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WHAT GIVES SUPERHEROES THEIR SUPER CROSSOVER POWER?

Harley Quinn This may sound like a crazy question, although that may be because you aren’t necessarily the right person to ask, but here it is anyway: The question is, why are our favorite comic book heroes so popular? I said it was a crazy question.





OK, here’s the thing, it’s not just those of us who happen to like the comic / filmic genre that spawned the likes of the X-Men, Spiderman, The Flash, Catwoman, the Fantastic Four, and of course, Batman, who are given to marveling at the adventures of these superbly conceived characters. Turns out, they tap into something altogether more mainstream. In other words, although we might like to conceive of those splendidly proportioned, impossibly motivated mega-beings as something personal and meaningful to us, they also play to a wider public.


Batman Villains Gambling
MAINSTREAM APPEAL

Much as we might covet those characters’ histories as something deeply personal, they have achieved a wider, if shallower, appreciation out there in what they call the mainstream. Admittedly, the mainstream is not for everyone, but it does tend to be where the smart money gravitates to. The studios of Marvel, DC, Aspen MLT, and Wildstorm, are certainly not unaware of that.

The likes of Spiderman, The Fantastic Four, Batman, and his various hangers on have achieved what they call ‘crossover’. And to me, ‘crossover’ is not to be underestimated. But before we get carried away with taking over the world (which would usually put us on the wrong side of the storyline) we should get back to where we started. The question we have moved on to now is, just what is it about our heroes that makes them such ‘crossover’ characters.


Batman Slot Machines
UNIVERSAL VALUES

In case you were wondering, being a crossover is not just a matter of Hollywood liking you. It’s about action figures, it’s about slots games, it’s about playing cards, it’s about kids' pyjamas, it’s about posters, it’s about spin offs… you get the idea? Our characters are everywhere, from an online casino game such as 32Red slots, or online blackjack at 999Casino, to little ten-year-old Tommy Tucker’s favorite duvet cover.

The 32Red slots example is a good one because they are, by definition, aimed at adults. With all due recognition that adulthood is a stage we all get to eventually, fully fledged, properly rounded adults were probably not the target audience Bill Finger and Bob Kane were thinking of when they came up with the idea of Bruce Wayne, and his eponymous alter ego.

But Batman and his fellow superheroes are there in online casinos, decorating the wheels of slots games and adding a certain machismo and muscularity to what does tend to be quite a genteel pastime. 32Red, for example, have gone to town on Batman recently. Their Dark Knight slot-game features cinematic spins that tie-in directly to the film. Familiar characters like Batman, Gordon, and The Joker are all there in all their glory, as players are bedazzled with bonus spins, random prizes, and a host of other bat-themed surprises to provide just the same dramatic and climactic excitement that the original comic strips were crafted to deliver.


DC Heroes Vs Villains
MUSCLES MEAN POWER

Obviously the physicality of the superhero genre is a defining characteristic. Those fantastic physiques must play a part in the crossover equation. But those impeccable creations are more about aspiration than titillation. Their muscles are symbolic of power, pure and simple, but power employed in the name of what is right. The whole idea of superheroes was a cold war celebration of what man (and woman) could be in an idealized world where all things are possible. The physical portrayal of protagonists is just a coded way of putting that up front and center stage.

So maybe what gives our favorite comic book heroes is that taste of the impossible. Adventure, action, plots that twist and turn on acts of heroism in the name of what is right and good are elements always guaranteed to stir the blood. Divorced from the real world and played out by a cast of god-like figures you have to ask; really, what is there not to like?

WHAT GIVES SUPERHEROES THEIR SUPER CROSSOVER POWER? WHAT GIVES SUPERHEROES THEIR SUPER CROSSOVER POWER? Reviewed by David Andrews on January 31, 2016 Rating: 5

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