The Satire of a Superhero Setting
Imagine a city pulled straight out of a comic book. A gleaming Metropolis where costumed heroes protect and fight dastardly villains who have a freeze ray and a menacing laugh. Thats the setting for my story TSC: Teenage Superhero Community. Well, sorta. Let me explain.
That is only the Upperside, a place inhabited by the Highborns and polished to perfection by the Heroes and their agencies; it is the beacon and peak of the Hero system.
Then there's the Underbelly where the Grinders rot. Crumbling buildings, crime-ridden streets and the occasional dead body inside a abandoned building. It is heavily neglected by the Heroes.
And then the Middle Zone, not as crime-ridden as the Underbelly but not as luxurious as the Upperside. There's a cluster of old and new building, cracked roads, battered vehicles and the smell of determination and perseverance in the air where pedestrians struggle to make their lives better to someday be a Highborn.
I find it very interesting because it aptly shows that this is how most modern cities are. The 'aesthetic' sides are polished by the rich, CEOs and the government for tourist attractions. The others are left to defend for themselves and you don't really notice them until you fall to their level or are sympathic enough to know what going on.
As much as I love superheroes, I really want to convey a sense of realism to the unique genre. Make the Golden Age geniune and grounded.
