What can a superhero do against the coronavirus? "Superman cannot launch vaccine beams through the eyes. He is with his hands tied. What he does do is set an example, support the weakest, those who strive to keep our daily lives going," explains cartoonist David Rubín , who has created a mini-comic starring a supermarket cashier. And Superman. "Actually, the protagonist is her. She represents anyone who has to go out to work every day so that our life continues. The applause of the 20 hours is not only for the health workers, also for the messengers, the pharmacists, the ATMs ... Superman is the excuse to value them. "

Neither Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and company can face an invisible virus. But the publisher ECC - the branch of DC Comics in Spain - remembers that Heroes always come back , a campaign to support bookstores when they reopen. The short story by David Rubín will be a gift for any visitor (buy or not). And in addition to the five-page comic, a sheet drawn by Paco Roca, Mikel Janín and Jesús Merino will also be delivered . In his illustrations, the DC heroes will appear surrounded by the anonymous heroes, those of flesh and blood, who play a fundamental role in this crisis. The one by Paco Roca shows Batman himself making the signal and it is a toilet with a mask who responds.

David Rubín only had to make an illustration. "But my imagination was fired. I wanted to transmit a message of empathy ... So I ended up telling a story," he admits to the phone, from his confinement on the outskirts of Madrid. His short work is like a contemporary tale. And so he chose Superman. "He is the quintessential archetype of the hero, the mold from which others are made. Being so iconic, he can transmit that message of kindness, of putting himself in the other's shoes, of being with the other," emphasizes the artist. In his comic, Superman does not fight a physical battle, but faces the worst in society, those people (those hypocritical neighbors), who instead of showing gratitude to their peers (the super cashier) repudiate them. But since Superman is Superman, far from reproaching anything, he excuses humanity ("it's just fear, weakness") and shows him the way to follow his example. That's what superheroes are for.

For now, until the bookstores open, you can only advance the cover of the comic. A cover full of subliminal messages: the girl with the mask, a Superman whose face is not seen (because in the middle of a pandemic the superhero only accompanies and encourages humans), the sign of the bookstore and the Chinese restaurant. "It is a nod to small businesses. And, above all, to bookstores: the mainstay of the industry. If they fall, if after this crisis many close, our work also dies," claims Rubín. Although the architecture of the city can give off a New York air due to the aesthetics of exposed brick, that corner is absolutely real, from a Usera neighborhood. "I did not want to represent Metropolis, but a city that can be anyone, so that we all feel identified," says Rubín.

Although Superman is the archetype par excellence, David Rubín had already drawn the founding myth of all time: the Greek Heracles and his 12 works in the diptych The Hero ' , published by Astiberri. In late March, he joined the free comics initiative and released the first part of The Hero as a free download. From classic to contemporary hero, the lesson is the same: don't give up.

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