Probably one of the biggest questions I get asked is, “Why comic books? There are thousands of literary masterpieces for you to enjoy, there are more classic movies than you could enjoy in 10 years time and, let’s face it, comic books are for kids, aren’t they?”
It’s a fair question. Frankly, if you look at my office it does look like the bedroom of a 10 year old child with the way it’s decorated with comic book memorabilia.
But as you and I know, it’s more than just about comic books. It’s about the artwork, the storylines, and the role comic books have played in the history of our country.
But mostly it’s because now, more than ever, we need superheroes.
The response then is, “We need superheroes? What do you mean? Why?”
Here are the Top 3 Reasons that the World Needs Superheroes:
1.) There’s Someone For Everyone:
At last count there were somewhere around...well...I don’t really know how many superheroes there ever were or are today. Let’s just say there’s been alot of them and there still are. The point of this imprecise measurement is that, if one looks carefully, there is a superhero to which each of us can relate to. For instance, I have a friend of mine who simply loves Batman. He likes the mystery, the goth look and the attitude of “The Bat”, along with the fact that he has no superhuman abilities but is one of the most respected of the DC Universe. The fact is Batman and my friend are nowhere near the same in look, attitude, tenacity, “gothness”, physique, etc. But that’s the beauty of it. You don’t have to be the hero to want to model them or to have your own “inner Batman”. The bottom line is that there is someone for everyone to enjoy, want to model themselves after, and admire. Even if you’re a dog.
2.) You Can Be That Hero:
I know what this sounds like and, no, I don’t mean that you should put on a cape and jump off a 20 story building thinking you can fly. What I mean is that the role-playing games, the ability to have a costume shipped to your door for a costume party or ComicCon, and video games allow you to enter the world of your favorite heroes. Games like HeroClix where you can actually collect your favorite heroes and villains to fight against one another, or like FutureFight where you do the same thing but on your iPhone or iPad in a virtual world, or, perhaps the most fun, is dressing up and going to a ComicCon for people too look at you like you’re the actual character.
Here are Nick Fury and the Winter Soldier at Rhode Island ComicCon in 2015.
Some may laugh at this part, but even the “jocks” of the world go in search of their favorite players playing card, set up simulated teams in Fantasy Football and wear their sports hero's jersey. The only difference is that their heroes are in sports where ours are in comic books.
It’s been studied, and been found to be a fact, that there is a psychological benefit to being able to step away from reality, even for just a short period of time, and to try to forget our stresses for awhile. What better way to do that than to dress as your favorite character who you’ve watched in comic books for years. Add to that the number of people who ask to have their pictures taken with you while in costume. It makes you just feel good.
3.) We Just Don’t Have That Many People To Look Up To Anymore:
I am going to upset alot of people with this section, so read at your discretion. This is the only warning you will get.
As a kid it seemed like we had so many more people to look up to. President’s of the US seemed a little more honest. Football players weren’t caught with drugs or assault and battery as much. You weren’t always hearing about scandals in corporations, or at least not as many, as you do today. There were a couple of movie stars that seemed to have some redeeming qualities. The list goes on and on. I remember having a bunch of people I looked up to, admired, and wanted to model myself after. Today I couldn’t name one.
There are two basic reasons that we don’t have as many role models as we did before. The first is what programmers call “feature creep". What this means in technical terms is that a project starts with a certain number of features that need to be built in but, as time goes on, people want more features added on for no additional price. How does that fit into role models? It’s simple. We find someone we like and would be a potentially good role model. Then you find out "he smoked pot in college". Is that really so bad? I mean, they don’t do it anymore and they have many more redeeming qualities than bad ones, so smoking pot isn’t so bad...or is it (here is that feature creep. he was OK at first, but now another quality has ‘crept in’)? Didn’t you just compromise on your principles? It’s easier to compromise than to look for a new role model, right? Now, let’s say that same person also cheated on his wife. But since then he has reformed his ways and donated 100 libraries across the country. Now is he still role model material? Sure, he cheated on his wife, but he’s reformed and, thanks to him, millions can read! Are there extra tidbits of knowledge changing your view on your “role model”? So, reason one that we don’t have many role models is that it’s too easy to justify why a person can have a fault we wouldn’t normally accept.
The second reason is the most simple. There just aren’t many people who deserve the status of role model. Here’s a conversation I had with a 6 years old once after a State of the Union Address by the President. The little boy started with, what I thought, was a simple question. I was dead wrong...
“What is he looking at all the time. Shouldn’t he be looking at the camera?”
“He’s looking at a teleprompter. It tells him what to say.”
“Doesn’t he already know what to say? He knew he was going to be on TV.”
“Well, yes, but he wants to make sure he says the right words.”
“So, they aren’t his words, they are the right words.”
“Well, it’s not that simple, but yes.”
“So, the speech isn’t his?”
“Not usually, he has a speechwriter.”
“Why doesn’t the speechwriter say it?”
“Because it’s the President’s job.”
“With the speechwriter’s words?”
“Um, don’t I hear your mom calling you?”
It wasn’t too long ago that people were who they were. They meant what they said, they said what they meant, and it was easy to point out true blue heroes in your own eyes.
Then there’s the reason that makes me want to hurl. They are worth too much revenue to someone for them to be taken from the limelight. So, no matter what crap they pull, it’s overlooked. ‘Nuff Said.
So, to get back to the question proposed in the beginning...why do we need superheroes? We need them because...well....we need heroes. Now more than ever. In an age where trusting someone gets harder and harder, where integrity has a dollar sign, and you can no longer answer a small child’s relatively simple questions about why things are the way they are, we need heroes.
Tell me that the world doesn’t need a Superman or a Captain America right now. People whose only reasons for doing anything is just because it’s the right thing to do. Not for money or prestige or to be the highest paid superhero on the block. They simply do things because they want to do the right thing.
We could use a few people like that, don’t you think?
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