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Yeah, I know that the title of this months rant may be making a few
of you cringe, but bear with me. Heroes are coming back stronger now
more than ever folks. Im talking the heroes that only exist in the pages
of comics, in the words of books, and the big and small screens. Im
talking about heroes that arise from the ideals of the mind, because the
powers that help them define themselves dont exist in our world. Weve
been without these heroes on the large scale for many years. In my eyes
weve been without them for at least a decade. You know, about the time
the speculators were peering into the world of comic collecting and
cartoons were being thrown off Saturday mornings for the sake of more
air time for sports.
Superman, Batman, Spider-Man and Captain America were put
to the side in favor of real heroes. You know the ones that were
earning million dollar salaries for running with a ball and showing the
world that if you have enough money you can get away with just about
anything. Now, as a whole our society is looking more at the tragedies
that result in the loss of life, lack of ethics in the practices of
businesses,
and rumored accepted drug use and other problems by our sports
heroes. Who is left to look to? Who do we try to be like? Im sure a
prophet or two jump to mind for some of you , but in addition to those
folks we also have heroes on television and others that exist in comics.
Are any of them real? Some were not sure about, but for the heroes in a
comic we know they arent. However, that doesnt mean that they cant
influence us or help us to find positive elements in ourselves.
What am I talking about? The best example I can give is how I
have recently started using comic heroes to help kids work together. I
work on a challenge course a lot. For those of you who dont know what
a challenge course is the best explanation is that you learn by doing
(also known as experiential education), and one of the main things you
learn is how to work in a group. For a group in their late teens or an
adult
group its easy to begin a day by asking each individual what they hope
to get from their time and what they hope to bring to the group.
Unfortunately this isnt as easy with kids that are in 5th grade. Theyre
there to do what you throw before them, and the majority doesnt have
any idea of what they have that will help the group. Many have skills,
but they dont know how to put them into words or are shy about
expressing themselves. This is where comic book heroes come in. Even
when this idea was thought of by another worker at the course, and I
was asked to come up with a list of heroes, I couldnt imagine the power
these heroes would have.
To make things easy for the kids I had to choose an actual
group. The Avengers and JLA immediately sprang to mind, and after
considering who had a more stable roster and a more successful cartoon
recently the decision was easy. I took the television Justice League
roster and added Aquaman for those who might read the comic. Looking
at each hero I decided (with extra imagination at times) what they
brought to the team and how to explain it to the kids. The following is
the breakdown I use. The list is the JLA member, what they bring to the
team and how they use it.
- Superman - Leader - The one people look to first when the group needs to get things done.
- Batman - Quiet Thinker - Comes up with really good plans. You cant pester Batman because youll disrupt his planning.
- WonderWoman - Honesty - Through her lasso and past Wonder Woman has become an example of honesty and keeps others honest.
- The Flash - Dives Into Action - The Flash is someone who immediately goes into action.
- Hawkgirl- Dependable - She may be a little rough, but shes always ready to support her team.
- MartianManhunter - Shape Shifter - He can change himself so that he can do whatever his team needs him to do, no matter the situation.
- GreenLantern - Focus - Focus keeps his constructs in existence, so
he can stay on task extremely well.
- Aquaman - Communicator - Through his powers and living in two societies Aquaman has learned to help others communicate.
There you have it. Heroes broken down into what they bring to their
team without powers. A kid might not know how to say I want to lead,
but they can say I think Im like Superman. Quiet kids who tend to do
a lot of thinking before adding their input to a plan are often ignored by a
group because theyre seen as someone who doesnt want to participate.
However, when that same kid starts the day by saying Im like
Batman, they establish that they are a member of the group even if they
are sitting back quietly. One of the best days I have seen was when a
group struggling with a challenge took a break and said Who is a
Batman? After they found their BatMEN and got their input about how
to tackle the challenge they achieved success. It may sound like an after-
school special, but I really am not making this up.
The worlds true heroes are becoming few and far between, and
many fall from that pedestal it seems. Sports are great, and so is the
desire to succeed at them. Working towards being financially successful
is also a great goal. However, without the heart to drive those goals (or
any other) and a connection to those around us they become empty
goals, or self-serving ones at best. Watching a real world hero fall can
be a devastating thing for anyone who looks up to them, regardless of
age. Now, Im not saying that fictional heroes are better than heroes that
are real, but you can only emulate a fictional hero so far and any fall from
grace they may have never actually happens.
Im not just talking about comic heroes either folks. Even Power
Puff Girls, He-Man, Transformers, or Yu-Gi-Oh would be great for kids to
connect to. Fictional heroes who live in a world where good and evil are
obvious and you get to see the problems with evil. Sure the real world
may be shades of gray, but give the kids time to imagine they can be a
super hero. In time theyll understand that the super part has to go,
but that the desire to be a hero doesnt. With new shows and movies
the power and influence of fictional heroes has returned. How long it
lasts is up to us. Ill do my part with comic heroes. What are you going
to do?
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