KAPOW!

By William John Rostron

Journey to a universe of superheroes-and even a few supervillains. The eighteen international contributors to this anthology offer their creative visions in an unprecedented variety of genres. Their concepts of known and unknown superheroes are presented as fiction, nonfiction, poetry, illustration, and photography, thus displaying a unique view

• Language: English
• Publisher: Red Penguin Books
• Release date: Dec 25, 2023
• ISBN: 9781637775448

Book preview

The term superhero can mean many different things to different people. The classic definition would involve some sort of extra human (super) power that is used to help either one individual, or all of humanity (hero), and this book does skew toward that traditional point of view. There are stories of well-known figures who roam the world of comic books, movies, TV, and computer games, and many of our authors have vividly described that point of view.

However, superhero status can also be bestowed on ordinary people who inhabit our daily lives. People with no spectacular superpower who still manage to be brave and selfless in the light of the tasks and responsibilities they are given. KAPOW also seeks to acknowledge those individuals who go above and beyond what is expected and thus can also proudly evoke the title of superhero.

This book is a tribute all those real and imagined stars of our world. To this editor the effect of superheroes in my life was very real. Decades ago, fictional beings came into my life and unalterably transformed it through various means. That is the reason that I am so proud to present this look at the world of superheroes. How that happened to me is perhaps unique. But each of us has a story and this is mine.

COMIC BOOKS TAUGHT ME TO READ.

Of that absurd statement, I have no doubt. I was eight years old when I picked up my first Superman comic and became obsessed with the entire cosmos of superheroes. I needed to know every facet of their origins, powers, and relationships. It lured me into a world that I would never see the likes of again.

But responsible for my reading skills? For 35 years as an elementary school teacher, I taught children how to read. I knew all the methods available for a child to reach the peak of their abilities. Yet, one indisputable fact emerged. The more children read, the better they became at it. Like every other skill in life, practice makes perfect. While coming to this conclusion, I self-analyzed what had led me to be a reader of roughly sixty books a year. I realized that it had been the comics that had made me into a voracious reader. I concluded that as a teacher, I would find a way to encourage my students to read more of what they wanted to read. I would reward them for outside reading…any outside reading. This sometimes included directions to the latest video game they had purchased or an entire TV Guide. Magazines, Manga books, cereal boxes, and, yes, comics were all in the realm of class credit. The bottom line was that I was recreating what comics had done for me.

COMIC BOOKS TAUGHT ME TO BE CREATIVE.

I can still picture eight-year-old Billy springing off the backboard of his bed onto the mattress below. My blue pajamas and red towel cape offered no protection from the impact. But I was a superhero saving the world from the likes of any number of villains who had somehow found their way to my bedroom. There was no time for worrying about painful injuries. However, I was more than just re-creating what I had read, I was also trying to visualize new storylines. How could I expand on what professionals had presented, or better yet, how could I create new themes…even new superheroes?

At nine, I created Dartman. Armed with about ten darts, I roamed my bedroom, bringing the unholy to their knees. On a distant wall lay a dartboard that I would target at the designated bad guy. However, Dartman didn’t throw darts standing erect and aiming like in a barroom contest. No, he threw them while flying through the air, lunging at a villain, or avoiding the evil creature’s weapons. He threw them sidearm, underhand, and through his legs. Dartman eventually was defeated when the super-villains named Mom and Dad noticed innumerable holes in the walls. (Dartman wasn’t very accurate!!!)

COMIC BOOKS TAUGHT ME TO WRITE AND EDIT.

When I was eleven, Robert moved in three doors away from me. Though I had many friends in my Queens neighborhood, none shared my love of comics before he came along. We spent hours reliving our favorite stories or news of upcoming events. What new superhero would DC Comics create, or what was this new company called Marvel, and how would they ever compete with DC?

Eventually, we came upon a comic fan magazine which combined information with a touch of original stories. At eleven, we decided we could do that. We spent hours culling rumors and information about upcoming comics for our gossip column. However, more than that, we created our own original superheroes. I created Miracal Man (which Robert reminded me was misspelled). He was my editor, and I was his as we produced that fan magazine titled Heroes the Great. We thought we were really innovative by changing the order from Great Heroes to Heroes the Great. We worked untold hours on our project. We then put a notice in the then-most famous comic fan magazine—Alter Ego. We were ecstatic when we sold our first (and only copy) to a stranger who ordered by mail. We had to produce it by typing the whole magazine with carbon paper attached. Robert could actually type, so he took on the brunt of that task.

John Lennon once said, Life is what happens while you are busy making plans. By fourteen, I began to be overwhelmed with the many joys and burdens that consume teenagers and adults. I had a challenging academic schedule, played on the school’s baseball team, and performed in a rock band around New York City. And then there were girls!

Often, I sat in my bedroom gazing at my comic collection and longed for the simpler times that the comic books represented. But as the Beatles sang, O-Bla-di, O-Bla-da, Life goes on.

I never lost that love of reading, creating, or writing. I have published dozens of non-fiction articles and three dozen published short stories, most of which are in my short story compendium entitled A Flamingo Under the Carousel. In addition, that imagination that I owe entirely to my comic book journey created four novels (Band in the Wind, Sound of Redemption, Brotherhood of Forever, and The Other Side of the Wind). Though there are no superheroes in my books, there are innumerable references to people I believe acted with superhuman courage, loyalty, and empathy.

And Robert? We have kept in contact, and he is in this book, so I get to edit him for the first time since Heroes the Great (six decades ago). What goes around, comes around.

KAPOW is meant to illuminate each of its contributor’s personal vision of superheroes in every form of media. Enjoy.

William John Rostron, Editor

www.WilliamJohnRostron.com

PART ONE

POETRY

POETRY IN MOTION

"I love every movement

There’s nothing I would change

She doesn’t need improvement

She’s much too nice to rearrange."

-Johnny Tillotson

CAPED CRUSADERS

DAVION MOORE

From trauma and misery,

Often society’s periphery,

They raise to change the history,

Wearing a mask of mystery,

Their intentions silvery,

Golden hearts of empathy,

Unearthly strength of muscles chivalry,

Here comes justice special delivery,

Putting villains in pillory,

Heroines and Heroes running, flying, striving for victory.

I NEVER DREAMED OF BATMAN

WILLIAM JOHN ROSTRON

When I was young, I’d be…

Superman

Leaping buildings in a single bound

Sometimes, I mimicked…

Flash

The fastest man around

But I never dreamed of Batman

In my room, I imagined…

Spiderman

Climbing a wall

I envisioned…

Green Lantern

The brightest light of all

But I