What about the parents?

[NinjaMic]

This is why I'm a Batman fan.

[IndigoMX9]

Something that always bugged me in the back of my head whenever I read a teenage superhero is "What about the parents?"

Sure, they are in the stories here and there, but it seems that there is a lot of miss opportunities of some real heart felt drama for stories.

For example, take Wiccan.

We have all of Children's Crusade of him searching for his "real" mother, the Scarlet Witch, yet his adoptive parents, who know Wiccan throughout his life, are only in the story briefly. How do they react to their son trying to find his "real" mother? Do they feel rejected? Neglected? How do they feel about their son who went off on a journey to find a woman who probably didn't even knew he existed and ignored their feelings on the matter? And Billy's parents are pretty great too, they are accepting of their son's homosexuality.

So why were they pushed aside?

Allan Heinberg was vague on Billy's parents. To me the story was about the teens becoming Young Avengers. If the parents had grounded him or prevented him from being Wiccan in any way, there would be no story. Same thing for Cassie; I remember her mom watching the Young Avengers on TV and recognizing her daughter. I don't remember her reaction but again, it was never mentioned because if the mom had prevented Cassie from being with the Young Avengers, there would be no story with her in it. I think that's why the writers always make parents oblivious to their children being heroes.

[Songbird/Diamondback]

Allan Heinberg was vague on Billy's parents. To me the story was about the teens becoming Young Avengers. If the parents had grounded him or prevented him from being Wiccan in any way, there would be no story. Same thing for Cassie; I remember her mom watching the Young Avengers on TV and recognizing her daughter. I don't remember her reaction but again, it was never mentioned because if the mom had prevented Cassie from being with the Young Avengers, there would be no story with her in it. I think that's why the writers always make parents oblivious to their children being heroes.

Still, I think there's a lot of details that should be hit about children fighting and dying.

Look at Digimon's first season for example (I know, odd reference), that show had the parents involved and not in a dopey ignorant way. They connected with their kids and encouraged them to try to save the world. So why is there a disconnect where they only focus on the kids and pretend the parents don't matter?

The fact that people think kids are expendable heroes just makes me believe that writers aren't trying hard enough to make people care for them. They should make the teenage heroes' deaths if not more painful than most of the adult deaths.

[Sighphi]

And this is why Runaways was cool.

[mugiwara]

We didn't get to see Mattie Franklin's foster dad's reaction after she was killed by Spider Man's foes, despite the guy being a major Spidey supporting character.

So it's clear that nobodies like Wiccan or Mettle's parents have no voice.

One of the few times we got a parent reaction was when Wallflower's mother slaped the poor Prodigy after her daughter was killed.

[Monty_Cristo]

Would she though?

She was the one who was very mad at her daughter following her father's footsteps, and now she's dead, proving that she was kinda right for yelling at her daughter for emulating her father. And now the reason her daughter is dead is alive again. How does she react? Does she break down and cry? Does she assault her ex-husband? Sue him?

she can get as mad as she likes. she chose to give up her rights for a long period of time. she pushed Cassie and Scott closer together by splitting. she selfishly yanked Cassie out of Scott's life after most of the hard work was done. she left Scott with nothing and he reacted by joining the Avengers; trying to fill that hole. and it got him killed. that was the impetus for Cassie becoming Stature. she, like her father, was reacting to loss. and every time Peggy tried to control Cassie (and insulted her father) she strengthened Cassie's resolve to be a costumed superhero. any moron knows that telling a teenager that they can't do something invites rebellion. doesn't help that Cassie was kidnapped under Peggy's watch. and costumed heroes were the only ones able to resolve the situation. speaking of dangerous role models; Peggy married a cop who hates superheroes (how passive aggressive is that?). Peggy's "right" because of a self-fullfilling prophecy.

and, for the record, Scott did not die in the A-Next Universe. Cassie did not die. she grew up to be a scientist, businesswoman, independent hero, and leader of the Avengers. Peggy was nowhere to be found, in that timestream.

[ImmortalIronFist]

she can get as mad as she likes. she chose to give up her rights for a long period of time. she pushed Cassie and Scott closer together by splitting. she selfishly yanked Cassie out of Scott's life after most of the hard work was done. she left Scott with nothing and he reacted by joining the Avengers; trying to fill that hole. and it got him killed. that was the impetus for Cassie becoming Stature. she, like her father, was reacting to loss. and every time Peggy tried to control Cassie (and insulted her father) she strengthened Cassie's resolve to be a costumed superhero. any moron knows that telling a teenager that they can't do something invites rebellion. doesn't help that Cassie was kidnapped under Peggy's watch. and costumed heroes were the only ones able to resolve the situation. speaking of dangerous role models; Peggy married a cop who hates superheroes (how passive aggressive is that?). Peggy's "right" because of a self-fullfilling prophecy.

and, for the record, Scott did not die in the A-Next Universe. Cassie did not die. she grew up to be a scientist, businesswoman, independent hero, and leader of the Avengers. Peggy was nowhere to be found, in that timestream.

Yeah, Cassie's mom sucks.

[Songbird/Diamondback]

she can get as mad as she likes. she chose to give up her rights for a long period of time. she pushed Cassie and Scott closer together by splitting. she selfishly yanked Cassie out of Scott's life after most of the hard work was done. she left Scott with nothing and he reacted by joining the Avengers; trying to fill that hole. and it got him killed. that was the impetus for Cassie becoming Stature. she, like her father, was reacting to loss. and every time Peggy tried to control Cassie (and insulted her father) she strengthened Cassie's resolve to be a costumed superhero. any moron knows that telling a teenager that they can't do something invites rebellion. doesn't help that Cassie was kidnapped under Peggy's watch. and costumed heroes were the only ones able to resolve the situation. speaking of dangerous role models; Peggy married a cop who hates superheroes (how passive aggressive is that?). Peggy's "right" because of a self-fullfilling prophecy.

and, for the record, Scott did not die in the A-Next Universe. Cassie did not die. she grew up to be a scientist, businesswoman, independent hero, and leader of the Avengers. Peggy was nowhere to be found, in that timestream.

See, that is some cool insight you have going on right there.