Real Heroes
by Gary Scott Beatty
gary@comicartistsdirect.com.
The following was a letter of mine printed in the November 1, 2002 issue of Comic Buyer's Guide that elicits such a good response, even today, I decided to run it here. It's been my experience that heroic fantasy serves an important purpose that is often overlooked.
Peter David's "September 11, a year later" brought back some memories and realizations that I believe are very important for those of us interested in comic books to consider. When I heard about the policemen and firemen lost in the attack my emotions were different than Peter's. Where he wrote he felt a certain helplessness that the heroes we read and enjoy were not really there to prevent the tragedy, I was both saddened and defiantly uplifted by a radio report that forced me to think about those brave heroes lost in the line of duty, running not away from the tragedy but toward it.
Before that report I only thought about my own safety and that of my family. Where would the next attack be? Is it an overall invasion? That radio report - quoting some initial number of missing firemen - jarred me into thinking of the greater good. It was only then I began thinking of the Twin Towers victims as people, wishing I had been there myself to help and wondering what I could do from half a country away. Only after the realization that with one blow some craven enemy had deprived our nation of so many heroes did I become truely pissed off.
And that is what our stories are for, not to comfort us with a fantasy that somewhere out there someone will protect us, but to condition US to be heroic when needed. Greek myths, Beowulf, Christ's parables, Goya's disturbing war etchings, Chandler's detectives. Tolkein's Hobbits, Segar's Popeye and Burns' "The Civil War" all encourage us in different ways to do the right thing, or at least to recognize that something must be done and not slink away for self-preservation over the common good.
Heroic stories will never stop because there is a basic need in the human psyche to tell and listen to them. But that doesn't mean they exist for their own sake. They are the means to an end, a way to keep heroism alive in quiet times and encourage action in times like today.
All artwork is copyright © 2005 by its respective artists and publishers.