Superpowered vs Human Heroes

Just out of curiosity, do you prefer stories with superpowered heroes or human ones?*

*By making this distinction I am not saying that superpowered heroes are not human by definition. I’m just curious if people gravitate towards one kind of hero more than the other (for example, the almost equal popularity of Superman and Batman) and why?

My answer:
Personally, I gravitate towards more human moments. As much as I like stories that examine the dangers of power and cosmic scale fights, the ones that connect with me the most are about the everyday. I haven’t read a ton of DC comics yet, but some of my favorite moments are not the bat family kicking bad guy behind. Instead, they are the quiet moments, when Damian Wayne lets down his guard and runs into Dick’s arms because he missed him.
I cling to the little laughs between old friends, and the honest conversations between family. I think that sometimes those bada*s super powerful moments are great, but they often feel more hollow to me. For example, the showstopper of The Judas Contract for me was not Tara losing her mind and trying to kill everyone, it was the panel of Beast Boy hunched over her corpse, mourning his friend. Sorry that got a little dark there, but hopefully, you see what I mean about liking these kinds of down-to-earth moments.

Obviously, everyone will have different opinions on this, and I’d love to read them all. I’m curious to know what any DC fan (or just any hero fan in general) has to say on this matter.

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I love both types of heroes, but my favorite hero is Batman because he is a relatable character. People can relate to a hero that doesn’t have any superpowers. Nobody has super speed or super strength, but a hero like Batman shows that anyone can be a hero. Even small acts of kindness can make you a hero. “A hero can be anyone. Even a man doing something as simple and reassuring as putting a coat around a little boy’s shoulders to let him know that the world hadn’t ended.” - Batman

@nightwings.escrima.sticks I also love the human moments in comics. Those are the best parts because they allow readers to personally connect to the stories.

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I like both, but lean towards non-powered heroes. I love the Warlord who is just a man with a sword and .44 AutoMag pistol vs. savages, super science, and dinosaurs. Okay, that’s still a little out there. :grinning: I also love Green Arrow as a street level hero providing justice to the street. Love the Mike Grell version where he did away with all the trick arrows and never had anyone call him Green Arrow. And when Hal Jordan appeared he was just his friend Hal, no power ring.

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I prefer stories with human heroes. I love the sort of gritty, street-level crime stories that you can get from reading Batman, Deathstroke, Green Arrow/Green Lantern, etc.

That said, I can’t knock the super-powered hero stories. I’ve just been reading some of Geoff Johns’ GL run, and now I’m going through Perez’s Wonder Woman run. The grandiose, over-the-top adventures you get from those characters are very thrilling to me in their own way.

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@Batman0803 you just answered perfectly for me also. I love the street level stories but Geoff Johns ( and a few other writers) can draw me into the cosmic wide multiverse happenings.

I also tend to prefer single character based stories but well written teamups are still a draw for me.

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Honestly it’s both, in my opinion it all depends on the writer. Human or alien, i love every story that is well written, granted I’ll take a nightwing story over anything every day… …

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