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The Heroless Age

© Dave A. Law

Here's something to think about next time you create a new comic.

When I compare the comics written today to those of my youth I really have to wonder where the heroes have gone. Oh, there are characters posing as heroes but these tend to be "tragic" characters with flaws in their character and low morality. Admittedly, this is a vast generalization but even when I look at how the heroes are my youth are written now as in comparison to the past I have to wonder. We are told that comics are written for a more mature audience now and as such the "need" for a harder more realistic edge. What we lose, however, are people to look up and for children to want to emulate. How many parents want their children to grow up and to be Punishers going around killing people?

In the wrestling world Bret "The Hitman" Hart observed that fans now favor the likes of Steve Austin's who go around trying to injury their opponents than the more heroic type characters like he once portrayed in the arena. Perhaps society has changed and we no longer need these highly moralistic caricatures that once believed in truth and justice, and perhaps I am alone in my feelings. Still whom society chooses as our heroes reflects on society as a whole. If the villains of our past are now the people we "should" look up as heroes I have to wonder.

Some people are afraid of the perception that comics are just for kids and strut mature titles in front of you to prove otherwise, but once upon a time comics weren't just for kids they were for all ages, that anyone can enjoy. Yes, there are still some of these but they get overwhelmed by those that aren't. Won't an all ages comic impress a non-comic reader more than some pseudo realistic blood-in-your-face mature title?

People seem to think that as we get older we no longer need heroes that such fantasies are for the youth, but look at your own life and those people who made a difference in you. Look at those people that helped you choose the right path, and showed you good from bad. Shouldn't the heroes in our comics reflect the best traits of the true heroes in our real lives?

I still believe in heroes and our need for them. Heroes don't have to someone in spandex tights but simply a good person trying to do the right things for the right reason, someone we can look up to and respect, hoping that perhaps a bit of them rubs off on us. How many of these heroes exist in comics today?

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