Damn fine story.
I want to talk about something that will reinforce a point about why I liked your story so much.
By all means, the basic idea behind any superhero universe is ridiculous in terms of real-world logic and would fall apart if you applied enough 'realism' to it. It's not difficult at all to do a deconstruction of a superhero world. Hell, that's low-hanging fruit. The real test of someone trying to write a superhero story is not to apply realism. But to get the reader to suspend his disbelief and go along with the fantasy.
More importantly, you have to buy the idea that someone like Statesman or Superman - someone that powerful - could still be that good and decent. In our world, that is - sadly, rather difficult to get people to believe in anymore. But a good writer can do it. A writer who GETS superheroes can do it.
I think that's why the Blue King run of the City of Heroes comic - the one that introduced us to War Witch and Apex - was so much better, despite it's hokeyness. The writers GOT IT. They GOT superheroes and they even understood the actual game. (Hell, I think they even -played- the game. Or at least the artist did - as detailed as they made things. When they depicted places in the game, you could actually -recognize- them for where they were! Steel Canyon was distinct from Independence Port or Atlas.)
The Top Cow comic? Not so much. The artists knew how to draw superheroes. But that's ALL they got right. The writers just did NOT get it. And the artists, for all that they could do a decent job with figures, rarely tried to make Paragon City distinct. Often the only clue you were there was to see Atlas Statue in the distance.
So yeah, coming back around to the main point -
I must reiterate the sentiment - you actually made me LIKE Statesman again! That, sir, is no mean feat, given the ridiculous characterization of the man - indeed, the entire Freedom Phalanx - in that truly AWFUL Top Cow comic.
THIS is what I envisioned the character to be like when I first started playing the game half a decade ago. A man who can defeat anything - except his own doubts and fears. This is the way to write characters like this. It's what makes the best Superman stories. When writers actually get inside the head of a character like this rather than project their own contempt for Superman's - or Statesman's - innate decency.
I want to talk about something that will reinforce a point about why I liked your story so much.
By all means, the basic idea behind any superhero universe is ridiculous in terms of real-world logic and would fall apart if you applied enough 'realism' to it. It's not difficult at all to do a deconstruction of a superhero world. Hell, that's low-hanging fruit. The real test of someone trying to write a superhero story is not to apply realism. But to get the reader to suspend his disbelief and go along with the fantasy.
More importantly, you have to buy the idea that someone like Statesman or Superman - someone that powerful - could still be that good and decent. In our world, that is - sadly, rather difficult to get people to believe in anymore. But a good writer can do it. A writer who GETS superheroes can do it.
I think that's why the Blue King run of the City of Heroes comic - the one that introduced us to War Witch and Apex - was so much better, despite it's hokeyness. The writers GOT IT. They GOT superheroes and they even understood the actual game. (Hell, I think they even -played- the game. Or at least the artist did - as detailed as they made things. When they depicted places in the game, you could actually -recognize- them for where they were! Steel Canyon was distinct from Independence Port or Atlas.)
The Top Cow comic? Not so much. The artists knew how to draw superheroes. But that's ALL they got right. The writers just did NOT get it. And the artists, for all that they could do a decent job with figures, rarely tried to make Paragon City distinct. Often the only clue you were there was to see Atlas Statue in the distance.
So yeah, coming back around to the main point -
I must reiterate the sentiment - you actually made me LIKE Statesman again! That, sir, is no mean feat, given the ridiculous characterization of the man - indeed, the entire Freedom Phalanx - in that truly AWFUL Top Cow comic.
THIS is what I envisioned the character to be like when I first started playing the game half a decade ago. A man who can defeat anything - except his own doubts and fears. This is the way to write characters like this. It's what makes the best Superman stories. When writers actually get inside the head of a character like this rather than project their own contempt for Superman's - or Statesman's - innate decency.