What if dragon ball was a comic book series?

[It_Is_Ayna_You_Flips]

I don't know why there's so much hate for "superhero" stories. V for Vendetta was a superhero story and that's an all time classic.

I think it's more that comic books have significant challenges to the storytelling compared to the manga industry, and superheroes are simply far more common and thus provide bountiful examples. Plus we're sick and tired of the whole "Goku is Japanese Superman" thing.

He's the son of a dying race sent to Earth by his parents in their last escape pod. He is unfathomably more powerful than any human. The "higher powers" of Earth and the Universe consistently find themselves forced to seek out his help to deal with threats because no other creature except other members of his dead race measure up.

He's Japanese Superman.

[ABED]

I don't know why there's so much hate for "superhero" stories. V for Vendetta was a superhero story and that's an all time classic.

I think it's more that comic books have significant challenges to the storytelling compared to the manga industry, and superheroes are simply far more common and thus provide bountiful examples. Plus we're sick and tired of the whole "Goku is Japanese Superman" thing.

He's the son of a dying race sent to Earth by his parents in their last escape pod. He is unfathomably more powerful than any human. The "higher powers" of Earth and the Universe consistently find themselves forced to seek out his help to deal with threats because no other creature except other members of his dead race measure up.

He's Japanese Superman.

His raison d'etre isn't to rescue people.

[Robo4900]

He's the son of a dying race sent to Earth by his parents in their last escape pod. He is unfathomably more powerful than any human. The "higher powers" of Earth and the Universe consistently find themselves forced to seek out his help to deal with threats because no other creature except other members of his dead race measure up.

He's Japanese Superman.

Backstory =/= character, and the entire rest of that post there is a vague stretch you've constructed from a preconceived idea to draw other parallels about their situation while completely ignoring all actual character and context. (I mean, seriously, did you just bring up "He's more poweful than any human" as a point in this? I guess Piccolo is Superman too, then... Member of a dying race sent to earth to escape, he's strong, he actively deals with the "higher powers", even helping out in dealing with threats they want dealt with... You see how easy this is?)

Superman fights for truth, justice, and the American way. Unironically. He's a farm boy who was raised right by a pair of upstanding, moral citizens and is a beacon of goodness and hope in the world. He will make any and every sacrifice of himself, to help others. His ideology is an ideal model of just what a "good person" is. (Though, he also happens to be a bit of a dork in his day-to-day life. A delightful dork, but undoubtedly a dork. )

Son Goku is a pretty passive individual, whose only real life goal is to search for strong fights. He's not a bad guy, and he'll use his powers to help & save his friends in danger, like any good friend would, but he's ultimately quite a selfish dude. He outright let Vegeta, at that time the most vicious, dangerous, destructive, evil adversary he and his friends had ever faced, walk away and live so they could get to fight again someday. By the same token, he initially let Freeza live for basically the same reason. And even though they ended up retconning it to soften it, in Super, he literally puts the entire multiverse in danger so he could fight some strong guys.
Son Goku is as much Superman as Patrick Star is.

The only way you could conceivably argue Goku being anything like Superman is if your one and only exposure to Dragon Ball is some very specific parts of Funimation's heavily Americanised, highly unfaithful to the source material, butchered Macekre dub of the original anime shows that insist he's "The hope of the universe" or some other shit like that. He's ultimately a lovable goofball who just wants to fight strong guys and eat good food. But he's no altruistic symbol of goodness like Superman. He does mature over the original run, and he does fight the good fight for his friends and his family against world-ending threats, which he does as a reaction to these threats. The only time he picks a fight with someone is... To pick a fight with a strong guy.

superheroes is just a genre

It's not even that. It's more like a category like anime or manga.

Incorrect. Anime and Manga are mediums. Superhero stories are most definitely a genre. Genre categorizes art forms by similarities in style and subject matter. Superhero stories can exist in multiple mediums (e.g. TV shows, movies, and comic books).

No, anime is a category of animation for TV & film, and manga is a comic, both produced in Japan, or produced to emulate the culture and philosophies of content production in Japan. They're useful terms, but they're not genres, and they're not mediums. They fall within a medium, and usually have a genre.
And similarly, superhero stories are just a category, albeit one that applies to many mediums (though let's be honest, the same is true of anime and manga; we have the two different terms for them, but they ultimately refer to the same category within their medium, and you do have music, video games, etc. that would be considered anime in all the ways that a cartoon can be considered one, or that a comic can be considered a manga). Genre will usually tell you something useful about the contents of the work, but really all "Superhero story" tells you is that it involves... Superheroes. Good luck getting more specific than that; remember genre, category, and every other form of terminology exists to be useful for some purpose. We separate anime from western cartoons because it's useful to single out Japanese animation because of the different culture, tropes, and fandom, ditto for manga vs western comics. Superhero media does have certain expectations and tropes, but you couldn't really call it a genre like you can for comedy, thriller, horror, etc. You go to horror films for different reasons you go to comedy films. "Superhero film" could be either; it doesn't tell you anything you'd need to make a distinction of the same kind; same for "superhero comic", or any other kind of superhero media.

Similarly, anime and manga doesn't tell you anything. Would you recommend Evangelion to someone who liked Dragon Ball, simply because they're both well-liked anime? Probably not. Meanwhile, if someone you know has liked a couple of horror films, it might be worth recommending The Shining, or It or something.

TBH, terminology about categories vs genre etc. is all a bit wooly and nitpicky anyway, but ultimately, I think calling "Superhero media" a genre is honestly a pretty reductive way of thinking, it implies a lot about what superhero media tends to have in common, it sort of carries the assumption that the entire category of superhero media is as similar in style, tone, genre (:P), etc. as the vast majority of Marvel Studios' movie output.

[ABED]

They aren't separate mediums from comics and animated series, but then I guess you could call them sub-mediums. They aren't genres, and there's no kinds of stories that are inherent to manga or anime. They can be whatever they want. Manga and Anime just denotes being made in Japan.

Genre will usually tell you something useful about the contents of the work, but really all "Superhero story" tells you is that it involves... Superheroes. Good luck getting more specific than that; remember genre, category, and every other form of terminology exists to be useful for some purpose.

I know, but Superhero tells you a lot. It tells us the aim of the characters, the kinds of worlds they inhabit and generally what the ethos is. I could not disagree with you more. Some genres are broader than others, it's that simple.

"Superhero film" doesn't tell you anything you'd need to make a distinction of the same kind;

That's flat out incorrect, and I'm honestly baffled as to how you came to such a conclusion. A genre label doesn't tell you everything about the works that fall into its category, but it tells someone crucial aspects about it. What's also important to take into consideration is how MANY stories also mix genres. Genres can be broad and some can more specific.

Detective fiction is a genre even though it also encompasses a WIDE variety of tones and aesthetics. It can be very serious and pessimistic like Chinatown, or it can be light and comedic like Psych and Monk.

[KBABZ]

He's the son of a dying race sent to Earth by his parents in their last escape pod. He is unfathomably more powerful than any human. The "higher powers" of Earth and the Universe consistently find themselves forced to seek out his help to deal with threats because no other creature except other members of his dead race measure up.

He's Japanese Superman.

The only way you could conceivably argue Goku being anything like Superman is if your one and only exposure to Dragon Ball is some very specific parts of Funimation's heavily Americanised, highly unfaithful to the source material, butchered Macekre dub of the original anime shows that insist he's "The hope of the universe" or some other shit like that. He's ultimately a lovable goofball who just wants to fight strong guys and eat good food. But he's no altruistic symbol of goodness like Superman.

The notion that Goku is Japanese Superman basically comes from this last paragraph. If you jumped into the series at Z you immediately get the "baby sent to Earth from a dying world" backstory and, combined with the dub of the time, would assume that Goku is a full-time protector like Superman is. By this point in the story, he's conveniently fallen into the same storytelling mechanisms as Superman (even if many of them are derived from wuxia and chinese myth rather than Cool Shit in Space).

But if you watched the series from the start, you'd know that this reveal comes after four years of Goku being some strange happy-go-lucky monkey boy with an eerie strength about him who discovers his love of fighting early into the story and is excited to fight people stronger than him because it ignites his true passion in life. And whether he's flandarized in Super or not, Goku is still that excited kid from the 21st Tenkaichi Budokai finals at heart. When it comes to characters like Daimao, Vegeta, Frieza, Cell, Buu, Beerus, Jiren, Broly, whoever, the world is his playbox and he'll frequently make some confusing and outright rash choices to keep a good opponent around, so he often doesn't truly realize how much he puts the world at risk. Which is the exact opposite of Superman.

[MyVisionity]

He's the son of a dying race sent to Earth by his parents in their last escape pod. He is unfathomably more powerful than any human. The "higher powers" of Earth and the Universe consistently find themselves forced to seek out his help to deal with threats because no other creature except other members of his dead race measure up.

He's Japanese Superman.

You are correct in your parallels. But it's a bit of an overstatement to call Goku the "Japanese Superman".

Also it's important to remember that the "Superman" elements did not appear until a third of the way into the story, and were totally unplanned. They don't contribute towards the foundation of the character and series.

[It_Is_Ayna_You_Flips]

He's the son of a dying race sent to Earth by his parents in their last escape pod. He is unfathomably more powerful than any human. The "higher powers" of Earth and the Universe consistently find themselves forced to seek out his help to deal with threats because no other creature except other members of his dead race measure up.

He's Japanese Superman.

Backstory =/= character, and the entire rest of that post there is a vague stretch you've constructed from a preconceived idea to draw other parallels about their situation while completely ignoring all actual character and context. (I mean, seriously, did you just bring up "He's more poweful than any human" as a point in this? I guess Piccolo is Superman too, then... Member of a dying race sent to earth to escape, he's strong, he actively deals with the "higher powers", even helping out in dealing with threats they want dealt with... You see how easy this is?)

Backstory/shared history are what's important here. If it came down to values or shared philosophies people would be calling Cyborg 009 the Japanese Superman and Captain America the Marvel Superman. No one does that because neither character is a superman. They're a cyborg and a super soldier. Goku on the other hand very clearly is right down to his origin story

[ABED]

He's the son of a dying race sent to Earth by his parents in their last escape pod. He is unfathomably more powerful than any human. The "higher powers" of Earth and the Universe consistently find themselves forced to seek out his help to deal with threats because no other creature except other members of his dead race measure up.

He's Japanese Superman.

Backstory =/= character, and the entire rest of that post there is a vague stretch you've constructed from a preconceived idea to draw other parallels about their situation while completely ignoring all actual character and context. (I mean, seriously, did you just bring up "He's more poweful than any human" as a point in this? I guess Piccolo is Superman too, then... Member of a dying race sent to earth to escape, he's strong, he actively deals with the "higher powers", even helping out in dealing with threats they want dealt with... You see how easy this is?)

Backstory/shared history are what's important here. If it came down to values or shared philosophies people would be calling Cyborg 009 the Japanese Superman and Captain America the Marvel Superman. No one does that because neither character is a superman. They're a cyborg and a super soldier. Goku on the other hand very clearly is right down to his origin story

There is no hard and fast rule to this. It's not like Superman created that origin story. The only thing they have in common is a superficially similar origin and powers. Their origins are also very different. Goku was sent to kill. Kal-El was sent to live. Goku's goal is to fight. Superman/Clark's goal is to help people.

[It_Is_Ayna_You_Flips]

He's the son of a dying race sent to Earth by his parents in their last escape pod. He is unfathomably more powerful than any human. The "higher powers" of Earth and the Universe consistently find themselves forced to seek out his help to deal with threats because no other creature except other members of his dead race measure up.

He's Japanese Superman.

You are correct in your parallels. But it's a bit of an overstatement to call Goku the "Japanese Superman".

Also it's important to remember that the "Superman" elements did not appear until a third of the way into the story, and were totally unplanned. They don't contribute towards the foundation of the character and series.

Hey. I much prefered the Journey to the West Goku. I flat out dislike the alien baby with doting parents Goku. But it is what it is and I don't see what the point in pretending the parallels aren't there.

[ABED]

The parallels exist but are superficial at best.

[Toxin45]

Both Tao Pai Pai and Freeza were back for a cup of coffee prior to Super. Pilaf is such a mook, he's not the equivalent of a supervillain. His coming back is more of just an annoyance to the heroes, if that. The ones that come back and stay eventually become protagonists. That's not the same as The Riddler or Lex Luthor constantly coming back and being presented as a threat. It wasn't until Super and its insistence on keeping Freeza around.

It's kinda like what happened to the Ratchet & Clank series where, after A Crack in Time, Nefarious (previously the fan-favourite) became THE R&C villain, which became contrived when he was killed off in CiT only to be brought back as a playable character in All 4 One. By that point the fans became sick of him so they moved away for the next two games... only for the movie to then bring him back as the string-puller.

Basically Nefarious, like Frieza, went from the Iconic Villain of the Franchise to THE Villain of the Franchise that they brought back under contrived circumstances.

People still having issues on nefarious?

[KBABZ]

People still having issues on nefarious?

Possibly less so nowadays since there's been several years since A4O and the movie, although I don't know for sure as the death of the Insomniac Games Forums meant I dropped out of the R&C community.

[Toxin45]

People still having issues on nefarious?

Possibly less so nowadays since there's been several years since A4O and the movie, although I don't know for sure as the death of the Insomniac Games Forums meant I dropped out of the R&C community.

Yeah it’s probably less of an issue.

[Robo4900]

They aren't separate mediums from comics and animated series, but then I guess you could call them sub-mediums. They aren't genres, and there's no kinds of stories that are inherent to manga or anime. They can be whatever they want. Manga and Anime just denotes being made in Japan.

Exactly.

That's flat out incorrect, and I'm honestly baffled as to how you came to such a conclusion. A genre label doesn't tell you everything about the works that fall into its category, but it tells someone crucial aspects about it. What's also important to take into consideration is how MANY stories also mix genres. Genres can be broad and some can more specific.
Detective fiction is a genre even though it also encompasses a WIDE variety of tones and aesthetics. It can be very serious and pessimistic like Chinatown, or it can be light and comedic like Psych and Monk.

You're reading a lot of things I straight-up didn't say there, and I'm honestly baffled as to how you came to such a conclusion.

I know, but Superhero tells you a lot. It tells us the aim of the characters, the kinds of worlds they inhabit and generally what the ethos is. I could not disagree with you more. Some genres are broader than others, it's that simple.

Not really. Again, compare Watchmen, Spider-Man, and Thor Ragnarok. Watchmen is a group of awful people, some of whom are trying to solve the murder of a colleage of theirs, others are retired and don't do anything other than dwell on the past, one of them doesn't care about humans, and one of them is... Well... It's a 35-year-old comic, and an 11-year-old film, but I won't spoil it anyway. And it's ultimately a deconstructionist satire, and a rather intense one at that. Spider-Man is a high schooler with high schooler issues who also happens to be the world's most down-trodden, unlucky superhero. It ranges from comedy to tragedy... Y'know what, I don't have to continue describing Spider-Man to you. I'll move on. Thor Ragnarok is about a dude, his brother, and a work buddy trying to get back home and deal with his sister who's wrecking up the place. It's a comedy about reconciling with a problematic past of toxic imperialism that's destroying your civilisation, and also reconciling with family who grew apart. And then there's stuff like the upcoming movie New Mutants, which is straight-up horror. Guardians Of The Galaxy is a light space opera, Logan is a hopeful but downbeat western/road movie.

And... Y'know what, if you want to argue this with me further, I'd appreciate if you gave me something to work with; what exactly does the "Superhero genre" mean? What does it actually tell you about a work? What does it tell you about the aim of the characters, the world they inhabit, and their ethos? As I've just laid out, there doesn't seem to be any commonality there, so... Honestly, I think I'm just gonna leave it at this, if you can't raise anything of substance I can play off of.

"Superhero media" is as much a genre as "Supernatural fiction" is. It doesn't describe anything meaningful about the story, just a surface-level implication about some facet about its world and/or protagonist(s) and/or antagonist(s).
To paraphrase you: They aren't genres, and there's no kinds of stories that are inherent to superhero fiction. They can be whatever they want. "Superhero" just denotes superpowers and/or vigilantism being involved.

Backstory/shared history are what's important here. If it came down to values or shared philosophies people would be calling Cyborg 009 the Japanese Superman and Captain America the Marvel Superman. No one does that because neither character is a superman. They're a cyborg and a super soldier. Goku on the other hand very clearly is right down to his origin story

Captain America IS the Marvel Superman, though. I haven't seen Cyborg 009, but probably yes, he is the Japanese Superman. Backstory/shared history don't matter. Like... Okay, let's try this:

If I take Goku, exactly as he's been presented in the franchise so far, you would still say he's Japanese Superman...

Okay, but what if I altered history such that Raditz neglected to mention anything about his personal history prior to his arrival on earth? What if, all else being the same, Raditz never actually told Goku how he got to earth, just that he's one of the last living Saiyans? Is he still Japanese Superman? Clearly, he's the same character, but a part of his backstory that the antagonist turns to the camera to say is slightly different in a way that takes away an irrelevant yet mildly humourous parallel. Is he still Japanese Superman, keeping in mind I haven't changed his character, or anything in the events of his life?

Now, what if Dragon Ball's story ended with Goku dying after they beat Raditz. Let's say... I dunno, maybe Goku was already revived once before, or maybe Piccolo also died in the fight, who cares. Whatever the case, Raditz never called in the other Saiyans, Piccolo killed both Goku and Raditz in one blow, they never met Freeza, Dr Gero ended up never activating his cyborgs or Cell, Babidi never came to earth, neither did Beerus or Moro, Goku dying fighting Raditz is the end of the story. So, now he doesn't really deal with the same level of cosmic threats you describe, but he's still exactly the same character, and his story up to this point is the same, and it's about half of the original story... Is he still Japanese Superman?

Now, let's turn this on its head.
What if we take a different route, and I take Wolverine from Marvel comics. Except I give him literally Goku's entire backstory leading up to the start of OG Dragon Ball, and he goes through his life, being Wolverine, exactly as we know him from the comics, movies, and TV shows, but he experiences all of the storylines from Dragon Ball, and ultimately they all go somewhat similar to how we know them to have, but Goku himself is 100% different in personality and everything. Is he still Japanese Superman?
And if so, is he still Japanese Superman if we make that one adjustment where we don't find out how he got to earth?
And if so, is he still Japanese Superman if the story ends after the Raditz fight?

Character is what makes characters. Not ephemeral backstory details.

[It_Is_Ayna_You_Flips]

Character is what makes characters. Not ephemeral backstory details.

I disagree completely. While there's no one universal set of criteria for archetypes, each archetype does have its own checklist.

The Superman archetype is much simpler than, for example, the Batman archetype. Batman is defined both by his origin story (murdered parents) and the way he handles that trauma (by mirroring the man who murdered his parents and becoming a terrifying creature of darkness that frightens even the most violent members of society into compliance). For a character to be another Batman they need to hit a lot of bullet points because Batman is meant to be complicated. Even characters who are incredibly similar to the Batman are still also obviously not one which is why no one (or at least no one I've met) considers Spiderman Marvel's Batman.

There is no symbolism in how Superman handles villains and there's no traumatic inciting moment that sets him on the path to becoming Superman. The Superman just is. That's why he wears the blankets his parents left him in and why his parents choosing to save him is so central to the archetype. He is alien and beyond the motivations of the humans around him. DC presented the Superman as a great hero who works to save those around him because he sees value in even the smallest life. Toriyama presented the Superman as a great warrior who works to better himself because it brings him joy.

If Goku were still the Goku that Raditz described, I wouldn't be saying this. He'd be his own very distinct thing then. And if there had never been a Raditz or if Raditz had just been some outsider seeking out potential soldiers for Freeza's army I think Goku would have been better of for it. There's a reason the Shonen Protag Archetype got to be so popular and resonated so strongly with Toriyama's peers.

[Polyphase Avatron]

I guess Piccolo is Superman too, then... Member of a dying race sent to earth to escape, he's strong, he actively deals with the "higher powers", even helping out in dealing with threats they want dealt with... You see how easy this is?)

No, he's Martian Manhunter.

Anyway, everyone knows that Ultraman is the real Japanese Superman

[KBABZ]

I guess Piccolo is Superman too, then... Member of a dying race sent to earth to escape, he's strong, he actively deals with the "higher powers", even helping out in dealing with threats they want dealt with... You see how easy this is?)

No, he's Martian Manhunter.

Anyway, everyone knows that Ultraman is the real Japanese Superman

I thought it was Suppaman. Incredibly sour and regular!

[It_Is_Ayna_You_Flips]

I guess Piccolo is Superman too, then... Member of a dying race sent to earth to escape, he's strong, he actively deals with the "higher powers", even helping out in dealing with threats they want dealt with... You see how easy this is?)

No, he's Martian Manhunter.

Anyway, everyone knows that Ultraman is the real Japanese Superman

Wait... does this mean that ChiChi was secretly Superman this whole time?

[ABED]

They aren't separate mediums from comics and animated series, but then I guess you could call them sub-mediums. They aren't genres, and there's no kinds of stories that are inherent to manga or anime. They can be whatever they want. Manga and Anime just denotes being made in Japan.

Exactly.

That's flat out incorrect, and I'm honestly baffled as to how you came to such a conclusion. A genre label doesn't tell you everything about the works that fall into its category, but it tells someone crucial aspects about it. What's also important to take into consideration is how MANY stories also mix genres. Genres can be broad and some can more specific.
Detective fiction is a genre even though it also encompasses a WIDE variety of tones and aesthetics. It can be very serious and pessimistic like Chinatown, or it can be light and comedic like Psych and Monk.

You're reading a lot of things I straight-up didn't say there, and I'm honestly baffled as to how you came to such a conclusion.

I know, but Superhero tells you a lot. It tells us the aim of the characters, the kinds of worlds they inhabit and generally what the ethos is. I could not disagree with you more. Some genres are broader than others, it's that simple.

Not really. Again, compare Watchmen, Spider-Man, and Thor Ragnarok. Watchmen is a group of awful people, some of whom are trying to solve the murder of a colleage of theirs, others are retired and don't do anything other than dwell on the past, one of them doesn't care about humans, and one of them is... Well... It's a 35-year-old comic, and an 11-year-old film, but I won't spoil it anyway. And it's ultimately a deconstructionist satire, and a rather intense one at that. Spider-Man is a high schooler with high schooler issues who also happens to be the world's most down-trodden, unlucky superhero. It ranges from comedy to tragedy... Y'know what, I don't have to continue describing Spider-Man to you. I'll move on. Thor Ragnarok is about a dude, his brother, and a work buddy trying to get back home and deal with his sister who's wrecking up the place. It's a comedy about reconciling with a problematic past of toxic imperialism that's destroying your civilisation, and also reconciling with family who grew apart. And then there's stuff like the upcoming movie New Mutants, which is straight-up horror. Guardians Of The Galaxy is a light space opera, Logan is a hopeful but downbeat western/road movie.

And... Y'know what, if you want to argue this with me further, I'd appreciate if you gave me something to work with; what exactly does the "Superhero genre" mean? What does it actually tell you about a work? What does it tell you about the aim of the characters, the world they inhabit, and their ethos? As I've just laid out, there doesn't seem to be any commonality there, so... Honestly, I think I'm just gonna leave it at this, if you can't raise anything of substance I can play off of.

"Superhero media" is as much a genre as "Supernatural fiction" is. It doesn't describe anything meaningful about the story, just a surface-level implication about some facet about its world and/or protagonist(s) and/or antagonist(s).
To paraphrase you: They aren't genres, and there's no kinds of stories that are inherent to superhero fiction. They can be whatever they want. "Superhero" just denotes superpowers and/or vigilantism being involved.

Watchmen is a superhero story, sure, but it's a deconstruction of the superhero genre. Nothing about the term genre implies it has to tell you everything. Thor and Spider-Man are definitely both in the superhero genre. They both have superpowers, they both spend their time trying to save the day, and both wear colorful costumes. You are getting way too hung up on the details. And as I've said, stories can combine genres. And if you are going to ask me what the superhero genre is, I'm gonna tell you that I don't think you are reading my points carefully because I already told you some of the important aspects of said genre were in not just this post, but my previous post.

As you've laid out, it tells you a lot actually. Spider-Man and Thor are classic superheroes. Both have powers, colorful costumes, and use their gifts to save the world. Your last sentence pisses me off because it's like you aren't actually interested in anything anyone has to say and will disregard substance because it disproves your point. I'm sorry, but you are grossly naïve and flat out wrong. That you don't consider superhero fiction a genre is bafflingly obtuse. You are the ONLY person I've ever seen make such a ridiculous claim.

Instead of glibly turning my words back at me, how about you explain where I read into your points something that wasn't there.

Supernatural fiction IS a genre, a very broad one, but still a genre, but to get to the meat of the matter, Superhero fiction is a much more specific genre. It describes a world where people of various backgrounds decide to dress up in elaborate costumes to fight crime. Costumes, not uniforms. They often have powers beyond those of normal human beings, and fight crime, usually against other beings with superpowers or just colorful gimmicks, because they feel their powers must be used for some greater purpose than self enrichment. It also says that governments are ill equipped to deal with such threats. Those are not mere surface level implications.

Lastly, "genre" is simply a French word meaning "a kind, sort, style". This absolutely qualifies. You are getting so hung up on the details you fail to see that some genres are incredibly broad. To my understanding, to be Wuxia simply requires the story to be based around martial arts and combine it with fantasy. That's it. Detective fiction is a genre that encompasses a lot and doesn't tell you much beyond there's a crime and someone, either a police officer or PI is charged with figuring it out and stopping the perpetrator. It tells us little more but it's still a genre.

[Toxin45]

There are other genres for comic books not just superheroes some comic books have a beginning,middle,and end like the walking dead and fables. It’s just that marvel and dc have been around for a long time that it is hard to compete with them. There are some comic books where characters age and die just like real life like savage dragon and judge dredd.