However, starting in the early 1970s, writers at Marvel Comics began to challenge this characterization by introducing a number of new superheroes with monstrous attributes. Within this dynamic, a monster could never be a hero because their perceived monstrosity always characterized them as evil. Meanwhile, Spider-Man's ability to crawl up the sides of walls and onto ceilings does not make readers want to double-check the locks on their windows, because they know that Peter Parker is a morally upstanding young man (" With great power there must also come great responsibility!"). For instance, Marvel's series, The Tomb of Dracula, heavily showcased Dracula's shapeshifting abilities not to inspire awe within the reader, but to show how monstrous and terrifying he was. Related: Marvel's Legion Of Monsters Is The Spookiest Super Team Yetīut the flip side of the genre's exceptional superheroes are superhuman monsters, which have all of the physical exceptionalism of superheroes, but none of the morals that have defined superheroes as good. Beloved heroes like Black Panther, Spider-Man, and Thor all seem larger than life on the page, not only because of the awe-inspiring physical feats they are capable of but also in their dedication to doing good in the world no matter what. This idea of exceptionality is what makes superhero fiction unique because it is not as concerned with showing average daily life as it is with providing fantastic spectacles. Superhero comics are built upon the quality of being exceptional, whether it be morally, physically, or both. It is not surprising that monsters have had this marginal position in superhero comics because the very bones of the superhero genre are not in their favor.
The likes of aliens, dragons, and other creatures were reduced to their deviations from the norm, with their difference becoming a site for horror rather than wonder. Never seen as heroes, non-human creatures were often depicted as scary, otherworldly villains that human superheroes had to defeat every week. It is hard to imagine what the Marvel Universe would be like without the likes of Blade, Ghost Rider, and several of the X-Men, but for a long time, monsters had a bad reputation in Marvel Comics. Nowadays, some of Marvel Comics' most compelling heroes are not regular humans, but monsters.
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