used to think that the fascination with superheroes was reserved for those under the age of 12—where children dress up as Spiderman for Halloween, they play Superman in their backyards, or wield their light sabers around the house in hot pursuit of their villain father as he comes home from work (or is my household the only one where that happens)?

But a look at some of the summer blockbusters over recent years seems to suggest that as an adult society, we are quite taken by the Superhero theme—those characters who, on the outside, appear just like you and I, but on the inside know down deep that they possess some otherworldly power; a power that carries with it the darker temptation to use it for one’s own devices, but yet is intended for the good of a society in desperate need of rescuing.

Why, I wonder, the recent resurgence of the superhero stories?

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