Heroes

I figure that if I’m going to try to post or blog I might at well do it on something that I enjoy thinking or talking about. So odds are this will be an on going series. Odds are also that it will get more attention than my other writing ideas.

So with out more ado, here we go:

Spider-Man


I think that there is a reason why people continue to read about this guy even when his most recent storyline sucked pretty hard. The “Back in Black” storyline was okay, and Civil war focused on Spider-man as one of its central characters. There’s a very good reason for this, Peter Parker excels as a character because he’s known to fail as a hero. He fails a human too. It’s these failures that have come to define the character. From the very beginning, Pete’s inability to be the man he knows he should acts as a catalyst for the events that shape him as a superhero.

Yet most importantly, and as the tragic hero he so desperately tries to be, the web head continues to save the people that alternatively love him and hate him. Its his failures that continue to drive Parker on ward. Every time Peter loses someone he cares about it, the character faces it as an individual and three dimensional person, not the two dimensional construct he is. Others characters through out the marvel universe find their own ways of dealing with the pain of loss, but Spidey’s is often the most convincing. Maybe this is because his character is steeped in lost.

Another reason for Spider-Man’s prolonged success is that in a realm of intense science fiction and far flung circumstances, Peter is still the everyman. Even in his “civilian” life the web head chose to enter the field of teaching. The character isn’t magical, or the result of military experimentation. He’s a victim. Pete’s motivation at its truest and most innate form originates in his guilt. Guilt from his failure to save Ben, Gwen, and everyone else who’s had to suffer due to his inabilities. I’ve got to believe that everyone has felt these feelings before.

Spiderman is lovable because he’s the underdog we all wish we could be, the kind that succeeds. He continues to get back up when it all comes crashing down. From under a pile of his own emotional baggage, the damages of the world around him, and the consequences of his failures Peter continues to struggle towards redemption that only he can grant himself.