THE STAGES OF SUPERHERO NARRATIVES

In War, Politics and Superheroes: Ethics and Propaganda in Comics and Films, Marc DiPaolo believes that superhero narratives which span for decades, typically undergo four stages. 

In the first stage, the creator puts in a lot of effort into his character, adding his political and cultural beliefs. The process is not done for material reasons. In the second stage, the creator stops writing for his character. DiPaulo lists a number of reasons: the creator becomes disenchanted with his character, he retires or dies, or he is financially dissatisfied. Consequently, the publisher takes control of the character.

While the publisher tries to mimic the style of the original creator, the new version of the character does not live up to its original and the fans become dissatisfied. As a result, in the third stage, the publishers hire a new writer who provides a "disconstructionist take on the character"  (31). The new view is particularly destructive for the character, so, after the phase ends, the publishers are at a loss as to what direction the character is heading. Consequently, in the fourth stage, the publisher hires fan-writers: 

who grew up reading the characters and know by heart all of the adventures produced during stages one through three, and have a complete vision of the character as it was originally intended to be, as it was massmarketed to parents and children, and as it was psychoanalyzed, killed, and dissected during the 1980s (32).

The fourth stage is, according to DiPaolo, particularly divisive. The narratives which result are "either adored or loathed" (32). The revised version of Batman is, according to the author, seen as a success (comics, animated series, film adaptations), due to its heightened realism. On the other hand, "the stage four versions of Spider-Man [...] were embraced by the public at large, but were too post-modern and sly in their tone to appeal to a small, hardcore base of fans, who [...] enjoy  only the adventures [...] produced in stage one" (32). 

WRITTEN AND EDITED BY ANTONIA GIRMACEA