Superhero Writers discussion

Hello, welcome to the group! Feel free to stop by and introduce yourself so we can get to know each other.

Well, then. I'll go ahead and introduce myself. I'm Kaleb. I started this group because there wasn't already one on Goodreads, and I was getting desperate to find some other people who write superheroes. I'm not a fan of the superhero deconstruction trend. It's time for reconstruction. Superman, Captain America, and the Phantom Stranger are my favorite characters. I have a couple different superhero universes. One is centered around a paranormal/interdimensional ninja. Another is set in ancient Atlantis. One is more of a classic style. My mediums are mainly prose, but I do intend to start writing scripts soon.

I'm Adam Graham.

I was inspired to get started on my first book, Tales of the Dim Knight. I liked something that would be fun but not so much a deconstruction as a loving parody, now it's more comedy than parody, some subtle differences there.

I've expanded the world quite a bit and some of the heroes we have are Plato, Sheriff of Atlantis, Captain France, Half Brain, Miss Invisible, and I also plan to add an all-female superhero team to the world.

I also have a less comedic Superhero universe, that I've worked in and may again someday featuring characters like the Sword, Small Packages, the Revelator, and Skyscraper.

My favorite Superheroes are Superman and Spider-man.

I write superhero parody fiction. Which is to say, I'm the author of the Supervillain of the Day series, which is only sort of superhero fiction because there are no superheroes! Mwahahaha.

I'm an overall fan of the superhero genre, though, although I'd love to see it improve. It went from highly implausible to being taken far to seriously.

I like some of the implausibility in the comics, but you're right. It is taking itself too seriously.

Hi, I'm Tony Breeden, author of Johnny Came Home, the first book in a series about a group of young adults in a fictional WV town who discover they've developed superpowers. It's got epic battles, conspiracy theories, zombies [not that kind] and even a 1950s flying saucer. ;]

Hello! And Welcome Raymond and Tony!

Hi, I'm Ben, and I write superhero fiction.

Actually, I'm new-ish to Goodreads in that I haven't really done anything on the site except rate books I've read. I'm hoping to branch out into discussion groups and so on, which is why I'm here.

I write short stories and have written a novel in the genre. I'm also an editor for This Mutant Life which publishes superhero stories. The first anthology is available now and there's a second coming out in November.

If you guys are interested there will be a call for submissions from january 2014.

And if you would like to read the current anthology just let me know and I can send you a copy in epub or mobi. There's a story by Rob Rogers who wrote Devil's Cape, as well as 20 other writers.

The thing I like about writing superhero stories is that you can focus on the ordinary - on the things that the reader and the superhuman might share. The story I wrote for the anthology is about the wife of a supervillain who is left at home while he terrorises the world. I wanted to explore THAT side of the comics, something that is rarely done, especially for the villains.

If you guys have any recommendations I'd love to hear them - I've just finished Brandon Sanderson's Steelheart.

Cheers,
Ben

If you were interested, This Mutant Life can be found here: www.thismutantlife.com

Katie wrote: "I write superhero parody fiction. Which is to say, I'm the author of the Supervillain of the Day series, which is only sort of superhero fiction because there are no superheroes! Mwahahaha.

I'm a..."

There's a movement called neo-pulp which embraces the absurdities of the early stuff while respecting its form etc. I've read a few overly-ridiculous novels which seem to just be taking the mickey out of the superhero form.

I agree sometimes things can be too dark and serious, but there's a lot of overly-silly stuff too. I'd like to see a nice balance - a fun balance!

The neo-pulp manifesto can be found here - http://silverbullet.newcastle.edu.au/...

Pretty fun reading!

Cheers,
Ben

There are a lot of 'realistic' superhero novels out there. I'd recommend Rob Rogers' 'Devil's Cape' and Brandon Sanderson's 'Steelheart' (to name but two!).

My favourite comics were always the X-Men, although they've even got a bit too convoluted for me! I like Saga, Alias, X-Factor (although it's just finished) and FF (although not Fantastic Four - I like the Mike Allred stuff). Oh yeah, and the Hawkeye series is great.

Shena, if you want to read This Mutant Life, let me know and I can email you a kindle or epub version.

Hello! Welcome! Superman is my favorite too. More introspective superhero stories are great, too.

And I'll definitely look into those books, especially Steelheart.

What's the best Superman story? I've always thought he was a bit dull because he was so powerful. The Superboy stories were good because he was growing into his powers (or a clone!) but as an adult he was kind of dull. I once owned a platinum edition of The Death of Superman, though, so I'm not a hater. :)

Hmm. "Our Worlds at War" was really good. "Superman: Birthright" was as well. Then there's the classic "Whatever happened to the man of tomorrow?" "Superman: Secret Identity" was really good. Then of course, there's also "All-Star Superman" which was good, but the art was kind of weird.

Yeah, that's right. I remember "All Star Superman". I think the re-tellings of Superman work. Maybe it's the longer term approach, the need to present crises and threats for him to overcome. I think he does work well in team books, Justice League, or partner books like Batman.
Thanks for the ideas.

Yep, and retellings are good. Of all the ones I listed, I think only Our Worlds at War was actually in continuity. Birthright was sort of retconned into, since it told his origin story for a relaunch.

You're welcome!

No, not yet. Any good?

Okay. Sounds about normal for DC since the reboot.

I wouldn't know. I'm not familiar with overly familiar with manga.

Yeah, I've read a few of them, and they were okay, mainly, with some really good parts, I admt. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how the characters grow. to see if they return to being like what they used to be.

He looks to be different.
Not yet. I've been trying to figure out where to start.

Hello, and welcome! Good of you to join us!

Welcome, Ben. I would love to read the anthology, and I would love to submit something for your next one once submissions open up, so be sure to keep us posted on that!

I just finished reading "A Hero by any other name," an anthology of superhero stories published be "Silence in the Library" as a companion to their superhero anthology "Heroes!" which I am still in the middle of reading. Yes, I read them out of order. Sue me. ;)

And now I'm in the throes of writing season 2 of Supervillain of the Day for nanowrimo. Cool to see so many other superhero fiction authors here! I'm sort of warming up to the genre in general as I get exposed to more of it.

You're welcome!

Hey guys! I heard about this group from Katie, so now I've looked it up. Thanks for letting me join myself. ;) I like superheroes and such concepts, although I've not read oodles of comic books. Once, I got an X-Men comic book from the library and was not pleased at some content I found at odds with my moral beliefs.
However, I've read some old comics of Batman, Superman, Captain America, and the X-Men (when there were only a handful of them!). I've also read a number of Gakuen Alice manga, which basically involves a superhero school (unique concept, though, it's not classic superheroes). I've also read other "superhero"-type books, including some Supervillain of the Day and some Maximum Ride.
I've also seen some superhero movies, and I really like Captain America: The First Avenger and The Avengers movies.

I've greatly enjoyed browsing this Wikia site (although some of the content is objectionable, such as character dress; if posting the link goes against the group rules for content I can remove it): http://powerlisting.wikia.com/wiki/Su...

Hello, then! Welcome!
And those were probably from the 60s then, if there just a few X-Men. I started with those too.

Superhero school isn't so unique anymore. It's been done quite a lot, I think now.

Those are good movies.

No, it's not against rules. This group has a lot fewer restrictions than Aubrey Hansen's groups, for example, if you've been in hers.

Kaleb wrote: "Superhero school isn't so unique anymore. It's been done quite a lot, I think now.

No, it's not against rules. This group has a lot fewer restrictions than Aubrey Hansen's groups, for example, if you've been in hers. "

Ah, okay. I guess I just meant it was unique in that it wasn't incredibly similar to X-Men. I might like some of those superhero school books/comics.

I have been in hers. Some Group Rules popped up in this post, though, so I wasn't sure.

Oh, and what do you mean by the "superhero deconstruction trend"?

X-Men is actually relatively similar. Their secret identity, so to speak, is actually a private school for gifted individuals, and Xavier helps them learn to use their powers there.

Yep. Just a few. Not very many. I find too many rules to be restricting to discussion.

The deconstruction trend started probably somewhere in the late 80s or early 90s, I think. It focused on darker and more realistic stories.
That's a list of examples, since I don't quite know how to explain it.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php...

Guys why isn't this group active

Kaleb wrote: "X-Men is actually relatively similar. Their secret identity, so to speak, is actually a private school for gifted individuals, and Xavier helps them learn to use their powers there.

Yep. Just a f..."

Similar to Gakuen Alice?

General deviation from the classic superhero trends, trying to make them more "realistic," to a pessimistic level? I'm not sure I quite see yet. Maybe I have a general idea, even if I can't explain it. *unsure*

I wouldn't know. I've never read Gakuen Alice, but superhero school's been done more times than just X-Men too.

I'll try to find a definition. It's a lot darker and gritter usually, and claimed to be realistic.

Kaleb wrote: "I wouldn't know. I've never read Gakuen Alice, but superhero school's been done more times than just X-Men too.

I'll try to find a definition. It's a lot darker and gritter usually, and claimed t..."

Ah, okay.

*nods* That sounds like the impression I've got so far.

From what tvtropes said, it takes all the tropes of a genre and plays them completely straight without holding back any of the consequences. Sort of like Martin does for high fantasy. There's no handwaving to explain stuff. Nothing gets reversed and explained away later.

Thank you for the invitation. I'm Shane Etter. My first two novels have been published by a small press. I write supernatural thrillers. Bottom Dwellers was my first. Mind Dwellers was the sequel. Trail Dwellers should be out in the spring. Working on Bronx Dwellers and a standalone horror novel called A Brain In Third Person.

Hello! Welcome!

Hi any girls in the group? I have written under another name (yes a male pen name) some illustrated super hero novellas

Me! I'm a girl! I actually toyed (very briefly) with the idea of a pen name when I published my series, just because all the great SF writers are men, and maybe it would look more credible. But I threw that idea out the window fairly early on. Hi there, Caroline. :)

Hi, I'm Tim. I've been a superhero fan for over 40 years, been GMing about as long. Just put up my first superhero novel on Kindle Direct this month. Wish Kindle had a superhero category! Check it out: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00I...

Hi Tim,

There is a superhero category... it's

in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Superhero

I've got to #4 there, but currently at #5 with . I've always been a big fan of paperback books (and it's really the only way I like to read them) but kindle sales have been astronomical! I've got to get cracking on the sequel! :)

What RPGs did you play? I did a lot of Champions, first as face-to-face, and then through email/pbems.

I have been playing champions since day one. I had a playtest copy back in the day and never quit the system.

That's impressive! I stopped at FRED (4th edition?) although I do have the 5th one. When I was being most active a group of friends and I created www.uber-world.com to house all our Champions goodness, and before that I was active on the Global Guardians PBEM.

I was just talking with a friend about how much energy we used to have for pbem RPGs. I wonder where it went?? I guess I have three kids now, a full time job teaching and writing on the side. Still, I miss the RPG experience. (I do get to do a bit of it with a few teacher friends but it's mostly Pathfinder and Star Wars... where's the superhero love?)

:)

Superhero love is alive and well in Cleveland, OH. Honestly, it is hard to keep players when life gets in the way.

I've done a few superhero things so far: I have a story in Corrupts Absolutely?, Heroics: Strange Tales of Absurd Superheroes, and just recently a story in I Was A Teenaged Metahuman. Sadly, my submission for Penumbra's superhero issue was rejected, but I'm going to shop it and another superhero tale elsewhere as soon as I find a market for them.

This Mutant Life: Bad Company
For the next 24 hours, this anthology of superhero/neo-pulp stories is FREE.

21 short stories by 21 different authors - there's gotta be something in there for everyone.

This is the second anthology in the series, with a third slated for very late 2014 or early 2015.

If you do download it, I'd love to hear your thoughts of which stories worked best.

Ooh, I loved the first one. Are you accepting submissions for the third one?

Submissions will open later this year. Would you a story from you though. At the moment I'm concentrating on writing the sequel to The Miranda Contract. I've been selling heaps more than I thought (1100 in first month) so it's been a really good incentive!

Ben wrote: "Submissions will open later this year. Would you a story from you though. At the moment I'm concentrating on writing the sequel to The Miranda Contract. I've been selling heaps more..."

Good to hear. I just bought that and should be starting on it tonight.

Hi, I'm Brian. I'm currently writing a novel featuring a dark hero/ vigilante.

Ben wrote: "...writing the sequel to The Miranda Contract."

Finished it yesterday. Excellent book, and I'm waiting for more :) It would be interesting to see Dan become even more proactive, maybe even starting his own 'Teen Titans'-type superteam.

Thanks for the read/review Wayne! You've got the right idea with the direction I'm going in - Dan will be picking up four young 'recruits' for the second book, and he'll be more proactive. I'm aiming to change him from the very reluctant ("don't look at me!") hero from the first book through to a game-changer in the f.... fourth book? (might be ambitious there!).

Thanks again - I really appreciate it!