I was listening to my favorite wake-up podcast this morning, and the topic of why so many modern writers seem more interested in the villains than the heroes. One theory given is that they see the villain as the “outsider”, much like themselves, ostracized from society and the rules of morality. Of course they also kill people, destroy property, and steal things so I guess there’s another connection there, but during the discussion it was brought up that the superheroes of the DC and Marvel universes are themselves outsiders. Heck, Batman once created a team literally called The Outsiders.

The difference of course is that superheroes are heroes. They don’t kill the people they don’t like, they help everybody in need and believe in the sanctity of human life. They don’t destroy other people’s stuff or steal what doesn’t belong to them (granted I don’t know how you steal something everyone agrees you own) because they don’t covet their neighbor’s stuff (to paraphrase the 10 Commandments), at best maybe wanting one of their own. Superheroes don’t believe in treating other people like garbage because they do maintain not so much the world’s morality, as that seems to be getting harder to find in a world demanding blood because you don’t fawn over the same TV show they do, as their own, and it’s one that seeks to make the world a better place for everybody, not just those of the collective.

I know something about being an outsider, which some of you out there won’t believe of a straight white male, because that’s because you only look at the surface. I was bullied. Nobody in my family discusses storytelling the way I do and even when I share the politics of a particular family member I don’t know how to get my opinion across while talking like I can while writing. Then there’s my temper. I would love to be Clark Kent/Superman, but if I’m honest with myself I’m more Bruce Banner/Hulk, depending on what they’ve got Bruce and Hulk doing now. I’m shy. I’m socially awkward. I don’t have the highest self-esteem. At nightclubs it was the women looking for a one-night stand and me the one looking for something past a post-breakfast shower. I know something about being an outsider even among my peers and loved ones, and let me tell you: if somehow you don’t think superheroes are outsiders simply because they help people, let’s check out my favorite superheroes and let me show you they’re not within our societal norm…and it’s a good thing, too.

Superman

Of course we’re starting with my all-time favorite hero. Let’s get one thing straight, though: the whole “immigrant” thing is hogwash. In most versions, Superman came to Earth as a baby, a toddler at most. He grew up on Earth, in the United States, with traditional American values. During the Silver and Bronze age he supposedly remembered everything from his baby years on Krypton simply because DC finally embraced the science fiction angle he brought to the table, but in others he’s simply curious about his native culture, must as a black person with ancestry in the US dating back to the 1920s might still be curious his or her African or Jamaican roots. It would be the same if I decided to study my Italian, Portugues, or whatever else I’m made of. (My last name may not actually be German as I thought. Swedish, maybe?) Superman is an Earthling in his mind, especially in the post-Crisis period where he popped out of a “birthing matrix” rather than Lara’s tummy and thus was born on Earth despite being conceived on Krypton. So he might have come from another planet, but nobody has ever thought Clark Kent was anything other than a Kansas white boy, even his adoptive parents who knew better.

However, his Kryptonian heritage does play a role in his otherness. Depending on the continuity, Clark either grew up with amazing powers due to being born on a planet with higher gravity or slowly gained them as his body matured and processed Earth’s sunlight. I personally like a merging of the two ideas, but the point is he didn’t grow up like normal kids. Having to hide his powers meant he couldn’t connect with other students. I don’t know if he was bullied outside the early seasons of Smallville, but he couldn’t play football in high school because his powers were an unfair advantage, plus accidentally hip checking the other team’s quarterback to the other side of town probably wouldn’t win him any accolades.

Even as an adult, Clark has to hide his powers to be able to move around like a normal person, live a normal life. That may not mean anything to those of you who wouldn’t want a normal life and show off how amazing you are while punishing anyone you don’t like simply because you can. Congratulations, that makes you Homelander, not Superman. Superman has to watch his ideals of truth, justice, freedom, and the American Way be ridiculed, be called a “boy scout” in the derogative sense, and people embrace Lex Luthor, a corrupt businessman who wants power and control. “Hey, look at the goody two-shoes with his underwear outside his pants because we don’t know the history of wearing trunks to hide how bigger his package probably is than mine because I’m a wussy boy and he almost literally has balls of steel.” Not killing Lex is an affront to people who would like to see rich people die even if they weren’t evil because they don’t believe such rich people exist. And there is the occasional person worried about his alien heritage, but he doesn’t have to put up with that nearly as often, depending on the version of Lex in use at the time.

Batman

Probably the ultimate outsider of the DC universe, only because I don’t live there. Bruce Wayne lost his parents at an early age, and right in front of him. While some people want to insist becoming Batman is because Bruce went crazy and runs around in a funny costume beating up people, it’s a psychological tool in a bid to make sure no other child has to go through what he did.

Sure, Bruce had friends, but actual people with mental health issues maintain friends, so why not the fictional one you all thing are stark, raving mad? There’s a reason his romances never work out, why he lives almost alone in a huge mansion, and why Bruce’s friends only appear when the story needs a new friend to get Batman involved in a story. He’s not the “Crazy Steve” he gets made out to be, but he doesn’t relate to people very well. It’s a minor point to his character (versus me, where it’s a huge part of my problem), but it’s still there. He wants to help people, help Gotham, and keep others from suffering like he did, but even the best written Batman likes to be alone. For all the talk of Superman’s base being a “Fortress of Solitude”, Bruce really loves his alone time.

Then there’s the “Bat-Family” he’s gathered over the years are outsiders: a former acrobat who’s parents also died but had Bruce to give him the outlet young Bruce didn’t, the son of a crook who was angry at the world, the crime boss’ daughter who wanted to redeem the family by taking him down, the girl created to be an assassin but couldn’t stand to watch people die, the boy created to be an assassin but wants to know his father better by at least attempting to follow his path, the soldier who hid her sexual orientation and now seeks a new outlet for her desire to stop bad guys…let’s face it. Tim and Barbara are the most normal people in this outfit, and even they didn’t quite fit in with everyone until joining team Bat. Alfred is a former spy turned loyal butler and resident Jiminy Cricket. As mentioned, Batman literally formed a team called the Outsiders. Need I say more? Well, I’m not out of favorite heroes so…

Spider-Man

Probably the biggest outsider on this list, and despite not being my favorite I can certainly relate to part of his situation. Being bullied as a kid? Check. Being interested in a girl who didn’t seem to be into him? Check, but rare for Peter given how many girls have wanted to sling from his thread. That’s more on the Sam Rami interpretation of Peter and Mary Jane in the first movie than the comics. Ostracized for his interests? Huge check.

Peter is supposed to be the everyman, the most relatable. From Darkhawk to Firestorm, from Sideways to other Spider-Heroes, the teenage hero buried the idea of sidekicks. However, Peter was never one of the gang until college, when he met the supporting cast not Flash, Aunt May, or the Daily Bugle staff you all know. It’s where he met MJ and learned she was the girl next door, as well as Gwen and Harry, two people who played as much into his power/responsibility theme as Uncle Ben. Outside of them he still never quite fits in unless he’s doing something science-y. I can cut this one short because if you didn’t see Peter as an outsider, you’ve never seen a single Spider-Man story in your life, or missed the normal stories at least.

Iron Man

“Oh, come on. Tony Stark is warm, charming, the life of the party…unless you’re talking his bouts with alcoholism he was never the outsider!”

What happens when the party ends?

Where is Tony when there is no socialite to woo and no villain to repulsor blast? His lab. He may not be as much of an outsider as most of this list, but he spends more time alone than with others, even as a founding member of the Avengers and Force Works, both teams he’s been on and left for one reason or another. He’s rich, super smart, a technological wunderkind…but he only seems to connect with others after he was forced by fate to become Iron Man and decided to keep it up, fighting villains and protecting his company. It was his time as Iron Man that drove him to being alcoholic because for the longest time he told nobody, and until the dumbest reveal the comics could have come up only a select few knew, even among the other heroes.

Wonder Woman

I saved the big one for last, and that’s only because this is running too long to toss Captain America in the list to challenge her. Next to Peter Parker, Diana is literally an outsider. When she starts she knows nothing about “man’s world” until she falls for the first man she sees (lesbian, my foot) and decides to follow him into World War II. She was the essence of femininity during the worst war in human history, and they hadn’t made her Lady Kratos yet. (Even Xena isn’t a proper comparison anymore.) It’s over time that she would to understand the simplest cultural perspectives.

Now that the DC writers don’t understand that Themyscira/Paradise Island isn’t the home of the same types of Amazons as Greek mythology (in fact those Amazons are a whole other clan while the island Amazons learned to fight and how to be feminine), she’s still the warrior in a world that only enjoys warriors in fiction, and still doesn’t come into our world with the understanding of how this world operates. A well written Wonder Woman tries to learn about this new world, isn’t afraid to make a mistake in a world that seems to despite mistakes and refuses to accept them. Classic Wonder Woman wanted to bring a message of peace and love to the world and Modern Wonder Woman wants to take a sword and shove it where the sun doesn’t shine on her opponents. Either way, she’s not letting being an outsider get to her or change who she is.

Admittedly not every superhero is an outsider, and I may even be stretching with Tony Stark a bit. My point is that liking the villain isn’t rooting for the outsider, or they’d all be X-Men fans or reading Batman And The Outsiders. What sets the supervillain apart is the same as sets them apart from superheroes in any other category. Superheroes want to make the world better, be kind to everyone, help those in need (even the bad guys sometimes), and doesn’t want to force their will on anyone who isn’t out to force their will on others or make other people miserable. You aren’t supporting the outsider for supporting the baddies. You’re supporting evil and treating others like garbage for the sin of not being you. If you can live with that….then you’re a horrible person. I’d rather be the superhero, not because society deems it (considering more and more it feels like they don’t) but because I want to be a better person. If the world treated me bad, why would I want to imitate them?