JED's Superhero Origin

Link to Original Story: Superhero Origin - JED

When I first wrote this story, I liked it. I thought it was clever and film noire-y. Reading it now, I think it's crap. Hard to understand, vague, and pretentious. But let me say this in my defense – it is HARD to come up with a unique superhero origin. I mean, there are like 50 million superheros and they all have origins. Doing something original is tough. Think of all the things that are already taken: alien, industrial/scientific accident, mutation, cosmic zap, magic amulet, predestination, built by the government, intentional design, etc, etc. All done. Not all done well, mind you, but all done. The same goes for superpowers; nothing you can write that isn't already written. And in retrospect I wish I had just stuck to formula. Noble of me to attempt to break new ground, but I think it falls on its face. The dialogue was okay, if a little pompous at times. The mood was alright. In general, it isn't my worst, but it isn't my best either.



JP says thusly: