Who Is your Favorite Super Hero?

Valerie J. Steimle

It seems all we hear about at the movies are super heroes… Batman, Superman, Spiderman, Fantastic Four, Ironman, the Hulk, Hawkeye, Birdman, Bugman, Big Hero Six; the list goes on and on.  The rehashing of stories over and over again; how many Batman series has there been? Whew!

We had this discussion last night around the dinner table with my teen children and they think it’s great.  They kept asking me who my favorite super hero was and they would not let me rest until I told them. I guess I’m not into super heroes but if I had to pick one it would be Captain America. He’s lived through trials in his life which helped develop his humility and he is devoted to his country.

This got me thinking about super heroes. My true super hero would have to be those we read about in the Book of Mormon. A Lamanitish women by birth, Abish had been converted to the Lord for many years “on account of a remarkable vision of her father.” (Alma 19:17) She was one of the servants to King Lamoni’s wife and when Ammon, and King Lamoni, along with his wife fell down under the power of God, Abish was right there to gather the city together to see this miracle. She had helped in the cause of strengthening the city’s testimony of God.

Another one is Captain Moroni with his title of liberty: (Alma 46:12) “And it came to pass that he rent his coat; and he took a piece thereof, and wrote upon it—In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children—and he fastened it upon the end of a pole.”

Now that is a real hero. He rallied his people to defend their faith and their families. Both of these people are heroes in my book and as writers we need to fashion the idea how important it is in our writings to promote peace. Whether we write fiction or non-fiction, we can promote goodness.  

We can inspire our readers to look for the good in others and remember what is truly important.  We can create memorable characters and touch the hearts of others with our stories. Yes, being a superhero has its drawbacks of long nights of editing and rewriting, but the end result is worth all of our hard work. We are the super heroes of modern times.