Superhero subgenres ?

[Merlyn]

Hello everybody,

I want to make a superhero poll on my personal forum and I want them to choose between several subgenres of comics like : street-level, avengers' like, cosmics...

I am looking if I can find a website detailing various superhero subgenre but I don't find any website on comics genre. Does someones know a webstite/blog/wiki which details various super subgenre ?

or can you give me a list of subgenre here ?

[Merlyn]

Re: Superhero subgenres ?

No answer ?

[Armada]

Re: Superhero subgenres ?

I'm not aware of any existing resource for your question and don't know if any formal academic work has been done to identify subgenres so finely. Generic definitions in fiction tend to be driven as much by marketing categorizations as they do by aesthetic differences, and so far as I know most comic book shops don't shelve their superhero books by subgenre. Heck, they mostly don't shelve by any genres at all, with horror and science fiction landing alongside superhero stuff by accident of alphabetization.

All that said--and be warned I'm thinking exactly as fast as I'm typing when I write this--I can think of a few aesthetic markers beyond the largish Golden/Silver[Bronze]/Dark[Iron] distinctions most everybody knows about. Superhero subgenres might include:

Big Science/Exploration: Fantastic Four, Challengers of the Unknown
Space Opera/Big SciFi: Guardians of the Galaxy, Legion of Super-heroes
Soap Opera: 1980s Uncanny X-men, New Teen Titans, Legion of Super-heroes
Recursive: Astro City, maybe Powers
Deconstructive: Watchmen, maybe Powers
Street Level Loners: At various times in their careers Batman, Daredevil, Green Arrow, Punisher, Spider-man, Black Lightning
Government Sponsored: At various times Avengers, Alpha Flight, probably others
The Biggest Superteam in the World: Avengers, Justice League
Secret or Reformed Super-villains: Secret Six, Suicide Squad
Literal Gods: Thor, Hercules, Sandman
Aliens Among Us: WildCATS (I think), Martian Manhunter, technically Superman
Cosmic Supercop: Green Lantern, was the Marvel Captain Marvel ever one of these?
Heroes for Hire: Power Man and Iron Fist, I think the Wally West Flash for a little while

The list, as they say, goes on.

[Merlyn]

Re: Superhero subgenres ?

Thanks for your answer Armada, that is a start .

[King Snarf]

Re: Superhero subgenres ?

There's also the Weird Western genre, as Western comics were folded into the Marvel and DC Universes as the "history" of those. Obviously, Jonah Hex is the most famous example.