Everyone knows Batman, Superman, Spiderman, the X-men. The great superheroes--those with their names in the papers, their powers on display. The merest 5-year-old can tell you what Superman can do, and what his weakness is.
This isn't so good. Part of the requirement of herodom is secrecy. You appear to have no identity outside of your costume--you are a terrifying mystery, outside the bounds of normal society and therefore a threat to those who try to break the rules of normal society to their advantage.
I want to argue that these well-known superheroes fail, no matter how spectacular they are, simply because we know them. And that we are overlooking the major superheroes completely. Heroes who play the game successfully, never let us know they have secret identities, or powers, or weaknesses.
I'll prove it. The other thing that heroes have is a look. A costume that only changes with serious plot enhancement.
Now there are also people in the comics who have a look. Jonah Jameson. Commissioner Gordon. These people are normal, right?
Right?
There you go. Jim Gordon is the best superhero ever. We don't even know he has powers.
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