While I agree with you to some degree, I would respectfully point out that saying that something 'will always' be limited by genre, and that 'no superhero comic will ever' be such-and-such is setting yourself up for a fall. Comics are a very new artform, at least as defined by the standards of literature, sculpture, painting, etc., and despite how it seems sometimes, we've only just begun to explore what it's capable of. Those others have been around for millennia; comics as we know them have only been around for roughly a century - and for most of that century, most comics have involved superheroes to some degree. I'm certainly not saying that 'Maus' and 'Bone' and the like are irrelevant - they're brilliant stuff, and we should see more like them - but the fact that superheroes dominate comics at the moment, and that, yes, a lot of them are fairly limited in what they do, does NOT mean that they will not achieve great heights at some point in the future. It's early days yet; you've got to crawl before you can walk, and walk before you can run. And besides, I would argue that there have already been a number of superhero titles that have achieved a certain greatness which could herald great things in the future. 'Watchmen' is, of course, the obvious example which everyone turns to, but there are others which spring to mind. 'Nexus', by Mike Baron and Steve Rude for example - I don't know whether you've read any of it or not, but that could broadly be defined as a superhero book, and it's brilliant, brilliant stuff. Beautiful artwork, great writing, a storyline that goes from deeply dark and philosophical to sublimely silly at the drop of a hat, memorable characters - it's great. 'Coyote', by Steve Engelhart, has a similar reputation in some circles (although I can't attest to this, as I haven't actually read it - just heard of it). Scott McCloud's 'Zot' is at least nominally a superhero book, and it makes for great reading - none of it is exactly profound (at least not what I've read), but it has some quietly poetic moments that are truly beautiful. And then, of course, you have things like the Morrison run on 'Animal Man', which, while not technically a stand-alone work, has some brilliantly surreal, fourth wall-breaking stuff. Basically, I'm just saying that, while you have a point, I wouldn't count superheroes out just yet. If nothing else, they're one of the few truly original things that comics have come up with. Fantasy, sci-fi, westerns, crime stories, horror, comedy, jungle adventure - all these things were around before comics. Comics may have helped bring some of them into the limelight, but it didn't invent them. Superheroes, on the other hand, WERE created by the comics - it's debatable as to just who was the first superhero, but every example I've ever heard of originated in the comics. This doesn't mean that they are therefore sacrosanct and untouchable, of course, but the fact that they still hold that position in comics today is at least testament to the fact that they retain power. The future may hold great things for them - we'll have to wait and see. I look forward to the years ahead.