Four years ago, I made a video about the one thing every good writer needs to create their own superhero universe. I was watching many of my favorite comic book characters become shells of their former selves. Characters that had once been larger-than-life heroes were being stripped of the things that made them great. The... Continue Reading →
What Makes Someone a Superhero?
We have thousands of superheroes in comics, movies, television, and books. Decades of stories. People think they know what a superhero is. I don't think they do. I think a lot of people get it wrong. If you have powers, a costume, and a cool name, you must be a superhero, right? Not necessarily. Those... Continue Reading →
The New Heroic Age | The State of the Genre: Why 0% of Amazon’s Top 10 are Actually Not Superhero Stories.
The Amazon Top 10 "Superhero" list is a mess. It’s time to clean it out. I took a look at the rankings today, March 14, and if you’re looking for a true superhero story—the kind built on inescapable obligation and the clear-cut battle between Good and Evil—you won’t find it there. What you’ll find is... Continue Reading →
Politics in Comics: When Protest Culture Hijacks Fictional Heroes
I know people are extremely passionate about what is happening in the country today. Hard lines have been drawn, and you won’t find many people in the middle anymore. We are on one side or the other. It seems that the comic book characters we grew up with and love have also been dragged into... Continue Reading →
Picking Up the Soapbox: A Tribute to Stan Lee
For those of you who visit this site regularly and enjoy reading my random thoughts here on the blog, you may have noticed a new banner at the top: STEVE’S SOAPBOX. You might already be familiar with the idea, and yes, I’m doing it on purpose. It’s my way of honoring the man who got... Continue Reading →
Going Against The Grain
To say I like to go against the grain is quite an understatement. I actively look for ways to be different from everyone else. Mostly to my detriment. I have sabotaged myself so many times, it’s embarrassing to think about. Yet looking back, I wouldn’t change a thing. The mistakes I’ve made have helped forge... Continue Reading →