Note: This week is known as Passion Week. It is the week we pause to focus specifically on the last days of Jesus’ earthly ministry. It culminates in the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It seems appropriate that we should look at heroes this week. I introduced the topic in my last post, and hope that you will be able to find some heroes of your own or think of those who have inspired you in the past. Христос воскрес! Воистино воскрес!

With the ever-growing number of comic book heroes around us, and the modern practice of turning them into more human than hero, it is difficult to find a good comic book hero to fill the shoes of “my hero.” At one point I go back to the definition of a hero – someone who goes beyond the ordinary. In that case you can’t choose Superman who is in reality an alien, nor Spider-man or the Hulk who received their powers as the result of a radioactive accident. The only hero who fills the bill is the Batman. Turning to vigilante justice to clean up the crime in Gotham City, the Batman gets his superpowers as a result of the estate to which he is heir. He develops himself and takes advantage of gizmos and technology, all carried around on his trusty utility belt. If I return to my childhood, I find there men like Aquaman and Green Lantern. I think I enjoyed Green Lantern most because he had the cool ring which held his power.

So many heroes, no way to choose. So I decided to speak about what makes comic book heroes really heroes. With the help of Stan Lee, I learned that a hero is a hero because of their desire to save lives, right wrongs, and live uprightly. A true superhero is honest, trustworthy, determined, and caring. He looks for ways to right wrongs without even harming the enemy (the super villain) if it can be helped. As the old Superman television program put it, he stands for “truth, justice, and the American way!” What do we learn from comic book heroes?

• To stand up for what is right—no matter what.



• To always take the best road.



• To use our strengths for the betterment of our world.



• To always leave the world a better place than we found it.

I like to think that the heroes of my childhood don’t belong in the darkside comic books that have developed since the 1980s. Instead, the search for truth and goodness wins out always—and so I give you Green Lantern.

Now, whose your comic book hero? And why?