>>102089214>He actually outright said initially that capeshit is just people with capesIt's not the capes, it's the costume as an symbol and expression of identity. That's one of the primary differences between the two.
Here, I'll let Grant Morrison explain:
>What makes the superhero more current is the performance aspect. That’s what The Shadow and those other guys don’t really have. Their costumes are not bright, and they don’t have their initials on their chest, and everything isn’t out front and popping like the superheroes. I think we can relate to that about them because in the world we live in, everyone has a constant need to be a star. Everyone’s got their own pages, and they all present themselves as these Rock N Roll people or whatever. So I think superheroes are keyed into that parallelism. They’re performers. They’re rock stars, and they always have been. That’s what separates them from the mystery men – the grimy, shadowy figure in the darkness.Now obviously there's more to pulp heroes than just the mystery men, but the thought process is the same for those other characters. Doc Savage is just wearing a standard uniform that gets ripped to show off his muscles in the covers. Flash Gordon and Buck Rodgers are wearing their uniforms. Conan is commonly depicted with just a furry underwear and horned helmet, and he actually used to look like pic related before Frazetta redesigned him in the 60s.
Now obviously not every superhero wears a bright, flashy costume, and it's not just the costume that defines their difference, but it's a big part of why the pulp heroes and the superheroes are different.
