The Superhero Genre, or, the Comment that Ate LJ

This started out as a response to a question ursulav asked in her LJ, but as my response just kept getting longer, I thought I'd better make my own entry about it.

Some background: I used to read mainstream superhero comics, mostly in the Marvel superhero setting, mostly the "mutant" X-books. And, frankly, most of them were atrocious.

I've also had a few forays into the DC supers universe, but mostly via the Vertigo (eg, Sandman) titles. These were not nearly as bad, but they also were not "superhero" books in the sense that I would hazard James is using the word.

Perhaps it would be helpful to define what a SuperHero Comic book is. Lemme take a whack at it:
( Whack! )

Writing Exercises: Revision, part 2

( Second round on the last exercise )