10 Important Lessons Comic Book Superheroes Taught Us
8. The Spectre And The Power Of Empathy
The celestial entity known as The Spectre must be bonded with a human host. Together as one they have the mission to confront and understand the evil of humanity. It's pretty metal.
His hosts have varied over the character's history, but In the case of John Ostrander's run said host is murdered ex-detective Jim Corrigan. Within the narrative, Corrigan's Spectre focuses far too much on the confront part of his mission and not nearly enough on the understanding part. When a major personal tragedy strikes he goes completely off the rails, becoming a machine of pure punishment.
After some major outside intervention, he learns why understanding evil is even more important than confronting it. Not only does it allow for him to understand the evil inside himself, but can help him realizes that some people aren't as bad as they seem. This lesson in empathy let's him handle conflicts far better than ever before and even prevent future ones.
There is no harm in digging a little deeper, but there is harm in only going off first impressions. When we aim to understand others it can open up a doorway to even greater growth.