Realistic superheroes

Are realistic superheroes fun or dumb? How do you write one? Should they exist at all?

Boring answer, but it depends on what story you're telling and what serves it best. Can't give a blanket response to a concept.

Personally they don't tend to appeal to me.

They make no sense in our modern times.
They can be done, but you gotta play around with the setting a lot to even make them a possibility.

They were fun for a very short period of time but otherwise they're just dumb. If you're really doing it to help people then volunteer. You'd save more lives teaching kids how to read or working a soup kitchen or whatever than by beating randos up.

Why in modern times? Because of guns?

That yes, as well as them needing a reason to just not join the police.

What if you could take down somebody bad? Assuming your city has someone like that. Most "realistic" heroes fight against some mob structure like Kick-Ass, Punisher etc.

Story pet peeves?

>Main villain is a sex pervert
>Police chief is in on the conspiracy
>Ribs break all the time

Ribs DO break all the time!

>Ambush bug
>realistic

But not without serious consequences. And how often do they really? To me it feels like a cool, non-apparent injury which is why it gets used so much.

Teleportation is like physics science dude.

It worked great for Watchmen but no one has come close to recapturing that magic.

Can it be recaptured? Considering Watchmen's meta nature and all.

Those are better told as detective stories, not superhero stories.

But in detective stories the protagonist discovers the truth that takes the baddie down. A superhero or a vigilante can go straight to the source.

>guys in the 80s with gadgets we don't even have today
>"world's smartest man" who is able to catch a bullet
>realistic
not even close

Punisher is the only one I can think of who's realistic & good

>combat experience & training from his time serving over seas
>uses guns, grenades, knives, & any other weapon he can get his hands on
>is a wanted vigilante
>actually kills his villains
the only thing unrealistic is how he can take all the damage he does & keep going

>how he can take all the damage he does & keep going
PCP

>realistic superheroes
There's an oxymoron right there. A realistic superhero is the Punisher, except he gets shot and killed during his third attack on the local gang and the police find his body stuffed in a sewer.

nothing about kick-ass is realistic

The basic premise is. And the story is too up until a certain point. Kid buys a costume, trains, gets the shit beat out of him first night out on patrol.

my favorite kinds of stories tend to be about realistic people and characters placed into unrealistic situations, and i think that's what makes a good realistic superhero.
Part of the reason Spider-Man was such a big hit is that they actually explored the human side behind the mask.