Just Like Our World Except…
Writers of imaginative fiction must walk a very fine line. They are interested in exploring the realms beyond reality, introducing paranormal, superhuman or unearthly elements. Yet, except for the most stalwart of world-builders, they are also interested in staying in touch with reality. They want their imaginative worlds to be recognizable to their readers. In other words, they create worlds that are just like ours… except for aliens, or magic, or superheroes.
But here’s the rub- that’s a pretty big “except.” Once you introduce magic into a world, that world is going to be changed by magic- or superheroes, or aliens, or whatever fantastical element you choose. In many cases, you can explore those changes as a writer. But, when you explore those changes too extensively, your imaginative world looks less and less like our own. It’s a trade-off. As I said in the opening, it’s a very fine line.
Writers of superhero comics struggle with this dilemma of the fantastic- the same as writers of fantasy, horror or science fiction. They want to include the extraordinary- people who can fly and walk through walls and read minds. But, for the most part, they also want their worlds to resemble our own. So they strike a balance between the ordinary and the fantastic. It usually works, if you don’t think about it too much.
A world with Henry Pym, Reed Richards and Tony Stark would be vastly different from our own. Their discoveries and inventions of Pym Particles, unstable molecules and repulsor rays would have completely revolutionized the shipping, fashion and transit industries. We would keep our cars in our pockets, instead of our keys, and blast them with Pym Particles when we want to drive them away. We wouldn’t need parking lots anymore- just loading and unloading zones. And we certainly wouldn’t use roads- though the government would probably have to create designated flying zones like in Back to the Future II. Those are a couple of quick examples but you can see how quickly the world of Marvel Comics would deviate significantly from our own.
Occasionally, a comic book writer will explore those differences. However, those stories are shifted to other outlets. We see the technological effect of superheroes in out-of-continuity stories like The Watchmen, which predicted the advent of the electric car and the charging station, or in the “What If?” mini-series Big Town which wondered “What if Reed Richards’ inventions had changed the Marvel universe?” And we see the geo-political impact of superheroes in stories from outside of the Big Two like J. Michael Straczynksi’s Rising Stars.
One could criticize Marvel and DC for ignoring the broader consequences of a world with superheroes but I’m not sure that’s fair. They’ve made an intentional choice to keep their worlds within shouting distance of our own. Marvel comics even incorporate real world landmarks and locations, assigning Spider-Man a home in Queens and the X-Men a mansion in Westchester County. Those real-world touches add to their relatability. They help us as an audience connect to that world- and imagine ourselves a part of it.
It’s a trade-off- relatability for real world readers vs. realistic ramifications of the fantastic- but, in my estimation, a wise one. That accessibility and relatability is a big reason for their popularity. The further a fictional world deviates from our own, the more it limits its audience. Sure, there are significant exceptions. And there are hardcore fantasy or science fiction fans who will embrace a world completely different from our own. But, if you want to reach a wide audience, you need to walk a fine line. You need to depict a world exactly like our own except…
Replies
I've said this many times before, and probably even somewhere at this forum. One of my problems with urban fantasy and the like (a less stylized genre than comic books) is the introduction of elements that would necessarily change the world, but don't. If vampires or magic real, we would know about these things, factor their existence into how we set up society, and society would change.
Superhero comic books are more obviously stylized and escapist, but I find myself wishing, when I read them or see the related movies, that the writers were less inclined to throw around magic that is readily available and supertech that would be duplicated like they were candy samples.
One could criticize Marvel and DC for ignoring the broader consequences of a world with superheroes but I’m not sure that’s fair. They’ve made an intentional choice to keep their worlds within shouting distance of our own. Marvel comics even incorporate real world landmarks and locations, assigning Spider-Man a home in Queens and the X-Men a mansion in Westchester County. Those real-world touches add to their relatability. They help us as an audience connect to that world- and imagine ourselves a part of it.
Relatability is very important. It was striking to me when I began reading the Marvel superheroes that they were in real-world settings, even though they were not in my "neck of the woods." Superman and Batman started out in fictional cities at the beginnings of their careers. As far as I know, the other 40s DC/All-American heroes followed suit, with use of real-world cities only in recent decades. Was this concept something that Siegel/Shuster and Finger/Kane came up with or was it an editorial decision? Was it inspired by the pulps? It always seemed to me that it was so the story could show a corrupt mayor or police force without seeming to slander the real-life counterparts. Today the readers are older and are more able to look at Marvel's New York and think of it as an alternate reality. In the 60s Marvel and DC would include real-life mayors and presidents in their stories. Today they easily write about Mayor J. Jonah Jameson and President Lex Luthor without batting an eye. Destroying Coast City is one thing. Destroying San Diego is another. If your audience was still little kids destroying San Diego would probably be a non-starter.
Y'know, I'm not so sure that comic-book technology such as Pym Particles, unstable molecules and repulsor rays would have completely revolutionized our world if they existed, if such things weren't broadly commercially available.
For example, NASA and the Russians have invented space vehicles, but we don't have George Jetson's flying car that turns into a briefcase (which I always thought was THE coolest vehicle EVER, even more than the Batmobile!), because it's far too expensive to turn NASA space vehicles into something anybody can have in his or her own back yard.
I grant the point for things like vampires and maybe for magic; if those existed, we'd have to figure out ways to deal with them.
That ignores:
-the significant amount of NASA tech.developments that has affected our world, even if things like topographic mapping of the world, scratch-resistant lenses, velcro, athletic shoes and so forth aren't as cool as personal rockets.
-the fact that things like Pym Particles, super-exo-skeletons, repulsor rays, and so forth are orders more advanced that rockets and have everyday applications. Even if they weren't easily affordable, certain places would be using them.
Again, superhero comics are allowed more handwaves that certain other genres.
ClarkKent_DC said:
JD DeLuzio said:
That ignores:
-the significant amount of NASA tech.developments that has affected our world, even if things like topographic mapping of the world, scratch-resistant lenses, velcro, athletic shoes and so forth aren't as cool as personal rockets.
We sleep on a memory foam mattress. Even though Tempur-Pedic wants the public to think they invented it, memory foam was developed by NASA and is used without a licensing fee by many mattress manufacturers.