Illinois "Heroes & Villains"

Nobody is 100% sure why Illinois has spawned more super powered people than anywhere else on Earth, but the simple fact is that of the 439 known supers on the planet, 187 first appeared in Illinois. This number far outstrips the number two place, Japan, which has created a mere 31 supers.

Having been home to so many super powered people over the last 90 years has been a mixed blessing for the state. It's great to have heroes like Ms. Miracle or Golden Guy around to help out in case of disasters, but then you also have people like Jake the Quake and The Rotter causing disasters. And then there is the expense of building prisons that can hold the super villains. The prison budget for Illinois is more than twice that of the entire state budgets of Montana, Wyoming, and both Dakotas combined. The state also applies for federal disaster relief more than any other state.

Still, this is Illinois and just as with their politicians, the people love the bad guys as much as the good guys. This is especially true in Chicago, where it has always been hard to draw the line between the two. A perfect example is Robbing Hood, who has been known to kill drug dealers, crooked politicians and other scumbags, then give their money to the poor and organizations that do good works. People love him. On the other hand, Captain Positive never kills and is a shining example of clean living. He has saved Chicago and the people of Illinois many times, but most people don't quite trust him because "he's just too good to be true, so he must be up to something."

Be that as it may, for the most part, the citizens of Earth should be glad that Illinois keeps cranking out superheroes, even if we do have to take the villains with them.