Sometime last year I admitted the RPG origins of my superhero fixation, and even put up some character stats for Astra, using the GURPS Supers rules. While writing WtC, I used these rules for scaling superpowers and damage, and sparked a lot of ideas off the discussions of the genre I found in the supplement. … More GURPS Wearing the Cape
The first half of 2012 has been a great year for both Wearing the Cape and Villains Inc. Both have spent several months among the Top 10 titles in Amazon’s superhero category. WtC remains in the Top 10, while VI holds steady in the Top 20. Not everyone has a Kindle, however, so for readers … More News, and Ruminations on the Superhero Genre
Sale days are becoming a venerable tradition for Amazon.com, and for all of June 10th Wearing the Cape will be available to buyers for $.99! This makes Sunday a beautiful day to gift WtC to all of the friends you’ve been telling to read it. Got a book club that shares e-book finds? Make them … More Book Sale: Bring Friends!
Riddle: Kirk, Spock, and McCoy beam down to a planet. Who dies before the commercial break? Answer: The red-shirted security guard standing behind them. Welcome to the life of redshirts. I didn’t expect to review another book so quickly after Down the Mysterly River, but then I found Redshirts. Have you ever finished a book … More Wearing a Red Shirt
“Max the Wolf was a wolf in exactly the same way that foothills are made up of real feet and a tiger shark is part tiger, which is to say, not at all.” As a writer, I sometimes find myself insanely jealous of another author’s ability to use words. On the other hand, when I … More Adventures in Dreamland
Welcome to the finish of the longest “origin story” in history. It began with Iron Man, went through four more movies establishing characters, and has now concluded with an epic story that, in the highest superhero tradition, threatens the world and destroys half of New York. It’s always New York. Captain America: “You take the … More Assembling Avengers
“With great power comes great responsibility,” is one of the most famous lines in comic-book history, and in most superhero universes anyone who gets bitten by a radioactive spider, doused with exotic chemicals, or just spontaneously mutates is going to pull on the tights and go fight crime (or experience a psychotic break and start … More Oh Lord, It’s Hard To Be Humble.
The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox (all three books, Bridge of Birds, The Story of The Stone, and Eight Skilled Gentlemen) is now available on Kindle for the low, low price of $10. Beat the drums, blow the horns, and make sacrifices to the Fortunes! And buy this now if you don’t … More I shall clasp my hands together and bow to the corners of the world.
The Hulk has always struck me as the perfect example of Character Degeneration. In the “original” origin-story, Bruce Banner was a nuclear physicist designing bigger and better bombs for the US government; think of him as another Oppenheimer. On the day they test his new Gamma Bomb, after the detonation sequence has commenced, he sees … More Hulking Up
The days march on and Bite Me continues to come together; I’m still fairly confident of a June-July release date. Meanwhile, interesting things have been happening with Villains Inc. The other night, for a brief shining moment, it hit #1 in its category. No, I don’t obsessively track my Amazon rankings. Why do you ask? … More Thoughts and Happenings
Marion G. Harmon, A Writer in Vegas. 