Have you ever noticed that Superheroes never tell us what it's actually like to be a Superhero, aside from the “Everyone hates/loves me, but I have to hide from the public eye to protect my loved ones, and I love this guy/girl, but the weight of the world...” types of situations? I have recently been writing a book where the main character gets dosed with a drug that alters her perception of things. She's now faster and stronger than she was just a few pages before. She heals impossibly fast, and her mind works differently (not to say she's 'smarter' per se, but she's experiencing different priorities, insights and perspectives). This seems sort of Superhero-esque, doesn't it?
The issue here? The book is in the first person, and I can't recall in all of my geeky years of comic book reading any in depth description of what it feels like to change into a human being that can teleport, or becomes impossibly strong or fast. I have no reference for what it's actually like to be a Superhero, as fake or impossible as it may be. I think we've become used to the idea that spandex and a mask is a Superhero, not the altered physical makeup, or different perspective of the world that a Superhero may have because of his/her powers.
I've thought about a few scenarios where I notice my own physical shape changing through a particular exercise, weight lifting, running, or swimming. I have some idea of the physiology behind exercise and such, but no one can really know what it's like to be “super” necessarily.
For instance, I know of a thing called “runners high” from experience, which is why runners keep running even though the activity itself is exhausting to both muscles and various organs, as well as making you incredibly uncomfortable from sweat. Immediately after the discomfort comes this feeling of euphoria through the endorphins you're given from the muscle activity and raised heart rate. The result is a runners high, which is a wonderful (though brief) experience.
Would exercising your ability to lift a car with little effort give you something like a runners high at that time? Would you experience that euphoria all the time (perhaps why Superheroes do things for others)? Would some experience euphoria, and others frustration that everyone else is beneath them? Does this phenomenon never apply to you, if you had “super” abilities?
I've looked into two books that I had high hopes would help me. The first is called Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman, which is a wonderful novel written from the first person perspective of both Superhero and Supervillain. However, it doesn't quite go into the depth I'm interested in learning about.
For instance, the first narrator discusses his IQ being something “above 300” where he's the smartest man in the room. It talks about how “In 8 minutes you can think about a lot” but then goes on to talk about how he thinks about what he'd like to do when he gets out of prison with no details as to what that is. The narrator discusses his invulnerability, his disdain for normal human beings, and a little bit about how he's tried to trick the guards on occasion, making them paranoid about this character.
This book is a phenomenal read – but it's lacking something. It's lacking that insight directly to the inner workings of some super power. For instance, with an IQ of over 300, I would imagine this characters perspective of the world would change. As a friend of mine mentioned, he might do something like taste color, or view things differently. Not just “humans are weak and stupid” more like perhaps “I feel sorry for them, they will never see the depth of the world in detail as I do,” where this character may be able to visually, or by some other sense process the molecules in an item or something of that nature – have a very literal sixth sense of sorts.
For someone with superior strength, I'd like to see their transformation from the moment they were normal to the time when puberty took over and they started to notice change. Or if it happened due to some great accident, the before and after of it all. I realize human beings don't necessarily process when their inner workings change, but what not? I notice how much straighter I stand when I'm in shape versus when I'm not – not just by confidence, but the passive muscle support that keeps things in place with little additional effort.
The second book I looked into was the Physics of Superheroes by James Kakalios. This discusses the physics used in the Superhero world to make this universe feel more realistic. Examples are given, like when Superman catches a damsel in distress and her spine breaks in half because he caught her at high velocity one direction and she was falling at high velocity a different direction. This book is fascinating from a science perspective, but it still doesn't give me a solid idea of how it feels to be especially strong, or fast for any reason.
The general census is: Superhero writers seem to take short cuts to get around explaining this in some way. Either by showing the physical change of a hero visually through an artist (he has big muscles now, she has waves around her head indicating telepathy), or by simply excusing it as being a confusing time like puberty (so many changes within, I'm a weirdo, no one else is like me). It's not their fault, either. This is a huge question that very few people want or ask for, I'm sure. It's a lot of detail and insight into something no one can really know about, taking a lot of additional effort and time to construct while world building.
I suppose as someone who is obsessed with details, this is a bit of a personal challenge – but I want to share with people what it is like for this character to basically become a Superhero. I want to put you in her shoes. Share her addiction to feeling unnaturally powerful, the different things she notices now that she's not worried about something like catching the bus on time, her altered perspective on priorities and insight into human beings intentions. The way her muscles react like the nerves between her muscles and her mind are so in sync no matter what else is going on. Her ability to process scenarios based on her surroundings and pick the best possible outcome in a split second, etc.
I'm sure there are comics out there that may have examples of this style of writing and description detail (and if so, please leave a note telling me what they are so I can experience them for myself) out there that I haven't found just yet, I just haven't seen any in my time reading comics. There are simply too many for me to keep up with, especially when I have other equally nerdy hobbies as well.
A rough draft example of my description chapter may appear here before too long, and I welcome any feedback on that – and this. Do you think it's an insane idea to expect someone to introspect when they've suddenly become better, faster, stronger, or smarter than any of us? Or does it make sense to just say “I am strong now!” in some form or another? I'm really focused on this project at the moment, and telling me to lighten up might not be a bad suggestion.
