When We Were Kids And Believed in Heroes

What Comics Taught Us About Courage, Conscience, and Choosing Sides

See Life as a Muse article on Substack Dec 08, 2025

When we were little, many of us believed wholeheartedly in heroes. We read Captain America, Wonder Woman, and Superman. We watched them on TV and in movies. We followed their stories and cheered them on.

We didn’t know it yet, but those characters were never just entertainment. They were moral teachers. They were warnings. They were created to help us recognize a very real danger: fascism.

Their purpose was to show us what courage looks like when the world is in crisis and to plant the seed that we might one day be brave enough to stand up to.

Superheroes Were Born From Darkness As a Beacon of Hope

Many of the artists who created the first superheroes were immigrants or children of refugees watching fascism rise in Europe. They understood the stakes of silence. Through their storytelling, they declared:

When power is abused, resistance becomes a responsibility.

These heroes fought villains modeled after real authoritarian leaders long before the world fully grasped how dire things were becoming.

Timeline: Heroes Who Confronted Fascism

YearHero / Character & Publisher Significance

1938 Superman (DC Comics)The first modern superhero, with strength as protection, not oppression.

1939Batman (DC Comics)A hero without superpowers chooses to fight corruption, fear, and injustice.

1941Wonder Woman (DC Comics)A powerful female hero battling fascists, propaganda, and tyranny.

March 1941, Captain America (Marvel Comics). On his first comic cover, he punches a depiction of Adolf Hitler, a bold stand against Nazism, before the U.S. entered WWII. 

1940s Teams like The Invaders, Blackhawk Squadron, Boy Commandos (Marvel & DC), Diverse heroes, refugees, ordinary people, children banding together to fight tyranny across the globe.

These were not metaphors. These were protest stories. Anti-fascist stories.

Superheroes were created to remind us that lawful does not always mean moral, and that even ordinary people can become extraordinary by choosing humanity over fear.

Heroes Enter the Civil Rights Era (1950s–1970s)

After WWII, fascism didn’t disappear; it changed shape. Racism, segregation, and systemic injustice became the next battleground. Comics evolved accordingly.

• 1961 X-Men (Marvel Comics) Mutants became a metaphor for marginalized people. Through their stories, comics challenged fear, prejudice, and exclusion.

• 1962 (created) / 1966 (debut) Black Panther (Marvel Comics) The first mainstream Black superhero a sovereign king, not a sidekick or stereotype. A direct challenge to colonial narratives and racist tropes.

• 1970–1972 Green Lantern / Green Arrow “Hard-Traveling Heroes” (DC Comics)Comic arcs that confronted racism, poverty, inequality, drug abuse, and corruption. Stories that demanded justice at home, not just abroad.

• Early 1970s onward, More Diverse Heroes (Marvel & DC, among others) Heroes such as Luke Cage, Falcon, Storm, John Stewart (Green Lantern), and others began to represent communities historically excluded from mainstream hero stories. Their presence expanded the vision of who gets to be powerful and what justice means.

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Over time, comics transformed from tales of global war to stories about justice, identity, equality, and human dignity.

And Then Came Hellboy: The Hero Who Defied His Origin

In 1993, Hellboy was introduced by Dark Horse Comics. His story sent a powerful message:

He was created by fascists, designed to be a tool of hate. And yet he rejected that destiny. He rejected their ideology.

He chose compassion over control. He chose humanity over obedience. He chose love over hate.

Hellboy’s story asks us:

• What if the system that raised you is corrupt?

• What if authority demands your loyalty over your conscience?

• Who are you when doing the right thing comes with consequences?

He teaches a different kind of courage: to break from the harmful narratives you were handed, to reclaim your humanity, to be the hero your true self calls for.

What Real-Life Heroism Can Look Like

Because alongside fictional heroes, real people throughout history have stood up not for glory, not for fame, but for justice, dignity, compassion, humanity:

• People who risked everything to hide families from fascist regimes.

• Those who marched, protested, and demanded equality when it was dangerous to speak up.

• Neighbors who protected each other in times of hate and fear.

• Ordinary people who chose kindness, even when it cost them.

They didn’t wear capes. They didn’t have superpowers .But they had conscience. They had courage.

And they changed the world because they refused to look away.

The Hero We Choose to Be For the Next Generation

Most of us grew up admiring heroes, even if our real-life worlds didn’t reflect their values. Maybe we lived in environments of division, apathy, and silence.

Now it’s our turn.

What kind of hero will we choose to be for the next generation?

• Will we show them that justice isn’t just history, it’s a responsibility?

• Will we teach them that courage doesn’t require a cape, only a conscience?

• Will we model that compassion, solidarity, and humanity matter, not power, silence, or fear?

Someday soon, they might ask us:

“Where were you when the world needed kindness?”

“Who were you when truth was under attack?"

“What did you stand for?”

We don’t have to wait for a movie script to decide. We don’t need a super suit to choose right over easy. Because the hero isn’t the one who leaps tall buildings.

The hero is the one who stands up.

Who speaks.

Who protects.

Who dares to love when others choose fear.

And that hero can be you.

Questions to Reflect On: Who Is Your Hero?

• If you had grown up with Captain America as your model, how would you stand up when injustice demands resistance?

• If Wonder Woman inspired your heart, how would you use compassion as strength?

• If you see yourself in the X-Men, will you defend those treated as “other,” excluded, or oppressed?

• If Black Panther taught you pride, what does liberation and dignity look like in your community?

• If Green Lantern & Green Arrow stirred your conscience, what injustice do you refuse to ignore?

• If Hellboy resonates, what harmful stories are you ready to reject? What identity will you reclaim?

  
  

The Legacy And The Choice

We grew up believing in heroes.

Now, the world is watching.

The question is no longer: Can we be heroes?

It’s: Will we choose to be them?

Because beyond comics, beyond stories…

This is real.

This is now.

This is us.