Holding Out For A Shero

I've been thinking about heroes this week with the Times story (reg. required) about the new DC Comics Minx series of graphic novels, the Friday launch (MediaPost, reg. required) of the new Hero Television Network (at least online) and the continuing popularity of the show "Heroes" on NBC, especially with teens.

Everyone wants to be special. To rise above the ordinary. And nobody wants that more than teenagers who are stuck in the hormonal hail storm that is puberty trying to figure out who they are and who they want to become. And they have to do all of this while surviving the rigid high school peckihg order. The resurgence of comics and graphic novels and the popularity of NBC's "Heroes" with teens just makes sense. The fantasy of being able to discover you have some kind of superhuman strength makes surviving adolescence a whole lot easier…and interesting. We all know these powers always become a cross to bear, forcing the hero to choose whether or not to use them for good or evil and usually preventing "normal" friendships and romances (you are terminally unique).

At What Teens Want West, Jim Taylor mentioned that teens have fully bought into the notion of creating their own hero mythology (I am my own hero) as part of the way they are enrolling friends and promoting themselves on MySpace or on YouTube as well.

Whether it was the spider bite that saved Peter Parker from being the super smart social outcast or the ability to self heal that makes Claire the cheerleader realize that being different is ok or Buffy Summers living out her destiny as the slayer in demon-riddled Sunnyvale, combining normal teen life with super powers or the super natural, when done well, has always been a story arc attractive to teens - but the comic book genre that has spawned a lot of the more mainstream fare is still the domain of mostly boys. And the subculture that sprung up around it (think ComicCon), is where the hardcore fanboys hangout when they grow up.

I think Buffy, the Harry Potter books, the spate of comic-inspired summer blockbusters, the popularity of Manga and now "Heroes" have all helped broaden the appeal of these stories and hero mythology for the rest of us. And while the Minx series being developed by DC Comics sounds more like Veronica Mars/Nancy Drew, i.e. less supernatural/sci fi and more girls solving mysteries, I think girls are ready for more ordinary girls turned heroes as well.

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