Thinking Outside the Longbox

 

Welcome back!

            Welcome once again to another pulse-pounding, heart-racing, unbearably exciting issue of A Thousand Faces, the Quarterly Journal of Superhuman Fiction. We’re so glad to have you along as we begin our fourth year of bringing you the very best original superhero short stories the world over.

            And when I say the world over, I mean the world over. Issue #11 features eleven tales (Eleven for eleven!! Serendipity!!) from the pens of authors residing in four different countries, on three different continents. (We anxiously await our first contribution from South America to complete the continental six-pack. It’s coming, I can feel it.)

            Australia’s Kris Ashton (who first dazzled us in Issue #6 with “Buried Potential”) returns to our pages for the first time since then with the melancholy “Even Superheroes Get the Blues”. First-time contributor Chris Castle checks in from Greece (though he hails from England – Global!!) with “Shoehorn”, a heartfelt little tale of a shoe salesman and his super-powered friend. 

            And, a bit closer to home, one of our neighbors to the north (and fine Olympic hosts!! Timely!!), Edmonton native and Thousand Faces-newcomer Brent Knowles stops by with a heartbreaking tale of love and loss like no other, “A Ragman’s Vow.”

            Even our American writers have an international flavor this issue. Longtime Thousand Faces-favorite Joshua Reynolds (writing from London, no less!!) delivers another excellent tale of our intrepid Clockwork Pinkerton, “Mr. Brass and the Last Sudden Silence.” John Bear Ross spends his days in Nevada writing about nights in the Amazon basin of the dystopian future with “Avatar Reborn.” And while Michael Ferrari may live in Pennsylvania, his story “The Bouncer” is set in that alien and strange foreign land known as Hollywood.

             Our fifth and final Thousand Faces newcomer, Gordie Laughlin, offers up an unlikely hero-villain team-up in the appropriately-titled “Unity”. Familiar face Robert S. Tyler (“Murder on Scorpion Island”, Issue #8) takes a different angle on hero-villain interaction in “You Can’t Fool Me”. (Compare and contrast essays between this story and “Avatar Reborn” are welcomed at the front desk for extra credit.) 

            Now, if you’re like me, I know you’ve been dying to read a superhero story set in the Bonneville Salt Flats that has no costumes (not exactly), no super-villains, and no violence. Trust me, you have. Check out Ian Thomas Healy’s “Graceful Blur”, then tell me I’m wrong.

            Meta Man (“Payday”, Issue #6; “Personal Hero”, Issue #9) returns in Issue #11, and the poor guy still can’t catch a break; check out Rob Brooks’ “Meta Man’s Manicured Menace.”

            And last, but certainly not least, the story that closes this issue is also the winner of the (highly-coveted!!) Editor’s Choice Award. James Mascia is back once more, this time with the bittersweet “Camp Hero”. And when you’re done reading that, you should skip over to James’ Facebook page and check out the comic preview of “High School Heroes”, featuring the very same Christine Carpenter and friends you’ve read about over the last few years here in the pages of A Thousand Faces.

           

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            We’ve got a winner!

            Congratulations to longtime contributor Erin M. Kinch, the winner of last issue’s “Talk about A Thousand Faces on your blog or website and win a copy of Jackie Kessler and Caitlin Kittredge’s book Black and White” contest. Everyone who talked thusly on their blog was entered into a drawing, and Erin was the winner. For her efforts, she will receive an autographed copy of Black and White.

            Thanks, Erin!

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            That’s just about enough out of me this time. I know you’re itching to get to reading, so have at it. We’ll be back in 90-ish days with another thrilling compendium of original superhero fiction, and hope to see you here then.

            So, until then, Excelsior!

            (I’ve always wanted to say that.)

             

 Frank Byrns

February 2010