The easy narrative is that good guys protect cities because bad guys want to rule millions of people and that is hard to do by extending yourself over a thousand villages. But there is more to it. The Smallville stories underscore the fact that in order to maintain their dual identities, superheroes need the anonymity of the city. And there is more work in the city. Batman could clean up Traverse City, Michigan, or Rapid City, South Dakota, in one night. Then what?
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| Austin: 6th Street facing west from the Littlefield Building |
It is tautologous that the city is the center of civilization. Cities acquire populations from the surrounding countryside as much as they grow internally. The city offers opportunity. Coming from diverse local cultures, some close, many distant, the newcomers shed their folkways and adopt new amalgamated customs. The hallmarks today include pizza, burritos, stir fry, and kebap (appropriately being the German adaptation of the Turkish shish kabob).
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| Austin: Reflections in Frost Tower Southward |
Metropolis - Superman (Clark Kent)
Gotham - Batman (Bruce Wayne)
Central City - 2nd Flash (Barry Allen)
Keystone City - 1st Flash (Jay Garrick) and 3rd Flash (Wally West)
Midway City - Hawkman (Carter Hall);
and Hawkgirl (Shiera Sanders Hall, Kendra Saunders, others...)
and Hawkgirl (Shiera Sanders Hall, Kendra Saunders, others...)
Star City - Green Arrow (Oliver Queen)
Coast City - Green Lantern (Hal Jordan)
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| Austin: Frost Tower from the Parapet of 301 South Congress |
Fantastic Four – New York City, Baxter Building
Avenger Headquarters – New York City, Stark Tower
New York City is the hometown of Captain America (Steve Rogers).
It changed in the telling from the borough of Brooklyn to Manhattan.
Though Captain America is often on deployment,
Spiderman lives and works there on a daily basis.
It changed in the telling from the borough of Brooklyn to Manhattan.
Though Captain America is often on deployment,
Spiderman lives and works there on a daily basis.
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| Austin: South from the Capital Factory enterprise incubator atop the Austin Center |
Marvel Superheroes Who Basically Only Protect New York City
https://io9.gizmodo.com/marvel-superheroes-who-basically-only-protect-new-york-1797953197
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| "...Truth, Justice, and the American Way." |
A Guide to the Fictional Cities of the DC Universe
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/a-guide-fictional-cities-dc-861874
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| Downtown Cleveland looking east from Lakewood |
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| Miami from Miami Beach |
Fictional Towns in Comics
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fictional_towns_in_comics
PREVIOUSLY ON NECESSARY FACTS
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