The Gift of Mythology

Yes. You do recognize some of those characters.

Back when I wore short pants, in the summer of Ought-Four, I was knee deep in a handful of comic books that deconstructed superhero continuity, taking characters we know and love and turning them upside down, shaking them like a martini and dropping them into a cocktail glass of fictionalized wonder. Watchmen. The Authority. Planetary. I admire writers that were able to spin new worlds, new dilemmas using history and mythology, like James Robinson's Starman, and wanted to try it myself.

When I first wrote Action, Ohio, I'll readily admit that it was a cut and dried pitch for Marvel Comics. Entitled Marvel, Ohio, it gathered the Stan-Jack oeuvre and dropped them in a real world situation where their powers weren't necessarily a gift, forcing them to face their responsibilities when the veneer Stan and Jack created to hide them from the world was slowly shattered by the rude awakening of a group of rebels and misfits. Over the years, I struggled with the story - even going so far as to recruit a co-writer - and the themes and motivations changed, the character went through dramatic transformations but there was always the fascination of the mythological Silver Age comic books. What I finally understood was that I was pigeonholing myself - rather than focus on Stan and Jack's contributions, I would use them as a door to open the Pandora's Box of the entire Silver Age of comic books.

It was Paul who helped me understand what the story was about and how to frame it - it's a murder mystery, yes, but it's also a soul searching exploration for heroism, courage and the truth. It's about sacrificing what you want for what's right. And who among us can't relate to that?

Should Action, Ohio continue - whether at Zuda or somewhere else - you, the dedicated reader and our new neighbors, will be able to pull each layer back to let the flash of recognition strike you, tug at your memory and our hope is that you'll be like I was - drinking deep from the shaken cocktail of characters I know and love, mythologies and legacies I grew up with as a young comic book fan - and that you'll join us at Antony's General Store, pull up a checkerboard and set a while.

If only to see what happens.