Want Diverse Superheroes? Check out this new Kickstarter
Soooooo I’m a part of another kickstarter currently going and this time it’s a Superhero anthology called HEROES!
I hope you can tell by the cover below (and artwork above) that the protagonists aren’t going to be your standard fare. On the cover are three woman (the front middle figure is a woman – she’s actually purposely a bit androgynous in her appearance because that’s how she is in the story, and the back two figures are women as well), and 2 gray haired, old men at the end of their respective careers. It also contains one of Aaron Allston’s last stories & it’s a great one (the two gray haired men from the cover are from his story).
From the kickstarter itself: One of the things that we’re particularly happy about with respect to this anthology is its diversity. Diversity with respect to gender, ethnicity, age, body type, and life experience. The heroes in HEROES! come from all walks of life. Some have superpowers that make them something more, or less, than human, but others are facing a dangerous world with only their wits and willpower to aid them. We have some of the “perfect” comic book heroes, but most of our heroes would be considered flawed by those standards. They’re past their physical prime, or seemingly too young for the task at hand, or not in perfect shape, or slightly bumbling, or have any number of other quirks. In other words, they’re actual people.
Please, let us introduce you to just a few of them:
Kiara Bell is an African American woman in her late twenties who goes by “Panthera” when fighting crime. She wears black leather biker gear and rides a Suzuki motorcycle. Her superpower is her chitinous shell, so she is tough, not quick. She gives the impression of gentle strength and fearlessness.
Thunderbolt is a Caucasian male in his mid 20s. He has the ability to shoot incredibly destructive lightning bolts from his hands. His costume (dark blue motocross leathers with a bright orange lightning bolt logo on the chest) does not hide the fact that he is out of shape and slightly pudgy. He has serious body-image issues, and recurring problems with static cling.
The unnamed hero from “By Blood of Fang and Song, We Call You” by Jaym Gates is an old soldier turned rancher. She is of Hispanic/Native American background, moderate height, strongly built, gold eyes, black hair, dark skin. She lives in a post-apocalyptic world that’s being eaten by monsters and she talks to dragons.
Shade is a twelve year old girl who lives in a swamp called the “Shake” by people who live there–she speaks in a somewhat bayou-ish dialect, and the story centers around her search for a man named “the Caretaker,” who is supposed to help residents in trouble.
As with all of our projects, one of our goals with HEROES! is to prove that there is no “standard” face to a protagonist (in this case, a hero), or an author of speculative fiction. Talent and strength know no race, sex, or other artificial boundary.
We want to both entertain you and engage you in the discussion of what it actually means to be a hero, and how that burden affects the person who carries it.
Soooooo yeah, not sure how much more I need to say other than basically, by supporting this anthology you’re supporting gender, racial, body type, and age diversity in speculative fiction/the superhero scene.
And yes, I’ve got a story in it, called “He Was a Marvelous Man” and you can read a preview of it here.
At anyrate, if you’re interested in backing the project/purchasing a copy of the book ($5 gets you the drm free ebook), you can do so here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/103
Thanks all! (P.s. please remember to share this / signal boost it like crazywith all your friends if you don’t mind)
