The anthology The Dragon and the Stars, edited by Derwin Mak and Eric Choi, is a finalist for a Prix Aurora Award in the category of Best English Related Work this year. Also, one of the stories in the volume has been nominated for a Sidewise Award (“Goin’ Down To Anglotown” by William F. Wu). Congratulations to them, and good luck!
To cheer them on, I’m making available an excerpt from my story “The Character of the Hound”, which appears in the anthology. Read it here.
This is part 4 of my weekly series on Dave Van Domelen’s Academy of Super-Heroes universe, a collection of musings, interviews, writerly insights and historical notes about the free super-hero serials (which started on the newsgroup rec.arts.comics.creative back in ’94 and recently released as Omnibus editions.)
Warden: Year One was written by Matt Rossi III, the first title in the ASHiverse that focused on a single hero: Thomas Malfeas (otherwise known as Warden) was born without eyes, but is able to tap into the senses of others, giving him borrowed sight (among other powers). A comparison to Daredevil is inevitable, given that Warden is Matt’s homage to Frank Miller.
In Warden, Matt created a city of much intrigue, a New York City left by the North American Combine to be overrun by gangs with superpowers. His NYC has its own unique menacing air, one that later inspired both Marc Singer and I to have our own go at chaos in the city of shadows (STRAFE: The Slow Burn and The Bonfire, and Warden: Change Is Good).
Inspired by what Matt did in this series, I tried to give a city of my own a unique spin. I was living in Montreal at the time, and so it became my city of choice when I was developing plotlines. I don’t think my attempt was as successful as Matt’s in creating a consistent atmosphere, although we writers did put Montreal through a lot, including an epic battle and uh, misplacing the entire city. I’m more plot-oriented than a crafter of atmosphere, so I do look back at Matt’s writing in Warden to see how he achieved it. (He does it quite brilliantly in Warden: The Annuals).
Next week: ASH Omnibus: Pandora’s Box.
This is part 3 of my weekly series on Dave Van Domelen’s Academy of Super-Heroes universe, a collection of musings, interviews, writerly insights and historical notes about the free super-hero serials (which started on the newsgroup rec.arts.comics.creative back in ’94 and recently released as Omnibus editions.)
This week I focus on S.T.R.A.F.E.: City of Lions. Written by Marc Singer, this arc introduced the less-powerful members of first graduate class as a team. And I love underdogs.
One thing I picked up from Marc’s treatment of his superhero team was that characters didn’t need to have flashy, world-shattering powers to be effective or interesting. In fact, it’s the shortcomings in their powers that provide fodder for writing. Look at his team: a woman with an antigrav aura that bends light; a minor telekinetic who uses it to become an expert marksman; a man who can’t be harmed yet still feels pain; a man whose powers hones his every skill but only within human norms; and a woman who cannot create fire but can control it. Respectable powers, for certain, but their effectiveness is boosted by the creative ways they (or Marc as the writer) used them. Always surprise the reader, but play fair by laying out the limitations. Often, it’s the character’s inability to get out of a sticky situation that leads to a more interesting solution.
One other thing Marc also did in this collection was introduce Triton. I’m sure he meant for Triton to be a throwaway villain, languishing forever in prison…but something about the guy stuck with me, inspired me to feature him prominently in my Conclave of Super-Villains title.
As I said, I love underdogs. More on the genesis of the CSV later.
Next week: Warden: Year One
It looks like I have 4 Honorable Mentions in Gardner Dozois’ The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Eighth Annual Collection. (Must be a personal best!) They are:
This is part 2 of my weekly series on Dave Van Domelen’s Academy of Super-Heroes universe, a collection of musings, interviews, writerly insights and historical notes about the free super-hero serials (which started on the newsgroup rec.arts.comics.creative back in ’94 and recently released as Omnibus editions.)
Guest post by Dave Van Domelen
This is part 1 of my weekly series on Dave Van Domelen’s Academy of Super-Heroes universe, a collection of musings, interviews, writerly insights and historical notes about the free super-hero serials (which started on the newsgroup rec.arts.comics.creative back in ’94 and recently released as Omnibus editions.)
How To Read Academy of Super-Heroes
The Academy of Super-Heroes universe, now in its seventeenth year with about three hundred issues and quite the cast of characters, can seem intimidating at first. But written in the style of comic books, there are arcs and series that hold up well on their own, without the need to read every story in sequence. Continue reading
F&SF writer and linguist. Winner, 2015 Aurora Award for Best English Poem/Song.
Also 2015 Aurora Awards finalist, Best English Short Fiction; former finalist, 2009 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer; finalist, 2008 Aurora Award, "Best Short-Form Work in English"; Second Place winner of the Writers of the Future Contest (volume XXIII).
Tony Pi, F&SF Writer 