Anonymous
asked:
Do you think the days of the 'traditional' superhero - outlandish origin story, secret identity, iconic imagery, rotating list of regular villains - have gone, for the most part? Not that there are many new characters coming on, but they certainly lack those elements, and in established characters the 'old-school' elements seem to be quietly being out in the drawer. And if you agree, would you proffer an opinion on why it is so, and whether its a permanent change?
I think that, like most genres, super heroes continue to evolve, and what was considered cutting edge at one point becomes passe in a later era, and so continues to change. But I think that something like NOVA (Devils!) fits the bill of what you’re talking about pretty handily, so it’s not as though these elements are gone for good, they may just not be as front-and-center as they once were. And really, I don’t think that Marvel ever did “traditional” super heroes–the characters we think of today as being traditional were ground-breaking and edgy when they first appeared.