Are Strong MCs Really Boring… or Are We Just Reading Them Wrong?

[Omarfaruq]

Strength isn't the problem; passivity is. I’d rather read about an OP character who acts than a 'balanced' character who whines.

It's about follow-through. If an MC makes a threat or a promise, I want to know they have the capacity to deliver on it.

You keep the tension by raising the stakes for the people around the MC. The MC might be safe, but their friends/loved ones/city aren't. And of course, many other things

Nice thinking, I seem to have learnt many things today

 

[CharlesEBrown]

OP MCs are boring. That's why Batman is way more interesting than Superman can ever be. It's always more interesting when someone can accomplish something with less.

EXCEPT ... a well-written Superman story can beat the pants off of an average Batman one - sometimes because Supes holds back his strength, sometimes because his powers aren't ultimately what saves the day, sometimes because the humanity of the rest of the cast shines through.
Some of the best DC stories are the ones that pair Batman and Superman together for this reason.
One of my favorite moments in any comic book was in the "Man of Steel/Batman" crossover vs. Magpie. When they first meet, Batman informs Supes that he's wearing a belt that detects hyperdense material, and, unless he's pressing a kill switch manually when that material gets close to him - said material including Superman's body - a bomb will go off, killing an innocent person.
At the end of the story, Superman angrily says: "Wait - there's still the matter of that bomb on an innocent..."
And Batman SMILES as he removes the actual bomb from his own chest. "I suspected you could tell if I was lying so I used myself as the innocent."

 

[Omarfaruq]

EXCEPT ... a well-written Superman story can beat the pants off of an average Batman one - sometimes because Supes holds back his strength, sometimes because his powers aren't ultimately what saves the day, sometimes because the humanity of the rest of the cast shines through.
Some of the best DC stories are the ones that pair Batman and Superman together for this reason.
One of my favorite moments in any comic book was in the "Man of Steel/Batman" crossover vs. Magpie. When they first meet, Batman informs Supes that he's wearing a belt that detects hyperdense material, and, unless he's pressing a kill switch manually when that material gets close to him - said material including Superman's body - a bomb will go off, killing an innocent person.
At the end of the story, Superman angrily says: "Wait - there's still the matter of that bomb on an innocent..."
And Batman SMILES as he removes the actual bomb from his own chest. "I suspected you could tell if I was lying so I used myself as the innocent."

Valid point ?