Most of my friends and family smile and nod politely, eyebrows raised, when I explain to them I run a web publication that reviews comic books. They’re supportive, but they also get a look in their eyes that says they think I’m nuts. Not Dr. Sivana nuts, just a little nuts. Occasionally I get the chance to alter that insanity verdict, to explain that comics are a powerful means of telling stories and that even television and film borrow heavily from comic book dogma. Not too long ago I had that chance as I was visiting my good friend and well-known Toronto actor/writer Rob Hawke. Though he reads only those comics I shove under his nose, he’s perhaps the most sympathetic ear when it comes to my sequential art insanity.

“Snatch!” Rob declared as he produced a bottle of scotch. We had just returned to his place after a day of gallivanting about Toronto, an adventure which for me normally consists of pointing out those wacky bright red mailboxes and drinking good Canadian beer in various Toronto pubs. “Snatch,” he repeated. I thought he was about to start a dirty joke, so I looked at him, prepared to laugh. “We gotta watch Snatch. AMAZING movie,” he gushed, and I could tell he was reliving the entire movie in the space of a breath.

“Brad Pitt?” I asked, trying to remember the trailers I’d seen a long time ago.

An enthusiastic nod. “Pitt does amazing work. Here.” He handed me a glass of scotch and plopped a DVD in the player’s tray. I never drink scotch, so had to control my face as I prepared to down a little gasoline on the rocks. Though it widened my eyes and immediately rendered several brain cells useless, it wasn’t bad. I went in for a second sip as the movie began.

We have a rule: talking is allowed, even encouraged, during DVDs and general television watching. So as Mr. Pitt and the huge cast worked through the intricate plots and subplots, I occasionally pointed out how much Mickey O’Neil (Pitt’s character) is like a comic book character. O’Neil, without question, follows the superhero archetype: a fighter of nearly supernatural ability who hails from alien (though terrestrial) origins, and speaks an unintelligible alien language. O’Neil, like all the characters in Snatch, operates within his own set of moral values outside of society’s laws, much like many of comicdom’s characters, both good guys and bad guys.

As it happens, there are many examples of the superhero archetype in TV fiction. Two that stand out for me are Veronica Mars and House. Veronica Mars (the character) fits the bill nicely. Exceptionally smart, she often bends the law or manipulates others in the name of the greater good. She’s also recognized as a hero by others in her world, who at least once per episode come to her with a plea for help.

Hugh Laurie’s title character in House is ten percent Hawkeye Pierce, ninety percent Batman. His batcave is a dimly lit office from where he doggedly diagnoses patients’ ailments with only the lightest pieces of evidence. As a character, Dr. House is arrogant and disrespectful of any authority but his own. He constantly breaks rules and disregards patients’ suffering all in the name of defeating death. Yet he is such a superhero that he is tolerated by the hospital administration and his own staff, both of whom he regularly berates and belittles.

House and Veronica Mars stand out as being beautifully — sometimes infuriatingly — unpredictable. These are stories that despite the superhero archetype inject a level of realism that leaves every adventure open-ended: there’s a real chance that the hero might lose. Even more compelling is the viewer’s deep understanding that the hero will push on, even in the face of defeat.

At some point my philosophizing reduced itself to muttering, then to background thoughts, and then to silence as I became engrossed in the movie. But we continued to discuss superheroes in fits and starts and by the time the credits for Snatch rolled (and our scotch intake had increased rather dramatically) we had adjusted the definition of the superhero archetype to include Pamela Anderson (which almost goes without saying), David Letterman, anybody who ever appeared on World Poker Tour, and the Canadian fellow who thought selling milk in plastic bags was a good idea.

Okay, I guess I can see why I get those looks.