A new kind of superhero

Hollywood, as usual, has been the first to announce the returning obsession with superheroes. From 2004's computer-animated cartoon The Incredibles to this summer's box-office hit Batman Begins, the entertainment industry has signaled a return of the so-called "hero worship" days from when Marvel and DC Comics ruled the newsstands.

Heroes also live outside the white frames of comic books, though. Last Sunday Lance Armstrong won the Tour de France for the seventh straight year and announced his retirement at the finish line. Even after leaving the race pavement for the last time, Armstrong's career represents the story of a true superhero whose impact on others is perhaps more important than his record.

Most know Armstrong's story: diagnosed with advanced testicular cancer in 1996, he battled back from astronomical odds, undergoing two years of painful chemotherapy to eradiate the cancer from his lungs and brain. Even the athlete himself admits that he should not have survived, much less gone on to win his first Tour de France victory after only two years away from the sport.

What propels Armstrong into superhero status equal to Batman is the amount of dedication, determination, spirit and luck his story stands for. Aside from the constant vomiting, hair loss, full-body weakness, mouth sores and loss of appetite that result from chemotherapy treatments -- imagine next that those symptoms occur for seven days straight, with one week in between treatments to recover. Then imagine you're an athlete who, instead of training six or seven days a week, has so little energy that going to the bathroom becomes a task equal to Spider-Man stopping a speeding train.

Beyond what he endured, Armstrong's story propels him to superhero status because he faced cancer without super strength, x-ray vision or special gadgets. Spider-Man's radioactive spider gave him powers; Lance Armstrong's radioactive treatments made him physically weak.

In terms of frequency of occurrence, cancer in this decade has become the common cold of years past. It is understandable that so many would find encouragement and strength from Armstrong's situation, having been through similar pain themselves. Cancer has been called "the great equalizer:" a disease that kills without regard to race, religion, ethnicity or age. It is the new Magneto, Green Goblin, Scarecrow and Joker all rolled into one.

Lance Armstrong wasn't born with superpowers beyond those of any other athletically gifted individual. There was no ability to bend metal bars that helped him fight through the pain and keep training. There was no super-speed that allowed him to win the race. Just determination, persistence and a gut instinct to survive. That's why he's earned superhero status: like every superhero should, he gives us someone to look up to.