S is for…Swamp Thing

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You might be expecting to see Superman here. He seems like the obvious choice, being the most famous superhero there is, and even wearing the big letter S on his chest. But, the truth is, I've never found Kal-El that interesting. He's so overpowered, that writers really have to reach to write challenges for me, and sometimes that reach really shows. I have a superman tee shirt, but I always say the S is for Samantha and that Kal-El and I have an agreement.

So, instead, let's talk about Swamp Thing. The original eco-warrior. He never set out to be a hero. But, that's what he became. First, he was a scientist. You might think a scientist working the swamps of Georgia would be safe from supervillains, but, no! Apparently, when you're working on a plant that can survive anywhere, word gets out. And before you know it, you're a mutated beast fighting another mutated beast to save the woman you love and the world. Stuff happens.

I met Swamp Thing in the 80s movie pictured above and I've loved him ever since. He's that reluctant hero, doing what he feels is morally right and accepting the way his life changes with quiet dignity. Plus, have you ever been to the swamp? I totally can picture some kind of swamp creature living there meting out justice to wrongdoers among the hanging vines and murky water. Can't you?

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This post is part of the A to Z Blogging Challenge. I'll be writing about superheroes I love all month. You can check out other bloggers and see their creative takes on the challenge here.

Don't forget to check out my own superhero stories: The newest one released yesterday! Check out Book 2: Change of Life (the kindle is now live and the paper edition will be out in the next few days!)

R is for…Red Sonja

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When I was a little girl in the 1970s, there was a used bookstore on the avenue in my hometown: Tom's Book Nook. My mother used to take advantage of the trade-in program, exchanging a pile of paperbacks for a pile of paperbacks on pay days.  I was allowed to spend a dollar on old comic books, from a box Tom kept under the counter, of comics for ten cents each.

It was always a strange collection. A mix of Spiderman, Tales from the Crypt, Archie, Duck Tales, Doctor Strange, Thor, all kinds of disparate heroes. But I loved Red Sonja. I still do. 

As a child, I was sure I was getting away with something, reading her tales. After all, she was nearly naked, and assuredly not ladylike or sweet. My grandmother definitely wouldn't have approved, though I suspect my mother did, even if she didn't say so aloud. 

Given how the women in most of the other comics in Tom's shop were either victims or noir-ish schemers, I liked Red. She was direct. She was strong. Tough. She'd have to be. Chain mail bikini. (Ouch). In spite of looking like some kind of pin-up girl, she was so much more to me. 

In recent issues, she's been updated by Gail Simone and I love her even more. In my heart, I might just be Red Sonja, even if my surface is a lot less fierce.
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This post is part of the A to Z Blogging Challenge. I'll be writing about superheroes I love all month. You can check out other bloggers and see their creative takes on the challenge here.

Don't forget to check out my own superhero stories: The newest one released TODAY! Check out Book 2: Change of Life (the kindle is now live and the paper edition will be out in the next few days!)

Q is for…Quicksilver

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Quicksilver (or Pietro Maximoff) was one of my favorite characters in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Young and arrogant, passionate. Dangerous and hard to contain like the liquid metal mercury he was named for. Ripe to be taken advantage of by manipulators. Having survived a war-torn childhood, he and sister wanted vengeance. To get it, they were willing to subject themselves to experimental procedures. It worked. They became powerful. I especially enjoyed the scenes with his superspeed.

Pietro worked willingly enough at theft and trickery for those who would use him, but he had his own ideas of right and wrong, which SPOILER ALERT led to his self-sacrifice. I love this kind of character, whose heart is good and redeems himself in the end.

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This post is part of the A to Z Blogging Challenge. I'll be writing about superheroes I love all month. You can check out other bloggers and see their creative takes on the challenge here.

Don't forget to check out my own superhero stories:

P is for …Phantom

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The Phantom has been around a long time. He was invented for comics by Lee Falk in 1936 and he's found his way onto the small and big screen since. Of course, I didn't know that when I saw Billy Zane's performance in 1996. What I did know was that I loved it. Not everyone does, of course. Even I'll admit that those purple pajamas are a little ridiculous.

I also didn't know that The Phantom was the first superheroic character to wear a skintight action outfit like that. He was also the first to use the mask that disguised even his eyes. He didn't have any superpowers beyond knowledge and training. Much like Batman, he was a detective first and foremost.

In 1996, I wasn't the pulp enthusiast I am now becoming, though I had enjoyed several stories of that sort. I'm not sure I even knew the term for it. I guess I've always been drawn to stories that intermix fantastical and more realistic elements, humor and drama, action and philosophy. After seeing this film, I began to seek out more of these kinds of stories. So, my thanks to Mr. Falk for creating such an inspiring and intriguing character. He brought me one of the great joys of my life.
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This post is part of the A to Z Blogging Challenge. I'll be writing about superheroes I love all month. You can check out other bloggers and see their creative takes on the challenge here.

Don't forget to check out my own superhero stories:

O is for …Obi-Wan Kenobi

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I first "met" Obi-Wan Kenobi when I was six years old. I was sitting in the dark with my parents, watching Star Wars, and having my world rocked.

Obi-Wan wasn't my favorite character then. At age six, I think I liked C-3PO and Princess Leia the

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best. But I liked him. With all those crazy kids running around, it was good that there was a grown-up on the scene: someone who knew what he was doing and could help keep the rest of them alive while they figured it out.

Of course, I had no idea who Alec Guinness was. He wasn't big with the playground set before Star Wars. But that didn't mean I didn't understand presence. As Obi-Wan, he seemed weary and sad, like my Grandpa when you asked him about the war. He also seemed like there a lightness to him beneath. Like he used to be fun.

Gravitas. That's what it was. In a world full of pew-pew and "it's so crazy it might just work!", Guinness as Obi-Wan had dignity. Thanks goodness there was Obi-Wan. He really was our only hope.

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This post is part of the A to Z Blogging Challenge. I'll be writing about superheroes I love all month. You can check out other bloggers and see their creative takes on the challenge here.

Don't forget to check out my own superhero stories:

N is for…Nick Fury

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Nick Fury, as played by Samuel L. Jackson in the recent Marvel movies is one of the best revisions of a character in comic book history.

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He's always been tough, and had the eye patch, though he used to look more like J. Jonah Jamison in tights, down to the half-eaten cigar and white wings in his hair. He's a hard man to pin down. He's a soldier, a spy, a mercenary, a hero and an anti-hero, all rolled into one man.

There are sacrifices he's willing to make, to protect his vision of right. Careful. You might be one of them.

I was so happy when Jackson got the role. No one does dangerous like Jackson. The writers really got the "wheels within wheels" intrigue of the character, and Jackson understood the manipulative nature of the man, whom we hope is still on the side of right in his heart.
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This post is part of the A to Z Blogging Challenge. I'll be writing about superheroes I love all month. You can check out other bloggers and see their creative takes on the challenge here.

Don't forget to check out my own superhero stories:

M is for …Ms. Marvel

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Ms. Marvel is more of a title than a character. Or maybe a job description. The big boots have been filled by several women in the comics: Carol Danvers, Sharon Ventura, Karla Sofen, and now Kamala Khan. In all these versions, Ms. Marvel has been a character I knew little about. But recently, I picked up a few graphic novel collections that have me hungry for more of her stories.

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First I picked up Captain Marvel: Higher, Further, Faster, More. People were talking about it on one of my Goodreads groups and I was intrigued. Plus that cover. So much swagger.

And Carol Danvers, at least in this collection, is quite the swaggering hero: confident, righteous, and headstrong.  She's a grown woman in a way that superheroic women seldom get to be. She's got a love life, a history, and a lust for adventure. I liked her a great deal.

But then I started to hear about Kamala Khan, who after being exposed to the Terrigen Mist became Ms. Marvel.

So, I checked out Ms. Marvel Vol. 1: No Normal and Vol 2: Generation Why. It's been a while since I

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was really drawn to a teenaged character, but I loved Kamala right away. For one thing, she's totally geeky. She's an unapologetic gamer girl, who squees all fangirl over superheroes. She writes FanFic.

She's happy with who she is, not angsty or pouty, wishing she were a blonde cheerleader. While her feminist tendencies might get her in trouble at the mosque, it's clear that her family loves her for who she is and that she is surrounded by good friends.

I'm looking forward to more of her adventures.

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This post is part of the A to Z Blogging Challenge. I'll be writing about superheroes I love all month. You can check out other bloggers and see their creative takes on the challenge here.

Don't forget to check out my own superhero stories: