Edited by Liesa Mignogna, the anthology Last Night a Superhero saved My life includes essays by well known authors discussing the superheroes that have had an impact on them. Its more than just “my favorite superhero—here’s why”. The authors talk about how their favorite superheroes shaped them.
How people in their lives took on aspects of superheroes. How the struggles of superheroes, who even with their powers don’t stop being human, and how that teaches fans what it is to be human as well. While Batman gets the most mention, other heroes discussed include Wonder Woman, Underdog, Nightcrawler, and Rogue and Gambit. (I could so go on about Rogue and Gambit. When they are written well they are awesome.)
Ron Curie Jr writes about what Weapon X taught him about masculinity, the idea of fighting when someone needs to be stopped. Karina Cooper writes about how she became like Rogue, unable to touch due to her own trauma, and eventually found her own Gambit who learned how to touch her. Jenn Reese writes about following Nightcrawler as an example of being kind and fun loving when you have hard beginnings. Much as I love Neil Gaiman, his essay on Batman while interesting isn’t as touching as many of the other works featured.
In some ways, this anthology isn’t so much about superheroes as the power of fiction. The power of character who speaks to you, who teaches a painful lesson or the character that gives you comfort in painful times. Superheroes are always here, precisely because they can speak to impossible abilities and human struggles at the same time.
I recommend this book for fans of comics, but also to writers. It helps to read what people have to say about the characters that had such deep effects on them when crafting your own stories. I can only hope to someday write a character that does for others what superheroes did for these writers.