The world longs for a hero to save us from the chaos

Walk the Line - an editor's perspective on all things newsworthy

Many were left saddened when the news broke that Stan Lee had died. Some, of course, were asking, “Stan who?”

Well, any person who has ever watched a superhero movie born from the comics will know who Stan was. He was responsible for giving us such iconic characters as Spider-Man, the X-Men, Thor, Iron Man, Black Panther and the Fantastic Four.

Stan was the legendary writer, editor and publisher of Marvel Comics, whose fabulous but flawed creations made him a real-life superhero to comic-book lovers everywhere.

This was a man who started in the business in 1939 and created or co-created much-loved characters such as the Incredible Hulk, Daredevil and Ant-Man, among countless other characters.

Who can ever forget Lou Ferrigno, who played the Incredible Hulk? Back then, of course, there were no fancy computer graphics, only a real man with some real muscles knowing how to growl and smash.

Who can ever forget when Christopher Reeve donned the iconic blue and red to become Superman? Yes, I know, the graphics were terrible and his character is part of the DC franchise, along with Wonder Woman and the legendary Batman.

But we are talking about superheroes, and we are talking about this comic universe that has exploded into a billion-dollar industry, with the Avengers enterprise competing with the Justice League.

Mostly, this all started with Stan, who catapulted Marvel from a tiny venture into the world’s top publisher of comic books and, later, a multimedia giant.

In 2009, the Walt Disney Co. bought Marvel Entertainment for $4-billion (around R60-b) and most of the top-grossing superhero films of all time, led by Avengers: Infinity War.

Stan was once quoted by Chicago Tribune as saying in April 2014: “I used to think what I did was not very important. People are building bridges and engaging in medical research, and here I was doing stories about fictional people who do extraordinary, crazy things and wear costumes.”

Stan’s comic universe became so incredibly popular because he wanted to create superheroes who struggled with everyday life issues, with the social ills of this world, with acne, and the fluctuating storms of emotions ranging from stress to euphoria.

The superheroes loved, they cried, they mourned, they were humorous and they were angry.

So why are we talking about superheroes? Well, consider why Marvel and DC have become so huge. It is because millions across the globe, from the rich to the poor, really deep down desire to hold onto some kind of hope – even though it is a faint ray of sunlight hovering in a fantasy realm – of someone who can save them.

The last 50 years have seen so much chaos, violence, abuse, terrible leadership and fading hope that the world began to escape into the exhilarating world of superheroes who dealt with the craziness of our times and who offered seemingly ‘real’ solutions.

Yes, we even accepted Hulk smashing everything (even though violence should not be the solution to our woes) and Deadpool being a sarcastic anti-hero.

It was because people could relate to these superheroes (think of Bruce Wayne aka Batman, whose parents were murdered when he was a child) that they also fell in love with them, and so they became the beacon of hope and of redemption.

The superheroes, after all, fought for a better future. Isn’t this what we all want, even here in Boksburg?

The superheroes have captured the imagination and the hearts of so many, even though they are but fictional. After all, no one can fly, or jump from buildings using a web.

Granted, there are some who act like the Hulk when they become angry, especially when driving in traffic, and many would think they are Batman by donning spandex.

The reality is that the world is craving escape from the madness. Authors like CS Lewis created the Narnia Chronicles, where his characters escaped into a fantasy world from the ravages of World War II, while Tolkien created Middle-earth, with the hordes of demons in his books resembling the invading German armies.

Bonnie Tyler’s Hero became for many an anthem of hope as she sang, “Where have all the good men gone, and where are all the gods? Where’s the streetwise Hercules to fight the rising odds? Isn’t there a white knight upon a fiery steed?”

From the days of the damsel being saved by the knight, to the Avengers and X-Men saving the planet, it seems more and more we all crave a fantasy that we hope will turn into a reality.

The truth is, if you look at this world today, you may ask, “Where have all the good men and women gone?” In South Africa, it seems there are none really left as the skeletons tumble out of the closet.

Where, indeed, is the streetwise Hercules to fight the rising odds? Sadly, the Hercules of this age, it seems, is high on drugs, for this is the tale of Hollywood.

Iconic leaders such as Churchill and Mandela, despite their flaws, are no more, and so we turn to Thor to battle the evil and we hope Wonder Woman will be the bastion of women’s rights.

It may be sad that our fantasies are so present with us, but in times of drowning, even a wet stick drifting on the water is better than nothing at all.