Kia ora
I think I have always been a fan of “superhuman fiction“.Wouldn’t the world be a fantastic place if you could have superhuman ” non fiction” ?
As a youngster I was never encouraged to get involved with comic culture, my only real glimpse was the comics at the local barber. He had piles of Green Lantern comics in the waiting area. Apparently his wife thought they were a waste of money so he hid his collection in open view, at his business.
Sometime around my 14th year (so we are talking 1970) my Dad left and things changed in our house. There was a subtle relaxing in what we could read and get involved in. Mum was working up at Liverpool Uni in a highly scientific and technical area. One of Mum’s workmates “Jo” had a partner who was involved in the selling of Sci Fi books, and every week a new pile would come home. I was introduced to Asimov, Clarke and many others.
My exposure to non normal fiction up to that point was The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. I was given (LOTR) on my 11th Birthday and every Easter I re-read it !
I managed to avoid all the hype around Superman, DC and Marvel. The appreciation for superhuman fiction in comics was not awakened until passing a comic shop in Wellington I saw an X-man comic with a stunning cover, Gambit and Rogue. (This must have been about 1988). I went in paid my couple of dollars and was for the first time in my life was involved in purchasing comics. I didn’t buy many X-men comics because it was just too hard to catch up.
It still bugs me that the X-Men movies (which I enjoyed) never had Gambit in them, how could they not have him in it. How can you have Rogue without Gambit? they are key to each other. At least they had Wolverine, which is something.
Following X-men I moved into the worlds created by Michael Turner (RIP) particulaiy his work with Witchblade and the Fathom. Without a doubt part of the attraction to these characters is the art of Michael Turner.
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The other attraction is for the first time the darker and negative side of being superhuman, and the not really knowing what to do and the fear of the power, who is in control? the power or the power wielder.
It almost like the superhumans are saying, “we have problems too you know, its not that easy saving the world everyday, and by the way our issues are major issues. “
From my perspective Aspen Matthews (Fathom) and Sara (Witchblade) both built on the cracks that we saw in the X-Men characters of Wolverine and Gambit. They weren’t bad, but they weren’t totally good, they had a moral focus that was very normal, not superhuman and focused on the goody goody. The modern superhuman is gray and is affected by what happens around them.
The current manifestation of superhuman is the TV series Heros. Compulsary viewing in our house.
Along with Dr Who one of only two non “football” TV shows that I watch. (and for those in the States its soccer not the other game.) Dr Who cant be superhuman of course as he is an alien. Timelords are about as Alien as you can get!
At the ultra hyped level there are alot of people who are about to be introduced to a darker side of 
superhuman lives and that is with the movie of Alan Moores – Graphic Novel Watchmen.
Hopefully this will be the movie of the year, it should be because the story is stunning and dark.
Following my introduction to Alan Moore’s work, I found myself listening too podcast novels, novellas and short stories. Quiet by accident I had wandered into a world of stunning writers who mostly have yet to be published and have been giving their work away for years.
At the top of this pile is Mur Lafferty who wrote and podcast the book Playing For Keeps, following its being podcast Mur also signed a deal and had her book published. I hope it was succesful both for her and the publishers, both Mur and the book deserve success. 
Playing for Keeps (PFK) was the first podcast novel that I felt was good enough (for me) to purchase in hardcopy.
There are other podcast authors (not many) who have published, but there writing is not as tight and well crafted as Mur’s.
Like most novels involving superhuman powers we have good vs bad, the plot for this is complicated by the intervention of an (initially) disorganised group of humans with third string powers. This group are centered around a bar owned by one of these lesser powers Keepsie Branson.
One of my favourite characters is one who has the power to produce high powered streams of s**t. Another is the character who has the ability to carry a drinks tray without spilling a drop ( how can anyone not call that a major power? ).
Although this novel has a very funny and satirical, it is not a comedy. Its a story about people, people who have been ignored, who feel they have a contribution to make and stupid rules dont allow them to contribute.
Mur is big in the podcasting / new media world, she has podcast at least 5 novels and many, many short stories. Her Christmas short story on “Escape Pod” is worth rushing the year around for. Anyway do yourself a favour google Mur Lafferty and have some fun.
Dave A
Posted by lplfc1892 
Posted by lplfc1892 
Posted by lplfc1892 
novel acquired through Podiobooks. This is the story of a ” marine ” who is also a minister. From his perspective he is looking forward to a life of harvesting souls and fighting the ” evil on the streets of his community”.
From his website
His books can be downloaded through podiobooks http://www.podiobooks.com/index.php
