Noble Hearts and Spandex/Leather/Latex Outfits

Posted: 24th May 2012 by Jeff Bouley / Deacon Blue in Ruminations

As y’all await the next bit of fiction (the next chapter of “The Gathering Storm” methinks…) I thought I’d toss up a quick little writing rumination to hold you over.

I realized a few days ago that many of my Whethermen characters lack the towering nobility of many classic superheroes, like Green Lantern, Superman, Wonder Woman…well, basically, a lot of the DC Comics characters; Marvel’s characters have often tended to be a little effed up on some level.

I’m not bothered or dismayed by this. Quite the contrary, I think it’s a good thing. I don’t want my heroes and vigilantes to be too neat and tidy and morally strict. Because, to be honest, humans in general rarely are, and you put some into costumes and give them superhuman powers, and I can only imagine that would be magnified.

So it ends up that one of my key characters here, Query, bears a strong resemblance to Batman. However, even though Batman is one of DC’s more hard-edged characters, Query is still more ruthless. Batman is anti-gun and anti-killing, so despite his mission to strike terror into the hearts of villains, he still holds back. Query, on the other hand, while no Frank Castle (Marvel’s Punisher), is willing to kill at times, though not usually as a first course of action. He’s willing to blackmail some people and he’s willing to manipulate people and situations for his own plans. He’s a good guy, but he doesn’t always act with 100% noble intentions.

I think perhaps the only character who is more or less “noble” in my mythos so far is Mad Dash; ironic, given that he’s supposedly “crazy.” He’s the sweetest and least violence-prone character; even so, though, he doesn’t judge others on their violence, so even he has a strong gray area in his morality.

Others are more overt in their violence, including Dash’s girlfriend Ladykiller, but I like to think she’s still a likable and accessible character.

My villains, too, I don’t paint in black and white usually. Underworld is evil in many ways, but not lacking in humanity or compassion at times. Janus is a bit more uniformly evil, but even he has a certain appeal, I think, at least on a charismatic basis at times.

It’s something I may have to explore more directly within the fiction around here, but I’d welcome your thoughts. Do the character so far seem like real and complete humans, or have I painted them as something counter to what you’d think they should be?