Burnt out or broken superhero stories

[moonfly7]

I'm looking for suggestions for books and comics with burnt out or broken superhero's, preferably about them getting back in the groove but not necessarily. Don't know why but I've got a hankerin for stories like this but I'm having trouble finding them.

[Kareeah_Indaga]

Have you looked into the "Old Man ____" comics? (Old Man Logan, Old Man Quill, I think there was one with Hawkeye too?) The setting is basically 'the Marvel universe, except the villains won and killed off most of the heroes, and the sorry remainder mostly gave up or retired.'

[J-H]

Ward, the sequel to wildbow's Worm, fits this category.
I'm a month or two behind right now and will catch up later when I don't mind the random body horror and general depressing/mental illness tone.

[paddyfool]

Some of the "animal man" comics definitely had this.

Then there's the Breaking the Bat saga. Arguably also The Dark Knight Returns.

Watchmen

I think maybe Kevin Smith's run on Green Arrow

Some characters in The Boys.

[moonfly7]

Have you looked into the "Old Man ____" comics? (Old Man Logan, Old Man Quill, I think there was one with Hawkeye too?) The setting is basically 'the Marvel universe, except the villains won and killed off most of the heroes, and the sorry remainder mostly gave up or retired.'


Some of the "animal man" comics definitely had this.

Then there's the Breaking the Bat saga. Arguably also The Dark Knight Returns.

Watchmen

I think maybe Kevin Smith's run on Green Arrow

Some characters in The Boys.
I'll try to check these out but I'm more looking for new characters and stories I haven't seen before instead of new takes on old characters. Although these do sound pretty dope.

Ward, the sequel to wildbow's Worm, fits this category.
I'm a month or two behind right now and will catch up later when I don't mind the random body horror and general depressing/mental illness tone.
Thanks I'll check it out.

[Precure]

Andy Diggle's Daredevil run is a good start.

[Durkoala]

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse has this as the story of two of the Spiders. (Peter B. and Gwen Stacy). The Young protagonist of the story isn't sure if the old, depressed Spider-Man is helping him teaching him life skills or if Peter is learning them from him.

If you've spent the last twenty years living under a rock, The Incredibles might count. It's more like a Midlife Crisis Superhero movie than a broken one, but it should be close enough.

And if you don't mind YA books, iBoy is the story of a boy who gets superpowers after an accident involving an iphone. Despite the goofy-sounding premise and the age of the hero, this is a story about a superhero whose origin story breaks him and his attempts to put himself back to something resembling normality.

[JeenLeen]

I know you said books/comic books, but the movie Hancock fits this. I enjoyed all of it, and most folk seem to think the first half or so is decent.

Of other media, I can't think of anything the others above don't already state.

[JDMSJR]

Perhaps One Punch Man even though its is a comedy/deconstruction. In the beginning of the series Saitama is in the throes of apathy/depression and doesn't have any friends, and it isn't until he meets Genos that he starts to come out of it and get interested in life again.

[Ramza00]

I'm looking for suggestions for books and comics with burnt out or broken superhero's, preferably about them getting back in the groove but not necessarily. Don't know why but I've got a hankerin for stories like this but I'm having trouble finding them.

Batman Beyond.

[Wraith]

Kingdom Come, a run by the comics company DC as the semi-canonical story of how the DC universe 'ends'. Some truly beautiful artwork and one of my favourite arcs in comics.

The Sandman by Nail Gaiman/Vertigo comics. The entire series is very broadly about how the titular character realises his limitations and sets plans in motion to 'retire', however the first issue in particular sees him return from a 70-year absence and realise just how much things have changed and how weak he has become in the mean time, so he sets about trying to reclaim his position.

I would also highly recommend Interesting Times and then The Last Hero by Terry Pratchett. Among many other things, it's the story of Cohen the Barbarian - a ~90ish year old barbarian hero who is trying to retire to an easy life but other things keep getting in the way, so he decides to make the Gods pay for the 'unfairness' of people having to grow old and die.
Strictly speaking he's not a superhero, but he's probably the closest thing to it on Discworld and some of his achievements rival that of traditional Capes.

[Beleriphon]

I would also highly recommend Interesting Times and then The Last Hero by Terry Pratchett. Among many other things, it's the story of Cohen the Barbarian - a ~90ish year old barbarian hero who is trying to retire to an easy life but other things keep getting in the way, so he decides to make the Gods pay for the 'unfairness' of people having to grow old and die.
Strictly speaking he's not a superhero, but he's probably the closest thing to it on Discworld and some of his achievements rival that of traditional Capes.

On Cohen, he appears in Interesting Times, but the story is ultimately about Rincewind. Cohen is more one giant joke about Mongolian Hordes, specifically the Golden Horde.

[uncool]

Inheritors is a web serial with some aspects of this. https://inheritorsserial.com/

[Wraith]

On Cohen, he appears in Interesting Times, but the story is ultimately about Rincewind. Cohen is more one giant joke about Mongolian Hordes, specifically the Golden Horde.

You're not wrong, but I thought it worth mentioning. Cohen's entire arc is about him trying to find a way to retire and get out of the heroing business.... Through what is possibly the most inefficient means of doing so, I admit. :smalltongue:

In a way, so is Rincewind's arc. Having saved the world at least once, all he wanted was somewhere quiet where he wouldn't be bothered and he could eat his dinner in peace, but Fate (literally!) conspired against him and he's dragged out of retirement to go and see what's happening in the Counterweight Continent.... :smalltongue:

[Mordar]

I'll try to check these out but I'm more looking for new characters and stories I haven't seen before instead of new takes on old characters. Although these do sound pretty dope.

One could argue Dark Knight Returns basically defines the sub-genre, at least in mainstream books. Knightfall (what paddyfool appropriately calls Breaking the Bat) is much more of a traditional come-back story ala pro wrestling, but with more layers.

Both worth the read. Also, Knightfall is why I *SOOOOOO* hate all of the movie versions of Bane.

- M

[Jan Mattys]

I understand that you'd prefer "new" heroes and situations but really, if stories of jaded heroes are what you are looking for and you never read those I can't recommend "The Dark Knight Returns" and "Kingdom Come" enough.

[uncool]

Another web serial with some aspects of this: Interviewing Leather, at https://banter-latte.com/portfolio/interviewing-leather/

[tomandtish]

Drew HAYES' Corpies (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01D9C21DE/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p2_i5) probably counts. You can read it without having had to read Super Powereds.

[Gnoman]

One could argue Dark Knight Returns basically defines the sub-genre, at least in mainstream books. Knightfall (what paddyfool appropriately calls Breaking the Bat) is much more of a traditional come-back story ala pro wrestling, but with more layers.

Both worth the read. Also, Knightfall is why I *SOOOOOO* hate all of the movie versions of Bane.

- M

It is worth noting that Knightfall, like the Death And Return Of Superman has been novelized, so that might be more accessible to people that aren't fans of the comic book format.

[Manga Shoggoth]

If you don't mind a brief foray into terrible old videos, The Return of Captain Invincible (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Return_of_Captain_Invincible) stars a superhero who starts off as an alchoholic, and much of the film is someone trying to dry him out to fight the big bad. The final battle even includes the bad guy (played by Christopher Lee, no less) trying to tip him back into drink.

It's a hilariously bad film, and apparantly a favourite of Terry Pratchetts.

[veti]

Every episode of Spongebob featuring Mermaidman and Barnacle Boy.

What? Why are you looking at me like that?

[Silfir]

The anime Machikado Mazoku features a magical girl who once saved the world, but at the time the story takes place, has been living alone for years and is jaded, depressed and barely even takes care of herself anymore - she keeps up her strength, but she subsists on takeout fast food and hasn't transformed in years. At fifteen years old she might be the youngest example of this trope you're looking for.

Thankfully she's the deuteragonist. The protagonist is another girl from her school who spent most of her childhood up to this point in and out of hospital, but just now has awoken to her heritage as a demon of the dark clan. To lift the curse that was placed on her family, she has to defeat magical girls and harvest their blood, and she is determined to succeed! It's almost a shame that she is the kindest soul that has ever walked the planet and just generally not too bright.

[Jay R]

There are lots. These are my favorites.

Days of Future Past -- either the comic or the movie. It starts in the future, when the most of the X-Men and all mutants have been hunted down and killed or incarcerated

Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? This is the final story of the Silver Age Superman.

Kingdom Come. The Mark Waid and Alex Ross comic. The old DC heroes have retired, and the new heroes don't have their morals and values.

Absolute Justice. A double-sized episode from the ninth seasons of Smallville, featuring the retired Justice Society.

Lots of people will recommend The Dark Knight Returns, but I don't like how it treats Superman.

[deeselppa]

The "Black Hammer" series by Jeff Lemire has some great characterizations that might work for you.

[Gnoman]

The anime Machikado Mazoku features a magical girl who once saved the world, but at the time the story takes place, has been living alone for years and is jaded, depressed and barely even takes care of herself anymore - she keeps up her strength, but she subsists on takeout fast food and hasn't transformed in years. At fifteen years old she might be the youngest example of this trope you're looking for.

Thankfully she's the deuteragonist. The protagonist is another girl from her school who spent most of her childhood up to this point in and out of hospital, but just now has awoken to her heritage as a demon of the dark clan. To lift the curse that was placed on her family, she has to defeat magical girls and harvest their blood, and she is determined to succeed! It's almost a shame that she is the kindest soul that has ever walked the planet and just generally not too bright.

Does the anime really cover the story adequately? Wikipedia says it is a 12-episode series, and I've seen a lot of those that were just too short to work with the existing material.

[Silfir]

Does the anime really cover the story adequately? Wikipedia says it is a 12-episode series, and I've seen a lot of those that were just too short to work with the existing material.

I'd certainly say so - I was introduced to the story through the anime.

The episodes are full-length, and cover the first 27 chapters of the manga. It ends on a lovely note, I thought, though as the manga is still ongoing and the anime is intended to get people to buy the manga in the first place there's no anime-original ending or anything.

I'm really rooting for a second season to be made. The blu-ray sales are decent enough, and a Machikado Mazoku meme did take first place in a Nico Nico Douga Top 100 Anime Memes list (or something like that) last year. So, you know, it's basically guaranteed.

[Knaight]

It's an ongoing motif in the Wildcard anthologies, and there's a little of it in the Spark and Dark series (starting with All Those Explosions Were Someone Else's Fault, possibly my favorite title).

For visual media I can't recommend Megamind enough; it fits this perfectly.

[Sivarias]

I hate toye recommend it because it's not finished yet, but the Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss is a broken hero story telling the tale of how he eventually became broken.

[Iku Rex]

It's been a while since I read it, but maybe Larry Correia's Hard Magic? https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8643407-hard-magic

[Wraith]

I've also remembered Irredeemable, published by Boom! Studios.

The premise is quite simple; what if, one day, Superman just snapped and decided that he was sick of people talking **** behind his back (because he can hear ALL of it, after all), that the world had been ungrateful for the last time and that he's going to kill everyone, starting with his world's equivalent of the Justice League.

It's quite grim reading to be honest and gets kind of weird towards the end, but at the same time the main character's logic is way less anvilicious than the DC's Injustice storyline which tries - and mostly fails - to give Superman a chance at being portrayed as an anti-hero, which just doesn't work on the scale that he's committing atrocities. The Plutonian is simply the baddie, and the story is about what little the rest of the world can do about it.

It also gave rise to a spin-off called Incorruptible, a story about a villain called Max Damage who, having witnessed his nemesis the Plutonian go nuts and murder several million people, decides that its only fair that he now become the hero instead. He's really bad at it, since all he knows of justice is the violence that came from getting his butt kicked by actual heroes and then getting locked in a cell until his powers came back and he escaped, but he starts to learn how to use that to his advantage.
Max isn't a hero, but he tries hard to become one so it might still fall into the category that was asked for in the OP. It doesn't hurt that he's quite endearing as a well-meaning, slightly clueless but otherwise quite genuine guy. :smalltongue:

[Kid Jake]

Big Man Japan might scratch your itch. It's about the last in a long line of superheroes that grow to massive proportions to fight Kaiju threatening Japan. He's never really retired; but the public gives him no respect, blames him personally for every bad thing that happens and makes it so that there's no longer any glory in what he does.

You may also want to check out TV Tropes (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OldSuperhero), as usual they have a list.

Also, as a little self promotion here, my comic Rabble! has an upcoming subplot where a retired superhuman is dragged out of a bar in cuffs and forced to help confront a modern group of self-titled superheroes because they're basically walking WMDs with chips on their shoulders. He doesn't want to be here, his 'partner' doesn't want him there and even the organization that brought him there doesn't want him there; he's just the only superhuman they have.