Star Wars. You get all this military action between the government and some insurrectionists (and some exposition about embargoes and galactic politics) but you don't ever get a sense of what life is like in the galaxy for the average citizen. Is the Rebel Alliance quietly supported by most people? Is life under the Empire repressive? How did things change after Palpatine took over as Emperor? Can everyone in the galaxy even be bothered to give a shit? I'd be surprised if there isn't an EU book on this. Marvel has a couple things like you want that I can think of. Marvels is a beautiful miniseries about a newspaper photographer at different points in the early Marvel U. And Damage Control is about the company that cleans up after the heroes and villains just about destroy everything. I haven't read that one but I'm aware of its premise.