General movie-goers have become attracted to the fun that superhero movies bestow, people who love comics are stoked each time a new superhero movie is announced and more importantly, children around the world look to these superheroes as an icon or an inspiration. These are only some of the general reasons why superheroes have such a great impact on people nowadays. This article will look deeply into why superheroes and comic stories are so important to the world today.
Let's start with the superhero that basically started it all, the superhero that made hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people love comics. Superman, he provided an example for every single hero and even villain that would come after him. He was gifted with the abilities to leap, hold/throw a twenty story building, raise unrealistic weights, speed that outdone an express train and that basically nothing could penetrate his skin. Looking at Superman today, his power sets are extremely different but why is that? Simply because back when Superman first appeared in 1938, there was no competition. Superman was created as an idea, hope that he would be able to not only spark something great but give people hope. Let's think about when he was created. Superman debuted in the dire times of the Great Depression and the early years of World War II and so the idea that someone like Superman could lift buildings, beat up bad guys fearlessly and basically bring hope in a hopeless time was what people needed. So, what did Superman mean to the world at the time? More than anyone would ever imagine. Superman gave people the hope they needed, an in one comic called "How Superman Would Win The War", it took Superman exactly two pages to defeat the Nazis'. It was unrealistic, but people needed that, it was the thing that people could look to and it allow them to see a better future. Erin Clancy, a curator at the Skirball Museum had stated:
In the 1930s, the American Dream had become a nightmare, and I think comic books and superheroes in particular provided an escapist form of entertainment that allowed the American public to go into a fantasy world where all the ills of the world were righted by these larger-than-life heroes.
However, it wasn't just America that needed that form of escape, the entire world did because the fact is, World War 2 affected the world to a scope far larger than anyone at the time had expected. What do you do though when the world doesn't look to Superman because he is a God-like figure? Who can you really look to for hope? Without trying to bring too much religion into this, people looked to God but what about the people who didn't believe in a higher power? Who didn't even trust their own Government to do what's best for the country? Well, that's when heroes like Batman, Captain America, Robin or Green Arrow come in. What do all these heroes have in common? They're all human and while Captain America didn't gain his strength naturally, his personality and struggles made him all too human. Superman played a massive role in the upbringing of these heroes and every single hero today but they all differ from one another and that's good because some-times people don't need someone to fly around in the sky. People need to be reminded that there are regular humans out there in the world who try as much as they possibly can to make the world a better place. That's what all these heroes stand for. They're not just entertainment, they're not just fictional characters. They are a part of our lives and we often forget that, but the fact is, these heroes are all some people have at times.
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What about when superheroes can't save the world? Because of the way we view superheroes, it is often thought that they are invincible but over the years, there have been multiple stories that allowed the reader to see the truth. Superheroes are NOT invincible, they can be killed, they can be defeated, and they can have bad days. After all, if superheroes were invincible they wouldn't feel so relatable, rather they'd feel one-dimensional. It's not that we need to see them die or see them with broken bones, it's that we need to see them struggle so that as a reader/viewer we would then be able to sympathize with them. That's exactly we've gotten in stories like The Death of Superman, The Death of Captain America or even Marvel's Civil War. All of these stories show the characters we love struggle in some way, whether that's emotional, physical or mental struggles. It's important because when you have someone as strong as Superman, we need to be able to feel a sense of connection to that character and while we can't relate to him flying around, we certainly can feel a connection when we see him struggle with his identity, with an enemy or even something as simple as fighting his best friend. Characters like Spider-Man, Robin or Flash do it best though. Even though Spider-Man was bitten by a radioactive spider and gained super-powers, Peter Parker's personality and ability to bring a sense of light to the darkness in his life which makes him all that more relatable. What's even more amazing about Spider-Man is that often times, we see that he actually gets scared in the battles he fights, we see him struggle with his relationships and we've even see him die. This is all done so that the reader/viewer would be able to see themselves in these characters. That's why we love these characters, we learn from them and we grow with them.
At the end of the day superheroes aren't just fictional characters or fictional stories, they are not just drawings on paper, they are so much more than we even realise sometimes. They've been there for us when we needed them and they've stayed with us for decades. That's why they're so important to the world, these characters have fought our battles with us but more importantly, they've become a part of our lives and will continue to do so for however long we need them to be. Each hero has taught us something and each one has presented us with stories that are brilliant, emotional and at times just purely fun. That's why superheroes are so important.