Becoming Great

If you get bitten by a radioactive spider, derive strength from a yellow sun, or come from a long line of Amazonian royalty, it makes sense that you would be superpowered. In fact, it would seem like a rip-off--for you and the world-- if you weren’t. But what about the average guy who decides to fight evil on a higher level than average allows? What about someone like Tony Stark who, with no special skills other than a space-age suit and a brilliant mind (well, millions of dollars, too), chooses to put himself on the line for his fellow human beings, out of a sense of loyalty to the species, by becoming the scarlet and gold powerhouse Ironman? Or, as an even more long-standing and familiar example, what are we to make of the tormented, orphaned Bruce Wayne who uses his family’s vast resources and his own internal demons to drive his crusade against the forces of darkness and chaos? If you are propelled by chemistry or destiny toward greatness, is it as amazing as choosing selflessly to become great? Or does taking care of others who can’t do what you can do, regardless of how you can do it, the most important part of this equation? I realize all of this is just talk, since superheroes, in the comic book sense, exist only in fiction, but reading Ralph Cosentino’s Batman: Story of the Dark Knight got me thinking about this stuff. And I don’t think I’ll finish anytime soon.

http://www.amazon.com/Batman-Story-Knight-Ralph-Cosentino/dp/0670062553

http://www.answers.com/topic/ralph-cosentino