Batman Takes on the Ultimate Evil

I finished Batman: The Ultimate Evil (Andrew Vachss) last night.  Though not the most well-written book I’ve ever read, and not the most exciting portrayal of Batman I’ve ever seen, the book focuses on a highly important, very sensitive topic: child sex slave industry.  Some reviews I glanced at say it’s about “kiddie porn” or “child molestation.”  Really, it’s about a much deeper, much more evil organization where children are bought and sold and rented for the sole purpose of an adult wanting underage sex.  This book opens your eyes on the whole thing, and while it takes a passionate and dramatic approach, I will say this:

It is damned frightening.

I couldn’t stop thinking about the book last night, even while sleeping, and woke up sweating a few times.

This book not only opens your eyes to that truth, but also this one: real-world superheroes are not just firefighters and police officers and soldiers who put their lives on the line daily for complete strangers.

Superheroes are also social workers, and teachers, and parole officers and all those other people who are trying to make a difference in someone’s life, who are trying to keep them from going off the edge, to give them a reason to live.  Because they’re saving lives, too.

None of these people do it for the glory, because there’s often more heartache than glory.  None of them do it for the money, because we know they sure don’t earn what they should. Most of these people will never become famous, or enter the history texts.

But even if they saved only one life, that’s a lifetime of a reason to keep on doing what they do.

I salute you.