Superhero Sightings!

Superheroes are everywhere these days, almost a reality. I expect someone to fly over me at any moment when I walk out my door. Let's take a look at recent shows revolving around superheroes:

No Heroics
ABC declined the American pilot, but the British version is successful and HILARIOUS! It's about the love lives (more sexual lives) of superheroes. The core setting is a bar where "capes" hang out off-duty. In this world, heroes are celebrities, and this follows the lives of a group of B-lister friends. A competition is played among the capes at the bar, where for each news report about one of the capes, they get a tally. There is an ongoing tally of news reports for each hero, and the most popular jerk of a hero Excelsor tops the list. The cast includes Electroclash, a technopath and loose-moralled bitch; The Hotness, a bumbling idiot ex-boyfriend of Electroclash that controls heat; Timebomb, the token gay dangerous (and questionable) hero that can see thirty seconds into the future and works for hire; and She-Force, the third strongest woman on earth and incredibly sweet and naive.

Heroes
Even though it's gone downhill, and I'm no longer watching, the premise was an X-Men rip-off and worked well onscreen. Let's just get a live-action X-Men series instead. That way we don't get crappy movies that try to fit too much in. Heroes has taken all ages of powered folk, but none of them are relatable or admirable other than maybe the now-annoying Claire. They're all devious and destructive and stupid.

Misfits
Another British superpower show, but this time, the main characters are troubled young adults who are doing community service. Each character is noticeably different, and their powers reflect their personality. The guy who can time travel wants to go back and change the past. When the girl who craves male attention is touched by a man, he cannot help but ravage her. The boy who is lost in life doesn't know what his powers are. The boy who often goes unnoticed and doesn't speak much has the power to turn invisible. The girl who wants to know how her boyfriend really feels about her ends up having telepathy. All in all a good show!

Fringe
A modern X-Files. Not a fan. I tried. It's formulaic and just like other detective shows, but with victims with superpowers of sort.

Sanctuary
A recent episode included a superhero that could fly, had superstrength, and could deflect blows. But it was the workings of an abnormal. I guess you could even say the good abnormals are superheroes.

Then I can't count the outrageous amount of movies and books about superheroes, but I shall give some examples.


Movies:

Confessions of a Superhero
Documentary that follows the lives of three people who dress as Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman for tips.

Superhero Movies
Fantastic Four, Watchmen, X-Men, Spider-Man, Hellboy, Batman, Hulk, Iron Man, Superman, Wolverine....


Books:

Black and White by Jackie Kessler and Caitlin Kittredge
Hero.com/Villain.com by Andy Briggs
Hero by Perry Moore
So many others......