Authors who can flesh-out characters with this kind of skill are few and exceedingly far between. With an economy of words and a subtlety of expression, Stith presents us with fully-formed people. Perhaps the secret of Stith's gift for characterization lies in his empathy for the people and creatures on his pages. These are no cardboard cut-outs with bubbles of dialogue scribbled beside them. They are no closer to the superheroes they'd like to be than we are.
Humans elicit our sympathy and garner our support in a way the superhuman never can.
It becomes important to us that the characters survive, and that they will eventually thrive, provided they escape the seemingly hopeless situation they find themselves in. Stith even takes one of my pet peeves and transforms it into another way to explore and understand the characters. I would venture to say I am not the only one who loathes those books and, especially, films where dangerous situations are the cue for the leads to break into witty repartee, the likes of which the audience could not match with a comfy chair and an hour's preparation. Stith's people crack wise and produce some genuinely amusing lines, but it is the release of stress, sheer exhaustion, and frayed tempers that spark the exchanges. It could be us up there.