Superman

When I was a young boy, I desperately wanted a Superman action figure (not doll, y'hear?) For some puzzling reason, my parents refused to get me one. So my grandmother knitted me a G.I. Joe sized Superman suit that I could put on my other "action figures."

Superman is far from the coolest superhero. When I was little, a boy would rather have had a bat cave lair, or been able to shoot spider webs from his wrists. But Superman is who we actually wanted to be when we grew up, Superman the way Christoper Reeve embodied him: strong and gentle; all-powerful, but self-restrained; always facing tough choices, but always making the right ones.

The world needs Superman. The last time he came to rescue us on the big screen in 1978, there had been a decade of war, terrorism, high oil prices, crooked politicians, and social upheavel. Funny he should be showing up again.