I wanted to start a forum thread based on my lastest article:

What Makes a Hero?

I wanted to know what makes a hero to you? Are all comic book characters heroes? Is courage required? Are heroes that save more lives more heroic? I wanna hear your thoughts on this.

A hero to me is one who puts his own fears aside to help others.

I agree with you that somebody who risks something is more heroic than someone who is invincible in the first place.

Interestingly, going all the way back to Greek mythology - a hero was simply a person who sought adventures and (often) challenged other people or creatures to a fight. I think we've come a little bit further nowadays in saying that heroes are people who save the lives of others. Some of the heroes in mythology wouldn't cut it today.

But have you noticed how we still call sportsmen (and women) heroes? What's heroic about sport? About beating (crushing, annihilating) another sports team, another country? (I mean I love sport more than most and as much as many, but heroic?) It's like we fight our wars on the sports field now, and everyone shakes hands afterwards.

Firemen, cops, the teenage boy who risks his own life to rescue a drowning girl - those are heroes. For a language rich in vocabulary, English has surprisingly few words to differentiate between different levels of a thing.

Maybe we should fight wars on the sports fields. lol Though I think we would find Croatia and the Dominican Republic having much more say in world affairs at that point. But I would agree, I wouldn't consider a sports star on the field being heroic. But what they do off can be. Spending times with charities, etc. Using their fortune to help others.

And here is a thought to ponder, are you really a hero if you are getting paid to do it? Most cops will spend most of their careers never in danger, are they truly heroes? Is giving a speeding ticket for a paycheck heroic? There are those who die in the line of duty. But aren't they more the exception than the rule? We know tales of Firemen heroics(9-11 especially), but overall they do it for a paycheck. Is that heroic? Are soldiers heroic? Are mercenaries heroic? They are fighting in wars for paychecks for causes they many times don't believe in just like many of our troops. Just giving some food for thought here to really question what our definition of a hero is.

A hero is someone who is strong and courageous but also has doubt and emotions like that. This is why I love the Batman of Christian Bale and the James Bond of Daniel Craig.

To me a key part of a hero is acting honorably. He doesn't lie, cheat, or steal. That makes it tricky for all the heroes who have secret identities and who are continually lying to people they supposedly love, to "protect them". I never enjoyed those kinds of storylines very much.