"When we last left our heroes..."
Everyone loves a hero.
Since the beginnings of civilization, humans have always elevated the most effective hunter, the wisest elder, the bravest soldier, the shrewdest business man, to a position of greater recognition than his peers.
That position is commonly referred to as "hero".
Most of my heroes come from the world of fiction. I can still think back to the first two Superman and Batman comics I ever read. While The Man of Steel and the Dark Knight colored my perceptions, they also instilled me with concepts of honor, duty and self-sacrifice that dovetailed with my parent's teachings.
My early comic heroes also taught me about mythology, both modern and ancient, which developed into a love of Greco-Roman myth. From there I was introduced to celluloid heroes like 007 and Harry Calahan, paperback novel creations like The Destroyer and Mack Bolan, then to the pulp magazine culture that spawned both paperback heroes and the comic books that originally drew my fancy.
While this blog will highlight the origins, development and influence of my favorite fictional heroes, my true goal is to marry fantasy and reality by calling attention to real-life influences in my life. Like their imaginary counterparts, I have never met my flesh and blood role models, but their lives have touched me in ways that no two-dimensional champion could. Some are dead and some are living, in my life I've loved them all.
Some say the true measure of a hero lies not in his abilities or skill, but in how he chooses to use them given the opportunity. I hope the patterns of behavior revealed within these pages help you reach the hero within each of you.
Since the beginnings of civilization, humans have always elevated the most effective hunter, the wisest elder, the bravest soldier, the shrewdest business man, to a position of greater recognition than his peers.
That position is commonly referred to as "hero".
Most of my heroes come from the world of fiction. I can still think back to the first two Superman and Batman comics I ever read. While The Man of Steel and the Dark Knight colored my perceptions, they also instilled me with concepts of honor, duty and self-sacrifice that dovetailed with my parent's teachings.
My early comic heroes also taught me about mythology, both modern and ancient, which developed into a love of Greco-Roman myth. From there I was introduced to celluloid heroes like 007 and Harry Calahan, paperback novel creations like The Destroyer and Mack Bolan, then to the pulp magazine culture that spawned both paperback heroes and the comic books that originally drew my fancy.
While this blog will highlight the origins, development and influence of my favorite fictional heroes, my true goal is to marry fantasy and reality by calling attention to real-life influences in my life. Like their imaginary counterparts, I have never met my flesh and blood role models, but their lives have touched me in ways that no two-dimensional champion could. Some are dead and some are living, in my life I've loved them all.
Some say the true measure of a hero lies not in his abilities or skill, but in how he chooses to use them given the opportunity. I hope the patterns of behavior revealed within these pages help you reach the hero within each of you.
posted by The Green Lantern at 7:45 PM
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