image search also made me realise that *all* the characters have costumes; Hiro's prototype costume is his short-sleeved business shirt, thin black tie and thick padded coat. When he time travels from the future, he's seen in his actual hero costume of black clothes, coat and slicked-back hair (with accompanying katana!).

Claire, of course, as her cheerleader uniform (and even a bit of a codename in 'The Cheerleader'), Nathan Petrelli has his fierce business suits. The cop has his uniform, Nicky has her clingy black outfits whenever she switches into her Jessica persona, etc. So in that respect, amongst others, Heroes has been very faithful in adapting comic book concepts in a realistic fashion. But it wasn't the first to do so.

The aforementioned Donnie Darko was very much a comic book movie, with writer/director Richard Kelly admitting as much in the DVD audio commentaries. He even chose the alliterative name because of its "comic booky" quality.

Unbreakable was another film to take the conventions of comics and apply them to the real world. It was so understated about it in its marketing, however, that it wasn't until about 3/4 of the way through that it occured to me. Bruce Willis' character, upon accepting his destiny, also gets a costume (illustrated here by comic artist Alex Ross);

It's nothing more than a raincoat that serves as part of his security guard uniform, but it works so well it quickly asserts itself as a piece of superhero iconography.

What else would qualify? The '80s children show My Secret Identity, starring a young Jerry O'Connel as a teenager with superpowers, the short-lived '90s series The Sentinel, about a cop with heightened senses. Even Smallville, really, with the way it's forever brushing up against out-and-out fantasy without ever actually stepping into that territory (which led to an interesting stray thought; excluding Smallville's constant parade of red shirts and blue jackets, Superman's never really had the 'prototype costume', it's only ever been the 'hero costume' - as if Superman is the only superhero who wasn't formed over a series of time and experiences, but rather took the stage fully-realised, underscoring his theme of both having perfect ideals and, in turn, being one. But back to the subject at hand).

Donnie Darko, Heroes, Unbreakable. It's my feeling that these all fit into the same genre, but it's not as broad as 'the superhero genre'. Rather, it's 'superhero realism' where, as said before, the concepts and constructs of the superhero genre are adapted in a realistic fashion (usually outside the realm of the comic book, the super hero's traditional stomping ground).

Some might say Buffy or Robocop might fit into this category. I think both those examples step far too into the realm of fantasy to qualify. More accurately, they'd fit into the realm of the 'subversive superhero story', where the writer is telling superhero stories under the guise of another genre. The Matrix would be another good example of this.

But what else could be described as 'superhero realism'? I'm not sure off the top of my head. It's not something that crops up very often. I would hesitate to list things like The Three Musketeers or Sherlock Holmes because - in addition to being afraid Sarah would tear me apart for the crass comparison - those were stories that helped shape what the superhero genre would eventually become, rather than an author taking the tropes of superhero storytelling and applying them to a real world setting.

So that's what's been floating around in my head for the past few months. It's funny, in writing about superhero prototype costumes, I've come up with a bit of a prototype article about superheroes. Hope it wasn't too boring to read my ramblings. Just wait until I try collecting my thoughts about Lex Luthor and his reflection of American/global concerns into some form of coherant structure!

You'll all be sorry then!