Rules of the Superhero Genre
By Joe Sergi, author of Sky Girl and the Superheroic Adventures
I would to thank you for allowing to come on your site and ramble about
my favorite genre—superheroes. I am the author of Sky Girl and the Superheroic Adventures. The book is the sequel to Sky Girl and the Superheroic Legacy. The
first book introduced DeDe Christopher, an ordinary teen with an extraordinary
destiny to become Sky Girl. Being a teenage girl is hard enough, but for DeDe,
it is proving impossible. In addition to cliques, books, and boys, she has to
worry about capes, apes, and aliens. When we last left DeDe, she had just
adopted the mantle of Sky Girl at the end of her sophomore year of high school.
In this book, DeDe must learn what it means to be a heroine as Sky Girl faces
the all too real enemies and allies of SkyBoy, including the clever Quizmaster,
the beautiful Penny Pound, the enigmatic Jersey Devil, and the magical
MissTick. DeDe must also face personal challenges as she discovers the secrets
of her late father and his connection to SkyBoy--secrets that will affect Sky
Girl’s destiny.
Sky Girl and the
Superheroic Adventures is technically classified as young adult. However,
this book more correctly fits into what is known as the superhero genre. There
are certainly challenges to writing in this genre. Traditionally, the superhero
genre was limited to the comic book medium. Sadly, while the superhero genre
has had great success expanding into movies and television, superhero prose fiction
is a hard platform to sell. I find it amazing that while comics has gained
exposure as a medium and is no longer limited to the superheroes genre, the
superhero genre, itself, hasn't really been able to expand into novels or short
stories. And while characters like Superman and Spider-Man tend to do well,
original characters are a hard sell. But, I think it’s a great genre and
believe it deserves a chance to thrive beyond licensed properties.
When I was shopping Sky Girl
around, several publishers were interested in the book but ultimately decided
that the target audience for prose superhero fiction was too small. I do not
believe that and hope that I can prove them wrong with my books. I do not
believe that comic fans will avoid my book because it doesn’t have pictures in
it. Similarly, I don’t think young adult, fantasy, and science fiction readers
will avoid the book because it is about a superhero. There is a market for fun
superhero stories and it does not matter what medium they are presented in, whether
it be film, comics or novels. Someday, I hope I am remembered for trying to
challenge industry norms in an effort to reach new readers and dispel these
misconceptions. I hope Sky Girl is remembered for helping me succeed in that
challenge.
So what is the Superhero genre?
Robert McKee, in his great book about
screenwriting called Story points out
that when writing genre fiction, there are certain rules that must be followed
for each genre. For example, a mystery story must always have clues and a
solution and, when writing a comedy, the cardinal rule is that the main
characters can’t really get hurt. In the words of Mel Brooks, “tragedy is when
I stub my toe; comedy is when you fall into an open manhole and die.” Similarly,
superhero fiction has basic rules that apply and that make the superhero
fiction genre unique.
A superheroine needs an origin that begins in
tragedy. Superman’s planet exploded, Batman’s parents were murdered before his eyes
and Uncle Ben was killed through Peter Parker’s inaction. Very rarely does
someone wake up and decide, “I have a well-adjusted life, I think I will put on
a colorful costume and become a scourge of the underworld.” The catalyst of Sky
Girl is featured in Chapter 0 of the first book, which sets up the main mystery
for the remainder of the series. “What happened to SkyBoy?” The fate of DeDe’s
father fits directly into that. Does this mean that DeDe is psychologically
imbalanced? Of course not. I mean, Clark Kent grew up just fine despite being
the last survivor of Krypton (if you exclude Supergirl, the Phantom Zone
criminals, the city of Candor, Krypto and . . .well, you get the idea).
Second, superheroes wear costumes. Generally,
good guys wear primary colors and bad guys wear purples, green and black. Of
course the primary reason for this is that in the early days of publishing, the
printing process was not very good. So, it helped if the reader knew that the
little red and blue blur was Superman and the purple and green one was Lex
Luthor. In my book, Sky Girl’s costume is based on her male counterpart SkyBoy
and is purple and black. That costume, and the color scheme, was a deliberate
choice. Then again, the Phantom, one of the original pulp heroes, wore purple
and black, so it could be an homage to him. Plus, the Hulk, himself, is green
with black hair and wears purple pants and he’s a hero . . . Isn’t he?
Superheroes have powers. Firemen, policemen
and teachers are all heroes--but, they are not superheroes. This is because
they do not possess that metahuman gene that gives them powers. (Except for my
sixth grade English teacher, Mrs. Lucas--that woman had eyes in the back of her
head!) Some, like Batman, get their powers the old fashioned way, through study
exercise; but he is still the world’s greatest detective. Others get them
through birth (the X-men), environment (Superman), radiation (Hulk and
Spider-Man), or drugs (if you think about it, Captain America is the poster
child for steroids). And of course, Batman and Iron Man have the greatest
superpower of all time: more money than they know what to do with. Sky Girl has
several powers, including flight, invulnerability, a skypulse, and sky vision,
which she discovers throughout Sky Girl
and the Superheroic Legacy, the first book. In the second book, Sky Girl and the Superheroic Adventures,
she discovers and trains to use even more of her powers. The mysterious origin
of her ever-growing list of fantastic powers will be explored in the third book
of the series.
Superheroines also need a mentor. In The Power of Myth, Joseph Campbell
explains the hero’s journey. Part of that journey involves a wise mentor who
helps the hero with her destiny. Luke has Obi Wan (and later Yoda). Daredevil
has Stick. Clark had Pa Kent. Billy Batson, on the Saturday morning show Shazam, had Mentor (Saturday morning
shows aren’t very subtle). Over the course of the story, Sky Girl meets several
potential mentors. Some have her best interest at heart, and others have
selfish motives. Part of her journey is to determine who to learn from.
A superhero must also overcome
overwhelming obstacles. If someone overcomes adversity and defeats the villain,
they are a hero. But, to be a superhero, a person must face super overwhelming
odds to defeat a supervillain. Batman would just be a man in tights without the
Joker. Stan Lee, in the early days of Marvel Comics, added to this by having
Spider-Man not only face off against the Green Goblin, but he also needed to
make enough money to buy medicine for his Aunt May. Sky Girl is no different. In
the first book, she faced off against the villainous Commander Chimp and his
Gorilla Army. The new book greatly expands her rouge’s gallery of villains. There
is also personal challenge for a teenage girl growing up, such as whether to
use her powers for personal gain or whether to accept her mother’s new
boyfriend.
Related
to that, a hero is only as good as his or her villains. With a few exceptions
(like Venom), Spider-Man’s major villains were all introduced in the first year
of the book. They still plague him to this day. Batman consistently faces the
same insane criminals month after month (as if Arkham Asylum has a revolving
door). In fact, the Flash’s enemies actually refer to themselves as The Rogues.
In Sky Girl and the Superheroic Legacy,
we saw that Sky Boy has his own rogues gallery called the Retallion Battalion,
which Sky Girl inherits. These are some pretty tough characters and Sky Girl
faces off against nearly a dozen of them in the second book. Each of these
characters plays a large role in the overall Sky Girl story.
Another aspect of the superhero genre is the
existence of a confidant/sidekick. Batman has Robin, but what many people don’t
seem to realize is that he also has Alfred. The Hulk had Rick Jones. Captain
America had Rick Jones. Captain Marvel had Rick Jones. Rom had Rick Jones.
(Wow! That Rick Jones gets around). Superman had Ma and Pa Kent, and then Lois,
and then not Lois, and now only Ma Kent. Sky Girl has Jason, her comic geek
friend. He helps her in her hero’s quest and would be proud to be known as her
faithful sidekick. In the new book, he also gets a chance to shine.
Although the ten-year-old me would never
admit it, love plays a special role in the superhero genre, especially
unrequited love. “If only I could tell Nurse Jane Foster how I feel, but I
can’t because I am also the Mighty Thor.” This theme permeates almost all the
silver age books, especially in early Marvel Comics. Daredevil loved Karen
Page; Spidey loved Liz and then Mary Jane; Clark Kent loved Lois Lane who loved
Superman and then they didn’t. I think DeDe (Sky Girl) is a little young for
love, but she is certainly interested in Adam Berg, the star quarterback. Unfortunately,
he is involved with Nicole Debis, DeDe’s rival in every way. The ante is upped
when DeDe gets super powers. Given the change in modern heroic fiction, perhaps
there is hope for DeDe to find true love. This is especially true after the
pair get to spend so much time together in the second book. After all, Superman
finally married his Lois Lane and Spider-Man eventually married Mary Jane. And
then they didn’t.
Another trope of the superhero genre is a superheroic
code-name. “Look, up in the sky; it’s a bird, it’s a plane; it’s Clark Kent.” That
just doesn’t have the same oomph. Much the way that criminals would not cower
in fear from the Bruce Wayne symbol (even if they are a superstitious and
cowardly lot). DeDe’s best friend, Jason, spends a lot of effort deciding what
the right name should be for DeDe. In the end, there can only be one. In the
second book, one of my favorite chapters to write is when Jason tries to teach
someone the importance (and copyright ramifications) of a super villain code
name.
A super hero needs witty banter. Spider-Man
is clearly the master of this. And then he wasn’t. But, every hero is
responsible for learning how to crack wise in the face of danger. Perhaps these
jokes provide a psychological advantage, throwing their adversaries off guard
by making them angry. Maybe, the humor is their only weapon against the dark
world of evil they inhabit. I did a panel at Balticon about humor in paranormal
romance, and someone mentioned that humor is a subtle way to show the strength
of the hero—so perhaps that is the reason. Sky Girl is still relatively new to
the proper way to converse with the enemy. When the second book opens, DeDe has
had the whole summer to practice and train with Jason. She’s actually gotten
quite good at being a costumed adventurer—except for her banter. She still
stumbles through quips causing her opponents to wince. Luckily, Jason is there
to show her the ropes and help her with the comic timing. Hopefully, as her
confidence improves, so will Sky Girl’s banter.
Every superhero needs a catch phrase.
Everyone knows that Wolverine is the best at what he does (even if what he does
isn’t very nice). People know that “it’s clobbering time” when the Thing cocks
his fist. Perhaps fewer are aware that Psylocke’s psychic knife is “the focused
totality of her psychic powers” (even though Chris Claremont had her say it
every five minutes in Uncanny X-Men). SkyBoy’s catch phrase is, “Good golly!”
Sky Girl doesn’t have one yet, but Jason is working on it and will know it when
he finds it. After all, GI Joe fans are aware that “knowing is half the battle.”
(What they may not know is that the other half is comprised of equal
percentages of red and blue lasers).
Most importantly, good heroes always triumph
over evil villains in superhero fiction. It is the never ending battle. Everyone
who looks forward to their weekly Wednesday comic book delivery knows exactly
who is going to win that battle. And no matter how dark the reign gets or even
in the blackest of night, the heroes will fight the siege of that final crisis
and ensure that they will have their brightest day and enter a heroic age. Things
look pretty bleak for the world of SkyBoy at the beginning of Sky Girl and the Superheroic Legacy. Hopefully,
Sky Girl can save the day. Who am I kidding? Of course, she can. Can’t she?
I hope this discussion has helped flesh out
the world of superheroes in general, and Sky Girl in specific. Did I miss
anything? Please let me know. And thank you for allowing me to come on and talk
about a topic that I love.
