Heroic Inspirations

By Michael Critzer

Over the ages, superheroes in various forms have been speaking to humanity in togas, robes, and now tights. They speak to us about the human condition. They help us work through our fears and failures to establish our goals and life plans.

Heroic Inspirations draws out rich lessons superheroes provide for our daily lives. 

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• Language: English
• Publisher: Hero House Publishing
• Release date: May 1, 2017
• ISBN: 9780996546799

Book preview

SUPERMAN

Mighty and Meek

Good actions give strength to ourselves and inspire good actions in others.

- Samuel Smiles

In the graphic novel Superman: Birthright, writer Mark Waid shows the careful attention that goes into constructing and maintaining Clark Kent as Superman’s secret identity. Clark slumps in oversized clothes to hide his physique. He wears glasses to dull his vivid blue eyes. He even researches acting techniques to distance the mild-mannered reporter from the hero in a relentless spotlight. Waid highlights the sacrifice Clark makes so that Superman can fulfill his destiny and use his powers to help others. That sacrifice is Clark Kent himself, and the strength and reasoning behind it is a lesson in meekness and integrity.

Halfway through the book, in a montage of Clark’s workweek, we see him unnoticed and left out by his coworkers on a daily basis. As lonely as it is, invisibility was his goal when he constructed this Clark persona before leaving his home in Smallville. But on a Thursday evening, he experiences unintended consequences. The scene unfolds with Lois and Jimmy entering a bar, greeted by Daily Planet staff who have just ditched Clark at a restaurant across the street. Beyond failing to notice him, they’ve developed a disdain. They describe him as dull, emotionless, and blank, refusing to hear Lois’ half-hearted defense of their new colleague. Across the street, alone at the restaurant table, Clark hears each of their comments.

He hangs his head beneath the weight of his sacrifice, but he remains at the table. Imagine how easy it would be to improve his reputation. As Superman, Clark is attractive, charismatic, and inspires trust. He could be the most popular guy in the office. He could even use his powers to gain acceptance, by listening in on useful secrets, reading heart rates, and gauging reactions to alter his words and behavior accordingly. Or if he no longer wanted their acceptance, he could gratify the natural desire for revenge. He could march across the street and confront them. He could use his powers to humiliate or ruin their reputations. The fact that he acts on neither of these impulses makes him not only a hero but the definition of meekness.

The value of meekness, or strength under control, is often illustrated with the misleading image of a wild horse, tamed and bridled. But that image implies submission to a more forceful will than our own. Superman controls and tames himself. Clark can refrain from obtaining ill-gained praise or revenge because he believes in his calling and who he is. Opening up to his co-workers to gain popularity or friendship would jeopardize his secret and make them a target for his enemies. And the energy spent on gaining their approval would cost him his focus on helping those in need. Alone at the restaurant, no one but a distracted waitress is present when he dashes off at super speed toward the cry for help breaking in upon his super hearing. Had he been in the crowded bar across the street, he would have lost precious moments in making the necessary excuses to leave. Those moments might have cost lives among those crying for help on the falling bridge. Superman has an unshakable belief in his responsibility to use his gifts to help others, even at the expense of himself. He’s made it a priority over the rest of his life.

What about revenge then? At times, with scenes that misunderstand his character, Superman is shown engaging in petty little pranks on those who bully Clark Kent. But the iconic Superman only acts in such cases to help a victim and often even the bullies themselves. He doesn’t need to get even with people because no one can truly hurt his pride. He has a certainty about who he is and what he stands for. The alienation of Clark Kent may feel uncomfortable, but the moment he’s needed, he taps into a greater strength. When the sounds of human suffering reach him from the bridge, he is there in an instant giving 100%. He knows who he is, even if his coworkers do not. He’s a hero with the integrity to serve those who’d try to hurt him.

The scene is thematically linked to the greater story arc and climax of the tale. Just as the Daily Planet staff mocks Clark, Lex Luthor attempts to discredit Superman on a much larger scale. When Lex fabricates a Kryptonian invasion that identifies Superman as a scout for their conquest, Clark doesn’t waste time dwelling on how he is being wronged. And he doesn’t attack Lex out of revenge. He does what he’s always done, save people. The Scottish author and government reformer Samuel Smiles wrote that Good actions give strength to ourselves and inspire good actions in others. Superman is the perfect illustration of this principle. In the midst of his slander, the integrity he shows, in continuing to use his gifts to serve people, proves to be his ultimate vindicator. Before long, the crowds of Metropolis, the very crowds Lex hoped to turn against Superman, march forward to fight with their hero.

On large scales or small, Superman shows the importance of remaining true to ourselves and our callings in life. How many times do we squander our own gifts and talents for fickle praise or revenge? Superman’s stories show that we would make a greater impact and be happier in the long run by focusing on serving those who need us. We can stop pleasing the shallow and start filling the empty. We can ignore the bullies and build up their victims. Meekness is not strength controlled or checked by someone else—a parent, boss, church, or spouse. Meekness is the greater strength to control ourselves. Meekness is the security and integrity of identity that allows us to care for others. This value is at the heart of Superman. It is the fundamental basis for his character and makes him one of the strongest, if not the strongest, comic book superheroes. Superman shows us how to find such strength in our own hearts and be true to our own destinies, whatever they may be.

YOUR JOURNEY

Can you identify any petty grudges that require your time and focus? Maybe a coworker or classmate you know talks about you behind your back. Maybe a controlling family member or neighbor criticizes the choices you make with your life or property. Whatever you identify, consider the time you spend responding, defending yourself, slandering in return, and going out of your way to assert yourself.

Now imagine what you could do with that time to help someone else instead. You could build up a gloomy coworker or classmate with compliments. You could offer to tutor a young person struggling in your best subject at school or work. Or you could mow someone’s lawn who’s unable to do it themselves. What else are you uniquely gifted at and positioned to do for people in your life?

ADVANCED HERO WORK

What can you do for the person you have the petty grudge against? Can you put aside the offense and see them as insecure, hurling insults at others, so no one will look at them? Or are they overlooked in life and trying to control everyone else because they feel powerless? What can you do to forget about your own hurt and heal theirs, so they too can deliver happiness instead of harm to others?

LUKE CAGE & IRON FIST

Connecting to Strength

"Vulnerability is the birthplace of connection and the path to the feeling of worthiness.

If it doesn’t feel vulnerable, the sharing is probably not constructive."

- Brene Brown

Superhero history is filled with classic team-ups. From sidekick pairings like Batman and Robin to friends working together like Captain America and Falcon, these partnerships illustrate the importance of laying aside differences and working together to achieve a common goal. One of Marvel Comics most successful super team-ups is Luke Cage (Power Man) and Danny Rand (Iron Fist). The unlikely pair was thrown together by editors in the 70s after sales of their respective titles lagged toward cancellation. Both characters were vestiges of dying film fads, Blaxploitation and Kung Fu movies. But, the success of the series was a testament to how the creators reached past stereotypes to the deeper narrative, two characters finding common ground with someone from a different walk of life.

Once the series was established, a brief introductory panel opened each issue describing Luke Cage as a child of the streets and Danny Rand as a son of the mystic city K’un-Lun. It cited each hero as reborn to their power and together, unstoppable. This summary encapsulates the greater Power Man and Iron Fist story. Though the two heroes hailed from different worlds, each recognized motivations and found heroic strength in one another.

Luke Cage’s past reads like a typical wrong man tale. He is falsely accused of a crime and sent to prison. There he volunteers for an experiment that results in his super strength and bulletproof skin. Once escaped, he assumes the name Luke Cage to hide from the law. Though his ultimate mission remains to clear himself and take revenge on those who framed him, he works in the meantime as a hero for hire. From his apartment/office above a B-movie theater, he serves mostly the downtrodden of his neighborhood.

Danny Rand, on the other hand, comes from an affluent family and is the typical protagonist of many Kung Fu films, the westerner immersed in eastern culture. At the age of nine, he accompanies his mother and father on an expedition to find the mystical city of K’un-Lun. Along the way, his father is murdered, and his mother sacrifices herself to save Danny from a pack of wolves. He enters K’un-Lun with a lust for revenge and is trained for ten years to be the city’s finest warrior. As a result, he gains the mystical power to focus his chi into fists as hard as iron.

Rand and Cage are each wronged and each seeks revenge. Danny overcomes his desire, however, when he tracks down the man who killed his father, now old, disabled, and apologetic. Danny pities the man and realizes how his desire for revenge has taken over his existence. He decides not to be the one to kill his father’s murderer and to instead use his abilities to help others. The personal journey from self-focused to others-focused is one he helps Cage with when Power Man comes crashing into his life.

Circumstances place them on a mission together that leads to Cage confronting the man who had testified falsely at his trial. Cage too decides to