What is it about the creators of the modern mythology of comic book superheroes - rising to monumental tasks and larger than life adventures in their pursuit of truth, justice and the universal way - which evokes ages old legends of our civilization's own moral and spiritual heroes of long forgotten history, spreading the light of hope into the darkened corners of civilization's fears?

What is it about the creators of these colorfully clad champions, which evokes a remembrance of gurus, prophets and saviors of times long past, who've guided our moral and ethical evolution, allowing our collective peoples and cultures to grow and flourish - even under the more destructive tendencies that have ever threatened to wipe out any hope for our species' survival?

It's not the superheroes at all who're the heroes here. It's the superhero creators who are today's real champions. It's the writers and artists - the creators of these superheores who are more appropriately identifiable today with the sages of time past and saviors of falling civilizations.

But we know that these comic book aficionados are a whimsically imaginative lot. They're not planted in reality at all. They are conjurers of fictitious fantasy meant to seduce us through our unquenchable thirst for escape through whimsical entertainment. Are they detached from reality, these superhero makers? what, if anything, is real about this comic book industry?

Perhaps the most real thing about this world of superheroes is the spirit with which they came to into being. The real life comic book creators who became the blazing sun and the glowing moon of the darkest recesses of mankind's soul. The artist and writers who became the sparkling stars and the flickering flames of a new hope for a new world. The real creators who dug deep inside in order to understand what it takes to be a real hero. The comic book creators who couldn't stop at just writing and drawing imaginary stories about superheroes delivering the world from aliens or saving alien worlds. The real superheroes, the superhero creators who aspired to erase the line between what's real and what's imaginary. The superhero creators who wrote the stories about the problems we have in our own real world.

Will Eisner was certainly one of these real superheroes. That's all he ever cared about, really. The problems he saw in the tenement facade of our real world and how to try to address them...how to make the world a better place...how to help help save the world with comic books. Let's see, was there anybody else? Oh, How about Stan Lee, did he care about the real world? Seems like he did because he came up with superheroes who were more real, more human. He wanted to show that regular people were just like superheroes. Seems like Denny O'Neil cared about the world...'Nuff said about that, no need to explain it. Plain as the nose on our face, even if it's covered with a green mask.

Neal Adams? Well, look at how much he cares about the comic book industry. Look at how much he gave so that the comic book industry could stand tall and be the voice of truth and justice in a morally blurry environment. Look at Neal Adams' website and read about his sociopolitical opinions directed at world leaders who've strayed from their trust. Delve into Neal Adams' science project and see how deep this man goes so he can bring some light into the world through his comic books. Neal Adams' science project is about to provide the key with which mankind will finally unlock the secrets of the power of gravity - and with it, help put an end to the dwindling of our precious resources. There's no man alive today more worthy of leading the world in the path of the healing it needs than Neal Adams is. No Man in the world more worthy or able to do what it takes to start gathering together the loose pieces of confusion which are tearing our world apart. No man more worthy of being the next President in a world where Presidents have plundered civilization and driven it into the mud of agony and strife.

Alan Weiss cares about the world enough to want to build it into a better world. That's what his Steelgrip Starkey did with the All Purpose Power Tool. Or how about Alan's War Dancer, here's a novel approach to showing the agony of war in its proper perspective. War dancers who seek the rhythm of life and not the abyss of death. Frank Miller, can't say more about how much he cares for the world that's given up on its own will to heal itself and live...That's mostly all he writes about. That's the most precious thing to him about this comic book industry of superhero creators. Steven Grant cares enough about the world that he won't rest until he understands exactly how everything became as messed up as it is. A history buff disguised as a comic book creator. Bryan Talbot's such a romantic, always reminding us to look at the brighter side of life so we can tolerate each other a little more and perhaps ferment a spirit of goodwill in our environment. Alan Moore, our hats are off to you, our friend. You showed everyone what it takes to be a real superhero. Bill Gaiman, no question about it. Mike Friedrich, Dave Sim, Rick Veitch...the list is really quite endless. We all know who everybody really is. We all know who the real superheroes are.

You can look at almost anyone who's touched this industry and see how they've tried to touch the real world with their work. How they tried to make us reach a little deeper inside and find the connection between the imaginary world of superheroes and the real world of real people who try to make the world a more favorable place for the sustenance of the precious spirit of humanity.

Much like the sages and the prophets of old, these comic book creators hold within them the creative spirit needed today to breathe a fresh breath of life into a world choked by its own wayward stray into confusion and despair.

Flaming Sword Productions