I have a seriously mixed bag of research needs and tools. Since I'd never read a single Marvel comic when I started writing in this fandom, character research was Big. Google is my friend when it comes to that stuff. (Of course, what I found made my head spin so I stuck to tombstone type things, and ignored the rest at my convenience. Fortunately, so do many of the comic writers themselves.)
As for realistic touches, a lot of the "local colour" I stick into stories (like the streets of Tbilisi, right down to the satellite dish on an earthquake-cracked building; the chaos around the UN building when the heads of state are in town for the General Assembly) comes from my own memory banks, so that is rather handy.
But I've never been to Long Island, Montana or to Abidjan, so maps are a total necessity (eg to map our assassins' trek to Abidjan airport, both routing and distances.) How I found out that the place they send Loki off from is called Bethesda Terrace. Nope -- can't beat a good map.
First-hand reporting (or, as they call it in the trade, "HUMINT") can come in awfully handy, too. My husband is a walking encyclopedia on firearms (don't ask ...), astrophysical and astronomical phenomena (comes in handy for Trek stuff) and carpentry tools. A shining example of recent research consisted of me sending him an e-mail that went something like this: "Hey there, can you use a staple gun to kill someone? What other stuff in your shop could you use?"
So, it's a grab bag. I think it's a smart writer who knows when s/he should look something up, and when a little glossing over the details is okay.
ETA: Before you wonder why I e-mail my husband, it's because we're not always on the same continent. Just thought I'd mention that, before folks get the wrong impression ... ;-)
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As for realistic touches, a lot of the "local colour" I stick into stories (like the streets of Tbilisi, right down to the satellite dish on an earthquake-cracked building; the chaos around the UN building when the heads of state are in town for the General Assembly) comes from my own memory banks, so that is rather handy.
But I've never been to Long Island, Montana or to Abidjan, so maps are a total necessity (eg to map our assassins' trek to Abidjan airport, both routing and distances.) How I found out that the place they send Loki off from is called Bethesda Terrace. Nope -- can't beat a good map.
First-hand reporting (or, as they call it in the trade, "HUMINT") can come in awfully handy, too. My husband is a walking encyclopedia on firearms (don't ask ...), astrophysical and astronomical phenomena (comes in handy for Trek stuff) and carpentry tools. A shining example of recent research consisted of me sending him an e-mail that went something like this: "Hey there, can you use a staple gun to kill someone? What other stuff in your shop could you use?"
So, it's a grab bag. I think it's a smart writer who knows when s/he should look something up, and when a little glossing over the details is okay.
ETA: Before you wonder why I e-mail my husband, it's because we're not always on the same continent. Just thought I'd mention that, before folks get the wrong impression ... ;-)