What Is a Hero?

Héctor Germán Oesterheld (w) and Francisco Solano López (a), "Amapola Negra 'Black Poppy': Octava misión", Hora Cero # 24, April 1959.

I said on this blog already that my all time favorite comic is "Amapola Negra 'Black Poppy'". In the page above (number 86 in the mini series) lieutenant Hugh Probst (former co-pilot of the Black Poppy, a B-17 bomber fortress) is being buried. The priest calls him a hero. Here's what lieutenant Abner Stiles (Black Poppy's pilot) is musing: "[...]Hugh was no hero./ Why did I say that he was not a hero? What is a hero, after all? A hero can't be a superman.../ Being a superman he can't be a hero. A hero must be simply a man like all of us. A man like all of us with a valuable life or a valuable death. [...]" 

How far we are from the fascistic superhero!... How far we are from comics juvenile subculture!...