If you have ever studied literature, film or television, you have probably heard of ‘The Heroes Journey’. Essentially, it functions as the template that most stories are built on. In it’s simplest form, you could build a story with a beginning, middle and end, but The Heroes Journey adds flavour to each of these sections.

The Heroes Journey

There are three key sections which can be further broken down, but these are the basic building blocks for your beginning, middle and end. Part 1 is the Departure, where a hero and their world is introduced. Often, they will experience some degree of monotony or frustration with the life they are living which primes them to embark on a bigger adventure. The Departure also consists of the ‘Call To Adventure’, a ‘Rejection’ of that call, the introduction of a mentor, and ‘Crossing The Threshold’.

Thinking about this in terms of comic book heroes, Spider-Man is a perfect example. Peter Parker lived an unextraordinary life, feeling isolated and pining over his crush, Mary-Jane Watson from a distance, this was Parker’s ‘Ordinary World’. One day, everything changed when Parker is bitten by a radioactive spider and develops superhuman powers, this in combination with his Uncle Ben’s advice about “with great power, comes great responsibility” is the ‘Call To Adventure’. Peter chooses to use the powers to achieve somewhat more selfish desires first, which differ in each version of Spidey’s origin, but usually, he needs money, for a date, or to help with the bills. This decision to use the powers to fulfill personal needs rather than take on greater responsibilities marks the ‘Rejection’ of the call. In the example of Spider-Man, Uncle Ben plays a significant role as the mentor, encouraging Peter to live up to his potential, and, with his sudden death, he causes Peter to ‘Cross The Threshold’ and become a hero.

The next section is called ‘Initiation’ and this is where the main body of the story takes place. Up until this point, the foundations of a great story have been laid and the audience/reader meets the characters and learns their motivations. During the ‘Initiation’, they encounter ‘Tests, Allies and Enemies’, ‘Approach The Innermost Cave’, experience ‘The Ordeal’ and obtain a ‘Reward’. For this part, take Batman for example, specifically in Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins.

After Batman returns to Gotham to protect the city as the Dark Knight, he encounters a range of enemies and allies that challenge him. Alfred, Lucius, Jim Gordon and Rachel all play important roles in guiding Bruce Wayne and his alter ego. Simultaneously, he faces off against a variety of thugs, with Falcone, Ra’s Al Ghul and Scarecrow becoming his primary enemies. The ‘Approach To The Innermost Cave’ here is when Batman and his allies are faced with the enormous challenge set up by Scarecrow poisoning Gotham’s water supply with scare gas. The ‘Ordeal’ comes in the form of Batman facing his inner demons and conquering them. This is then quickly followed by the ‘Reward’ when Batman saves Rachel from near-death and the city from the Scarecrows gas.

This then brings the heroes journey to it’s final chapter, the ‘Return’. Following the ‘Road Back’, ‘Ressurection’ and ‘Return With Elixir’. For this example, consider 2008’s Iron Man. In Iron Man’s debut appearance, he experiences a very clear redemptive arc after living life carelessly and negatively affecting many people globally through direct and indirect means. After choosing to turn his life around and become a protector, Tony Stark must face his greatest foe yet, his family friend and long-time business partner, Obadiah Stane. This challenge sees Tony face off against what appeared to be an ally who has now acquired the power of his highly advanced suits and wields them against him, becoming a clear ‘Road Back’ for the hero. The ‘Resurrection’ can be seen both in Tony’s narrow overcoming of his foe as his armour is in pieces and Pepper Potts was in clear danger of death, when Tony makes his final move flying high above the atmosphere risking his own life in order to defeat Stane. Then, the final ‘Return With Elixir’ sees Tony Stark fully accept and embrace his new heroic identity, as he announces to the world, “I am Iron Man”.

How does The Heroes Journey connect to Indie Comic Creators?

You may be wondering how all of this connects to indie writers and artists, and that’s a fair question. The thing is, art very often finds a way of mimicking real life, and as much as we apply this structure to characters that appear in fiction, The Heroes Journey is also an effective tool for shaping and following the story of real people.

Indie creators walk down a challenging road, deciding to pursue a passion or long-term desire, usually with little or no financial reward, in order to fulfill dreams. Many of their stories follow a similar structure, working a regular 9-5 and wanting to break the cycle of their normal lives. They experience doubts and require some mentoring or inspiration to get them to finally ‘Cross The Threshold’. And very often, this is only where their journey begins, as they endure numerous trials and make meaningful relationships along the way.

Comics exist as a form of escapism to some extent, often detailing The Heroes Journey as much of fiction does, but it is just as important to peel back the layers and look beneath the surface of the story to see where these stories came from, and how the creators followed their own journeys. The Indie Heroes Journey Podcast seeks to make these stories that form the creators behind wonderful independent comics known. So, if you are interested in digging deeper into the minds and hearts of creatives from the indie comic scene, check out the podcast.