Wouldn't it be wonderful if the world in which we live was fair; if good always triumphed, and evil punished? As a child, I believed life was fair. I also believed in the existence of Santa Claus and unicorns. Eventually, I learned the truth about Santa. (Though I hang on to my hope of one day seeing a unicorn). At school, I witnessed children exhibiting bad behavior and not getting caught. Sometimes I was wrongly penalized when I was being good. My image of a just world began to crumble. I learned what everyone else finds out at some point in their life; the "system" doesn't always work. Bad things can happen to good people, and criminals often get away with murder.
There are heroes in the world, including soldiers, firemen and policemen. The public makes heroes out of sports figures and celebrities. The problem with being one of the aforementioned type of hero is that they are human and in danger of making mistakes. It is often difficult to forgive our heroes for their failings because they exist in a realm above our own, and we expect more from them. There is a huge feeling of betrayal when celebrities such as Tiger Woods or Mel Gibson fall from grace. How can we assuage our growing sense of cynicism? And more importantly, who can we count on to save us should disaster strike?
Enter the superhero, and let the battle between good and evil commence! There are a number of superheroes to save the world. They exist in two major locations; DC Comics, and Marvel. (Don't you dare get them confused). DC Comics was founded in 1934, as National Allied Publications. DC is home to such superheroes as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Green Lantern, and Flash. Marvel was started in 1939 as Timely Publications. Marvel houses the likes of Spider-Man, Iron Man, X-Men, Hulk, Fantastic Four, Thor, and Captain America.
Superheroes are especially needed to cheer our spirits during times of economic depression or war. Captain America was created in 1941, as an intentionally patriotic character often depicted fighting the Axis powers of WWII. A good indication of our need for superheroes now is the $55,101,604 made over the weekend by the film "X-Men: First Class".
So fear not, fellow humans. A number of additional superheroes will be arriving shortly in coming films. You may look forward to Batman, Captain America, Green Lantern, Iron-Man, and Spider-Man. For a brief time, at least, we will see the world as it should be.
