Scalzi Story on Subterranean

I love superhero stuff so I love "realistic" super-hero stuff. Especially because of where the suspension of disbelief seems to fail. "Ok, sure he flies without any clear explanation of how, but not paying for the damage he caused? That's too much!"

It works well in comedy, but it also works great in a serious piece, like Watchmen, b/c it adds that dose of reality needed to swallow the fantastic bits.

I really liked the thing about Tempe.

That was a truly marvelous story. It reminds me of Superguy Listserv, a humorous superhero fiction writing circle that was founded back in the late '80s and kept going strong up 'til the late '90s when most of the active writers had graduated college and gotten real jobs. There was a lot of drek, but a lot of really good stuff, too.

Superguy is still around (as are the complete and searchable archives), just experiencing a lot less activity these days. Though if anyone wanted to change that, new writers are always welcome.

"Denise Jones" reminds me of Superguy at its best.

It's funny, yes. But he goofed. There's a flaw in the story.

Tempe is a suburb of Phoenix, and is surrounded on all sides by other cities. You can't tell where one ends and the other begins without a map.

If Tempe can't get a call answered, Phoenix, Mesa, or Chandler would hire a super being to handle the monster. They'd _have_ to or risk being attacked by the monster. Plus, Maricopa County (where Tempe is located) has enough money to have at least one super being on retainer.

But if he changed it to Yuma, I would cheer.

Hehe, I'd love to read a comic book miniseries set on this universe. Do it under an Astro City-like mood and you'll have a winner!