My Kryptonite: Snark
Whether in prose or comics, I love a good smartass.
Maybe this comes from my watching too much Spider-Man as a child, or just my own fabulous sense of humor, but I am a sucker for a good one-liner.
I have discovered that the sarcastic-yet-lovable do-gooder is my favorite kind of character, whether they are a superhero or the last man on earth.
My favorite snarksters range across the medium of comics:
Yorick (Y: The Last Man by Brian K Vaughan, Pia Guerra)
Alas, dear Y, you have found yourself in deep doodoo. Not only does the only man in a world full of confused and angry women find humor in some of the most effed-up situations, he can use his extensive wit to get on everyone’s nerves. And make me giggle uncontrollably.
Spider-Man
One of the many things that I loved about the Ultimates Comics Universe introducing Miles Morales? He may not be Peter Parker, but he can be a snarky little sucker. Peter Parker was the master of the one-liner, whether he was webbing up some weirdness or hanging off the side of a building talking to himself. Miles, familiar with Spider-Man in the way a kid living in the Five Boroughs would be, takes his own inherent sarcasm and sense of humor and throws a bit of “what would Peter Parker say?” into it.
Sometimes, though…he doesn’t always succeed.
Captain Marvel can be one sassy sumbitch, but not nearly as much as she is when Jessica Drew or Monica Rambeau are yanking her chain or helping her out. Either way, she can throw a witty comeback as strong as her punch.
There are times when I think the best thing about Gillen and McKelvie’s Young Avengers run is the social media. Kid!Loki is an adorable little s$!t, and his interjections into those interludes are always hilarious.
Batman can be pretty dark and humorless, but my favorite Batman, brief as his appearance might be, is the Bruce Wayne who shows up in Superman’s Soviet Russia (Superman: Red Son by Mark Millar, Dave Johnson, and Kilian Plunkett). I don’t know what it is about it, but that part just leaves me with the cases of the giggles every time I read it, even when I know what he’s going to say.
…Or maybe it’s the hat.
*.*.*
Everyone tells me that if I love snarky supers, then I need to get on the Deadpool wagon, but so far I’ve only stumbled upon a bit of SnarkFamily on AO3. I’m definitely planning to dive into that pool, but I’m a little afraid of drowning.
