According to a number of websites, National Superhero Day “was created in 1995 by employees of Marvel Comics, who sent a team of interns out in central Pennsylvania to hear what the public thought about superheroes and what super powers they’d most want to have. Today, the day is about honoring all the superheroes in our lives, both the fictional and the real-life heroes who give their all every day.”
It sounds like an apocryphal story (Why would Marvel send out interns to do a poll? Why only central PA and not the entire United States?), but in a country that celebrates National Chocolate Custard Day (that’s May 3, in case you were wondering—mark it on your calendar!) it shouldn’t be all that surprising that even a probably made-up story can get its own holiday.
Still, it’s superheroes we’re talking about, and if you’re looking for some around these parts, we have a trio of titles you might be interested in:
Cry Havoc: The Furies, Book 1 is our latest release: a pulp-action collection of three novellas by author Richard C. White (On Wings of Steel, Chasing Danger), that introduces a trio of costumed heroines who fought both overseas and on the homefront during the darkest days of World War II, doing all they could to protect democracy—and doing it all with no superpowers! Black Venus, a black-catsuited fighter pilot, was created by artist Charles Tomsey (Patsy Walker, Captain Midnight), and made her comics debut in Holyoke’s Contact Comics #1 (cover-dated July 1944). The super-spy Miss Espionage, the International Detective, was created by writer Bill Woolfolk (Airboy, Captain Marvel) and artist Rudy Palais (Blackhawk, Phantom Lady), and first appeared in Narrative Publishers’ Power Comics #3 (cover-dated September 1944). As for the Cat, a Hollywood stuntwoman turned lead actress turned crime fighter…well, she may be an original Rich White creation, but her adventures fit perfectly into that Golden Age timeline.
Troubleshooters, Incorporated: Night Stalkings is a graphic novel about a group of supernatural-superheroes-for-hire taking on their first case. The team consists of a wizard, a female ninja, a sorceress, a werewolf, and a rock ’n’ roll lighting designer wearing high-tech armor. Sure, they might not be on a power level with the Avengers or Justice League, but they get the job done. (However, they have been compared to the JL’s supernatural offshoot, Justice League Dark and Hellboy’s Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, although TSI predates both organizations.) The graphic novel is written by Richard C. White and his wife, Joni M. White, and illustrated by Reggie Golden and Randy Zimmerman, and features cover art by Richard Dominguez (El Gato Negro).
And Heroines & Heroes is a digital-exclusive collection of comic stories and pinups all drawn and mostly written by Steven A. Roman (that’s me!), dating back to my days in the early 1990s small-press movement—that age of dinosaurs in which creators like me used to make our comics by printing them out on photocopiers and then stapling them by hand. In H&H you’ll find mainstream heroes and small-press heroines, and even a couple of anthropomorphic bikers. Leading off is “V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N (in the Summertime),” a three-page Wonder Woman vs. Harley Quinn story that I wrote and drew in the late ’90s as a sample for a DC Comics editor who thought I’d be a good fit for their Batman: The Animated Series comic (it didn’t work out). It’s followed by an adventure of small-presser Jeff Wood’s rabbit-eared superspy, Snowbuni; three pages from the long-canceled indie comic Motorbike Puppies; and an adventure of the indie superheroine The Blonde Avenger.
Cry Havoc: The Furies, Book 1 and Troubleshooters, Incorporated: Night Stalkings are available in print and digital formats; Heroines and Heroes is a free digital exclusive. Click the links above for ordering information.
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