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Who Can Save Us Now?: Brand-New Superheroes and Their Amazing (Short) Stories

by Owen King

Who Can Save Us Now?: Brand-New Superheroes and Their Amazing (Short) Stories Cover

 

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Twenty-two of today's most talented writers (and comics fans) unite in Who Can Save Us Now?, an anthology featuring brand-new superheroes equipped for the threats and challenges of the twenty-first century — with a few supervillains thrown in for good measure. Edited and with contributions by Owen King (We're All in This Together) and John McNally (America's Report Card), Who Can Save Us Now? enriches the superhero canon immeasurably.

With mutations stranger than the X-Men and with even more baggage than the Hulk, this next generation of superheroes is a far cry from your run-of-the-mill caped crusader. From the image-conscious and not-very-mysterious masked meathead who swoops in and sweeps the tough girl reporter off her feet; to the Meerkat, who overcomes his species' cute and cuddly image to become the resident hero in a small Midwestern city; to the Silverfish, "the creepy superhero," who fights crime while maintaining the slipperiest of identities; to Manna Man, who manipulates the minds of televangelists to serve his own righteous mission, these protectors (and in some cases antagonizers) of the innocent and the virtuous will delight literary enthusiasts and comic fans alike.

With stunning illustrations by artist Chris Burnham, Who Can Save Us Now? offers a vibrant, funny, and truly unusual array of characters and their stories.

Review:

"This mostly tepid anthology, edited by King (son of Stephen King and author of We're All in This Together) and McNally (America's Report Card), has a few stimulating moments amid a flood of formulaic stories about inept people who are given powers that serve only to spotlight their insecurities. There are a few standouts: Stephanie Harrell's 'Girl Reporter' reveals the origins of a Superman-like hero through the first-person narration of a Lois Lane — like reporter. For Jim Shepard, in 'In Cretaceous Seas,' the 'superhero and super villain all in one' is 'a shitty son, a shitty brother, a lousy father, a lazy helpmate, a wreck of a husband' who means well but hates himself for not doing better. Sam Weller's 'The Quick Stop 5' is a hilarious story about five people at a gas station who are turned into superheroes after biofuel spills from a truck. Weller's presentation of 'super-power' as a subjective term resonates as one flips through the pages of this anthology. Readers who can't get enough of superheroes will get the most out of this. (July)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Synopsis:

Jennifer Weiner, J. Robert Lennon, Tom Bissell, Kelly Braffet, and more of today's most talented and original writers unite to fight the forces of evil in this vibrant, imaginative anthology of tales about modern-day superheroes. Illustrated.

About the Author

Owen King is the author of We're All in This Together: A Novella and Stories. His fiction and nonfiction have appeared in The Bellingham Review, The Boston Globe, One Story, Paste Magazine, and Subtropics, among other publications. He lives in New York with his wife, the novelist Kelly Braffet. In researching the events described in "The Meerkat" he benefited from the kind assistance of Maile Chapman, and the scholarship of Peter Golub, Russian translator and expert in the history of Soviet Nuclear Defense Robots. Thank you, both. As to the matter of his favorite superhero, King writes that after agonizing deliberations, he has settled on Captain Marvel, because "no matter what the situation, it can almost always be improved by simply shouting 'SHAZAM!'" John McNally is the author of two novels, The Book of Ralph and America's Report Card, and a short story collection, Troublemakers. His next book, Ghosts of Chicago, a collection of short stories, will be published this fall. A native of Chicago, he lives with his wife, Amy, in North Carolina, where he is associate professor of English at Wake Forest University. The first word he ever spoke was "Batman," who has remained, in his darker incarnations, his favorite superhero. John's first creative work, a play written in the fourth grade, featured an overweight superhero who gets stuck inside a phone booth while changing into his costume. He is happy to return to the genre, albeit thirty-four years later.

Table of Contents

Introduction

THE MOST UNLIKELY BEGINNINGS

Girl Reporter
Stephanie Harrell

The Oversoul
Graham Joyce

Nate Pinckney-Alderson, Superhero
Elizabeth Crane

The Horses Are Loose
Cary Holladay

The Quick Stop 5®
Sam Weller

THE BEAST WITHIN

Remains of the Night
John McNally

The Pentecostal Home for Flying Children
Will Clarke

The Meerkat
Owen King

A SHADOWY FIGURE

When the Heroes Came to Town
Michael Czyzniejewski

The Thirteenth Egg
Scott Snyder

In Cretaceous Seas
Jim Shepard

Roe #5
Richard Dooling

The Snipper
Noria Jablonski

BEHIND THE MASK

Man Oh Man — It's Manna Man
George Singleton

My Interview with the Avenger
Tom Bissell

The Rememberer
J. Robert Lennon

The Sisters of St. Misery
Lauren Grodstein

Mr. Big Deal
Sean Doolittle

SUPER ORDINARY

The Somewhat Super
David Yoo

Bad Karma Girl Wins at Bingo
Kelly Braffet

League of Justice (Philadelphia Division)
Jennifer Weiner

The Lives of Ordinary Superheroes
David Haynes

Acknowledgments

Product Details

ISBN:
9781416566441
Author:
King, Owen
Publisher:
Free Press
Editor:
McNally, John
Author:
McNally, John
Subject:
Anthologies (multiple authors)
Subject:
Literary
Subject:
Short stories, American
Subject:
Heroes
Subject:
21st century
Subject:
Short stories, American - 21st century
Subject:
Super Heroes
Subject:
Anthologies-General
Copyright:
Edition Description:
Trade paper
Publication Date:
20080731
Binding:
TRADE PAPER
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Y
Pages:
432
Dimensions:
9 x 6 in

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Who Can Save Us Now?: Brand-New Superheroes and Their Amazing (Short) Stories Used Trade Paper
0 stars - 0 reviews
$4.95 In Stock
Product details 432 pages Free Press - English 9781416566441 Reviews:
"Publishers Weekly Review" by , "This mostly tepid anthology, edited by King (son of Stephen King and author of We're All in This Together) and McNally (America's Report Card), has a few stimulating moments amid a flood of formulaic stories about inept people who are given powers that serve only to spotlight their insecurities. There are a few standouts: Stephanie Harrell's 'Girl Reporter' reveals the origins of a Superman-like hero through the first-person narration of a Lois Lane — like reporter. For Jim Shepard, in 'In Cretaceous Seas,' the 'superhero and super villain all in one' is 'a shitty son, a shitty brother, a lousy father, a lazy helpmate, a wreck of a husband' who means well but hates himself for not doing better. Sam Weller's 'The Quick Stop 5' is a hilarious story about five people at a gas station who are turned into superheroes after biofuel spills from a truck. Weller's presentation of 'super-power' as a subjective term resonates as one flips through the pages of this anthology. Readers who can't get enough of superheroes will get the most out of this. (July)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)
"Synopsis" by , Jennifer Weiner, J. Robert Lennon, Tom Bissell, Kelly Braffet, and more of today's most talented and original writers unite to fight the forces of evil in this vibrant, imaginative anthology of tales about modern-day superheroes. Illustrated.
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