I grew up in the Age of the Apocalypse, along with the rest of my generation.
What a time to be a kid!
You think we were playing hopscotch and hide-and-seek?
© Warner Bros.
Sometimesbut we were also playing war-games, shoot-first-ask-questions-later games, decide-what-to-take-into-the bunker games.
I was very aspirational.
But throughout those years, it wasnt all gloom and doom.
© Folio Society
We had books and comics.
I was born in 1978, the same yearSuperman: The Moviewas released.
Why did this matter to me, as a child?
Why does itstillmatter to me now, perhaps more so than ever before?
Because the unfamiliar, we were told, was dangerous.
Kindness was for saps, for those who didnt want to survive.
Reach out a helping hand, expect it to get bitten…off.
I didntwantto feel powerless to change the world around me.
I didntwantto hear or feel that being open and kind to strangers might be some fatal weakness or flaw.
I didntwantto be either a foolish victim or a cruel killer hero.
Not much of a choice, right?
Societal abysses almost never are.
But what helped keep me from succumbing to those beliefs, falling into those depths, was Superman.
Indeed, this was howeveryoneshould actwith courage, decency, and kindnessno matter what.
Clark wasnt just a disguise, Clark was the suit that Supermans humanity wore, his glasses its blazon.
What an extraordinary, hopeful view of humanitys promise.
Kindness can beget kindness.
Great power does not necessarily corrupt, but instead can be turned into an even greater good.
Humanitys capacity to loveprecious and world-changing, worthy of protection.
These are the lessons I took from Superman.
As he has for so many others.
I know Im not saying anything particularly new.
But in this day and age, perhaps its worth a pointed reminder of why that still matters.
Because we are all weve got.
Heres another Superman story.
Worst of all, I was alone.
No one, it seemed, had noticed the fall.
Not surprising, really.
I was a shy awkward nerd, who never attracted much attention.
When my friends finally found me, they did their best to help.
Still, none of the adults seemed to pay it any mind.
And when all the other heroes fell away, consumed by pain, only Superman remained.
But it was what followed those scenes that I compulsively replayed, over and over.
Supermans openhearted return to humanity.
His efforts for connection, whether through Lois and Jimmy, or complete strangers.
His attempts to be part of something bigger than himself.
Understand: I was already wrestling with social anxiety and in-security, a profound sense that I didnt belong.
But thats not what happened.
I had friends nearby who cared, and family at home who loved me.
Id get back to them.
I was mad now, but I refused to stay mad.
I was afraid, but I refused to stay afraid.
This would all pass.
Id return to Earth, and start over.
Because thats what a hero would do.
The first will be cats.
And the second, Id guess, will be Superman.
I dont believe thats an overly optimistic notion.
Superman#30 (October 1944) The Mysterious Mr. Mxyztplk!
by writer Jerry Siegel, artist Ira Yarbrough and Stan Kaye, and cover artist Jack Burnley.
Superman#96 (March 1955) The Girl Who Didnt Believe in Superman!
by writer Bill Finger, artists Wayne Boring and Stan Kaye, and cover artist Al Plastino.
Action Comics# 583 (September 1986) Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?
Superman#75 (January 1993) Doomsday!
Peace on Earth(January 1999) by writer Paul Dini and artist Alex Ross.
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