The Top 8 Fictional Cities to Live in

For those of us who read books and/or comics, watch movies and/or television, and play games, we don't just enjoy the characters that we read about and their adventures, but sometimes we also get lost in the cities or towns they live in. Many times, we wish the city was a real place. One that we could visit in person whether on vacation or even live in. Some fictional cities can be hell on Earth, but many others can seem like a utopia. The following is a list of fictional cities that might be the best ones to live in...

1. Hill Valley, California: As seen in the movie trilogy Back to the Future, this city seems to be the epitome of a nice and quiet town that has a low crime rate depending which timeline is in effect. Obviously Biff destroyed the city when he built his casino, but Marty was successful in restoring Hilly Valley back to normal. Even in the 80s, it appeared that it was the type of town that you could watch a movie with your date and get a milkshake afterward without worrying about being mugged. The city appeared to have everything you needed while still keeping the appeal of being small enough not to be overcrowded.

2. Storybrooke, Maine: The town that everyone in the television show Once Upon a Time is stuck in, provides everything a person could need and more. Storybrooke has a museum, a pawnshop that is more like an antique store, a beach, a low crime rate, and best of all, apparently no one ages. Despite being stuck in Storybrooke for nearly 30 years, not a single resident aged a single day. Now of course the Evil Queen from Snow White has been the mayor, but for most of the residents, she was a good mayor unless you're Emma Swan. Hell, the town only needed one sheriff and no deputies when she first discovered the town.

3. Basin City: From the graphic novels and the Sin City movies, this black and white city has a high crime rate, but only for those who are looking for trouble. Especially once Roark Jr. was arrested and almost killed by Hartigan, after Roark kidnapped little Nancy. Of Course, if the Roark family would just be removed from the city entirely, Basin City would probably be a lot better. Cardinal Roark was hiding Kevin's obsession with cannibalizing the prostitutes of Basin City and Senator Roark seemed to have his hands in every little element of crime in the city. Otherwise, if you're an adult, the town wasn't too bad. There was a neighborhood in the city with prostitutes who looked like models and who ran their neighborhood without interference from the police (and crime free by the way), and a strip club named Kadie's which featured some of the best looking strippers in the world. It didn't appear to be that hard to find a card game to get into either. While this might not be considered wholesome, it seemed that as long as you kept to yourself, you'd be okay.

4. Shermer, Illinois: The city where dreams come true--if you're a teenager. The hometown to all of John Hughes' 80s characters such as Ferris Bueller, the kids of The Breakfast Club, the kids of Sixteen Candles, the pair of kids who engineered their dream girl out of a doll, and an uncle by the name of Buck tries to win over the hearts of his family. Shermer provides so much appeal for those who want to move there, that even Jay and Silent Bob get lost in Illinois, searching for the city that doesn't exist.

5. The Citadel: Famous for being the deep-space city with five wings and a ring spinning to keep gravity going, this city in the stars has 13.2 million residents. Supposedly thought to be constructed by the extinct race called the Protheans, the Asari discovered the abandoned space city/ship after they learned how to control the mass relays. multiple species soon joined them and a council was formed to keep the peace between the different alien races. The space station features parks, shopping, restaurants, apartment-like homes, buildings dedicated to running the ship, and can protect itself from outside attacks.

6. Bedrock: The stone-age town that calls itself home to the Flintstone family, is probably one of the most green friendly fictional cities. Everything is run on manual power, the use of rocks to make things work, and even smaller dinosaurs and mammals to do the rest. It's doubtful that a wooly mammoth shower hurts the environment in any way. It's also doubtful that a care powered by Fred's bare feet can hurt the environment either. What does seem evident is that food portions are massive and Bedrock must be located in an area that sustains a nice climate year-round.

7. Mayberry, North Carolina: A peaceful town where everyone knows each other, crime never appears to be a problem. The only resident of the Mayberry jail only appears to be Otis, the town drunk. In all honesty, it's hard to come up with a reason why they need even two law enforcement officers who appear to work the same shift (Andy and Barney). The downfalls of the city could be that if you're looking for something to do other than hunt or fish, you're probably out of luck. Even the bar that Otis gets drunk at is never seen.

8. Smallville, Kansas: Sure a storm of kryptonite rained down while a space pod carrying a baby Kryptonian landed near the Kent farm, but other than that, the town was pretty peaceful. In the TV series Smallville, there does appear to be a lot more drama than what the comic book version of the town deals with. The comic book town appears to be fairly quiet though and almost completely free of the tornados that Kansas is known for. In the small chance something does happen, Superman finds himself in town just as the right moment.

Photo: Screencap from the movie "Sin City: A Dame to Kill For"

DC Superhero Equals Dead Parent(s)

Art by Alex Ross

Many kids grow up with lofty aspirations of what they want to be when they grow up. Everything from being a rock star to being a sports star are often goals the youth of America aspire to achieve. Some kids, especially when they are too young to know better, state they want to be a superhero when they grow up. Watching TV, movies, and reading the stories of their favorite comic book characters, kids often pretend to be their favorite heroes while they play. One of the most popular groups of superheroes that kids emulate is DC's Justice League. Unfortunately, what most kids don't realize, if you want to be a Justice League member, one if not both your parents have to have passed away.

Now there have been many Justice League members over the years, so of course many of them probably still have living parents, but if you look at most of the core members over the years, you'll notice a trend.

Batman: This is probably the most obvious one since the death of Thomas and Martha Wayne basically created the desire in Bruce to become something more than your average kid. Without their death, he would probably resemble something closer to his playboy image he pretends to be when he's Bruce Wayne, rather than the Dark Knight. Without the act of Joe Chill, the world itself might have been destroyed several times over because there would be no Batman to save it.

On a side note, though not a core member of the Justice League, the various Robins have been victim of parental deaths as well. Dick Grayson (Nightwing), the first Robin, was orphaned after his parents were killed while performing. Jason Todd (Red Hood), the second Robin, was originally an acrobat himself and his parents were killed by Killer Croc. This storyline was retconned though and Todd became an orphan who tried to steal the tires off the Batmobile. The third Robin, Tim Drake (Red Robin), started his superhero career after the death of his mother and the crippling of his father. His father would eventually be killed by Captain Boomerang. This story was later retconned as well and Tim Drake's parents would go into hiding in the Witness Protection Program.

Superman: Although raised by the Kents, Superman was originally orphaned when his home planet of Krypton explodes, taking the lives of his parents. Raised by the wholesome Kansas farmers, Superman is more of an alter-ego for Superman, as opposed to Bruce Wayne is the alter-ego to Batman. Not personally knowing his biological parents, Clark is less influenced by their death than he is by the boy scout like demeanor that the Kents instilled in him.

Aquaman: In the Golden Age version of Aquaman's backstory his mother dies while giving birth to Arthur.

The Flash: Barry Allen's family is torn apart when his mother is murdered after he comes home from a spelling bee. Making matters worse, his father is arrested and sent to prison for the death of Allen's mother, despite his father's innocence. Proving this becomes one of Allen's priorities in life and the likely inspiration for his career choice in forensics for the police department.

Green Lantern: Hal Jordan was the son of a test pilot for Ferris Aircraft. Idolizing his father, Hal unfortunately watched his father die right before his eyes when he crashed his plane. Despite witnessing such a traumatic event, Hal eventually became a pilot himself before the ring found him, turning Jordan into the first human Green Lantern.

Green Arrow: The child of millionaires, Oliver Queen learned how to shoot a bow and arrow to emulate Robin Hood. After accidentally killing a small animal, Queen was mildly traumatized. Later on, while on an African safari, Queen witnessed his parents being mauled by lions. He could have saved them, but his hesitation to shoot the lions leads to their death.

Shazam: Billy Batson is a teenager who bounces around from foster home to foster home before acquiring the powers of the Wizard who passed his powers onto Batson.

The Martian Manhunter: While technically not the victim of an early parental death, J'onn J'onzz was a loving father and husband until his family and just about all the other Martians died off from a contagious virus that fed off the telepathic energy that Martians had.