Heroes.

What makes someone your hero?

Besides risking life and limb in service of others. That goes without saying.

Colloquially, what is a hero? I hate using the word “idol”. Even removing the religious aspect, it feels far too obsessive and reverential. It’s an awkward position to hold someone in.

In my mind, a hero is often defined as a person whose influence on you in your youth has gone on to define you for life. This can be a bad thing sometimes, as putting people atop pedestals often leads to a fall. They’re just people, after all.

The bright side of it is that heroes inspire us to be the best version of ourselves.

I’ve been lucky enough to have a few heroes in my youth.

The first was probably comedian Steven Wright.

My sense of humor has always been the most fundamental part of my personality. It’s what keeps me alive and (relatively) sane. When you’re very little, you’re drawn to people like Robin Williams and Eddie Murphy. That is to say, hilarious, but flashy. Discovering Steven Wright was like learning a new language. Wright is the god of “left turn” jokes, popularized by MItch Hedberg and Anthony Jezelnick. Wright’s style is subtle and clever. While I’m not subtle, I’d like to think that his cleverness had an influence on me. He’s easily one of the most brilliant and influential comics of all time.

Fun fact, a friend in college once told me that I reminded him of Wright. To this day, it was the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.

The phrase “Greatest of All Time” gets thrown around a lot lately. A LOT. I’ve never really been comfortable with that statement when it comes to comedy, but there are at least some names that are in the conversation. Dave Attell is certainly one of those names. HIs album, Skanks for the Memories is easily my favorite comedy album of all time. I quote it regularly… and I’m not alone. Attell is a true comedian. He’s not a guy using stand up as a stepping stone to movies. He’s a comic through and through. I imagine his sense of timing and exaggerated delivery affected me.

I saw Attell perform here in New Orleans in 2013 and sheepishly asked him to take this awful selfie on his way out the door. I’ve wanted to replace it ever since.

Warren Ellis came into my life later than the others. I’d been reading his comics since I was 15, but it was in my twenties that I discovered his greatest work, Planetary. I’ve been obsessed with him ever since.

His best work is often science fiction based on emerging science fact. Take his novella, Normal. A murder mystery that takes place in a sanitarium filled with geniuses whose inventions endanger the world. When I read it, I could immediately tell what technological advancements Ellis had been rabbit-holing prior to writing it.

I’m not sure that Warren Ellis’ work had affected my style of writing. But he has certainly inspired me. I read Planetary (which is a HUGE book) at least once a year.

If you know me with any depth, you’ll have heard me mention J. Michael Straczynski’s name with annoying repetition and alarming fanaticism. Straczynski’s importance to me ranks only second to what we call God, for lack of a better word. And, to be frank, his words have had unquestionably more sway on me than what is often called “the word of God”. (But for the uninitiated, is most often known as the Bible.)

His work has been a guiding force in my life since a decade before I had ever heard of him.

When I was a boy, I was obsessed with He-man. I thought of nearly nothing else for a couple of years. Imagine my surprise, a decade before I had heard the name, to find that Straczynski wrote a significant number of He-man episodes. He and his eventual writing cohort Larry Ditillo then went to on to create She-Ra. He also served as co-creator or showrunner of The Real Ghostbusters, Jace and the Wheeled Warriors and Captain Power. He was even made show runner for a season of Murder She Wrote. Shows I’d grown up watching.

All that to say, I was unknowingly following a trail of his breadcrumbs, before finding religion with his most significant work, Babylon 5.

B5 was a revelation. For me, a story was just the things that happened to you. In Babylon 5, the story was a dance between events and characters and how each affected the other. 

Before Straczynski, I thought I understood what writing was. Afterwards, I knew that I had never even a concept of the shape of what I wanted to do. The journey to truly understanding it may take the rest of my days.

If I ever have a second chance to meet him, I suppose I would like to tell him “thank you for the journey.”

And yes, I did meet him once. I flew to Phoenix in 2024, just to spend two minutes with my idol. (I know.) Meeting your heroes is generally risky. They’re just people. No one, no matter how immense their presence is, can live up to an idea. 

He showed up five hours late, on a Saturday at a major comic book convention. I was on a tight schedule and was minutes away from having to leave. Actually, I was almost out the door when my friend Travis called to tell me he’d arrived. I ran back to get in line. It wasn’t a long line, but being a writer isn’t considered a sexy profession. In fact, it’s a calling that is largely heard by alcoholics, nerds and people with mental disorders. Or some combination thereof. Suitably, people that would fly to across the country to meet one have similar dispositions.

One of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever heard is “act like you’ve been there.” Meaning that when you are in a new and intimidating situation, behave as though you belong and you are comfortable. 

On that day, I could not have “been there” less. I was shaking like a leaf when I walked up to him, muttering internally to myself not to get weird, profess my love or ask him if I could be his acolyte or something. After handing him the books I’d brought to get signed, I recounted the previous day when I’d read the introduction to his book, BEING A WRITER, STAYING A WRITER on the plane. I was so inspired that as soon as I got to the hotel, I sat down and slowly started typing an extremely personal piece on my iPad. He looked up and asked me how the writing was going. The words “pretty good” managed to tumble out of my mouth. 

At a complete loss for any other ideas for what to say, I collected my signed books and got the hell out of there before I did something stupid.

I walked back to Travis. 

“Did you cry?”, he taunted.

“…not yet.”

This was not a witty retort. I was actually on the verge of tears and went to walk it off.

Not my finest moment. Certainly not my finest photo. But you know, it meant the world to me.

And those are my heroes. You may notice, they’re all writers. I’ll never reach their levels. That’s not self doubt. The reality is that few people ever have that level of talent and dedication. But I continue the path and hope that in some small way, my work affects others. The world could certainly use more inspiration.

#Daveattell #stevenwright #warrenellis #jmichaelstraczynsi #jms #maker #writers #planetary #babylon5