Super Powered Fiction has a new home!

 I've ran my complete catalog of work from this site for several years and while blogger offers a lot of nifty features, I've wanted to make the switch to a professional website again for well over a year. I'm proud to announce that day has come. Introducing: NicholasAhlhelm.com.

This will be the last post on this page, but a new blog rises from the ashes at the site. It will feature approximately weekly updates about my work, other works I enjoy, the process of writing and much more. So please update any bookmarks and blog aggregates accordingly. For those using site feed readers or email services, you can link direct to the blog's rss with the following address:

https://www.nicholasahlhelm.com/blog?format=rss

Great Art: Ash by Michel Fiffe!

 As a backer of Copra artist Michel Fiffe over on his Patreon, I am signed up for a tier that gets original art on an annual basis. With everything I've been diving into as a celebration of 1990s independent comics, it seemed only fitting to use this year's headshot for a rendition of one of the pre-eminent figures of that movement. 

Looking through my stack of comics, I realized only one hero really stood out for a great visual as a simple profile shot. Though he hasn't appeared for over twenty years, Joe Quesada and Jimmy Palmiotti's Ash was a character and comic with a ton of unrealized potential brought to an end by Quesada's path to the Marvel editor-in-chief position. Yet I still have a ton of love for the character so he won out as my top choice for new art.

And I couldn't be happier with the result! 

If you're interested in getting your own Fiffe art, sign up for his Patreon on January 1st! With a full year as a backer at the higher tiers, you can get superb work like this to enjoy! 

The Man Called Claus: Celebrate Christmas with the world's first superhero!

I've made no secret that I'm a fan of fun Christmas tales or silly comic tropes. And that's why over the years I've edited an entire volume of pulp hero Doc Claus and his adventure team made of holiday heroes. It's also why I've written a couple Christmas tales of my own. 

Both of those stories are on Medium right now, but normally they are locked behind the Medium pay-wall. For you dear readers on this festive holiday though, I'm bringing both of these tales to you with "friends links" that allow free reading of both these stupendous tales filled with holiday cheer! 

Doc Claus by Teel James Glenn.

The Phantom Krampus was my holiday story from last year as an extradimensional issue goes awry and leaves Santa "Doc" Claus in a dangerous situation which threatens Christmas itself as he fights a dark manifestation of pure evil! 

Claus vs. Kong is my original holiday tale as the North Pole comes under the threat of a giant ape unleashed on the North Pole! It's got all the giant monster fighting action you could ask for in your holiday stories! 

If you like either of these tales, you might also want to check out the further adventures of Doc Claus with five stories by five stellar writers! 

I'm certainly not one to write a holiday tale every year, but I'm overjoyed to share this one with you and yours this holiday season. Have a wonderful and safe Christmas! 

The weird history of America: Virginia Dare

The first white settler ever born in colonial America was a young girl named Virginia Dare. Last seen by anyone in recorded history as just a baby, her name is put to record during the time period after her grandfather John White returned to England for supplies. Upon his return to her home in the Roanoke Colony, she and every other member of the one hundred plus member village were gone. 

Marvel 1602's Virginia Dare,
illustrated by Andy Kubert.

To this day, no one knows what happened to Virginia or any other member of the Roanoke Colony. Both the baby and the colony have entered popular culture as the first great mystery of American history. 

Over the 530 years since the Roanoke Colony vanished, Virginia has appeared across multiple media forms from Neil Gaiman's Marvel 1602 to the Adrian Paul SciFi Channel film Wraiths of Roanoke. She's portrayed as an often tragic figure, the tiny girl that doesn't really get a chance at life. Often she ends up the only survivor of her colony by some fate and is brought elsewhere to learn and grow. 

Yet as I look at her as a character from folklore, my immediate thought is very different. Why would the first white settler born in the nascent United States be good and pure? What if she's the literal representation of the corruptions of colonization? If Virginia Dare survived, why wouldn't she serve to show the inescapability of that corruption, or even become the bearer of it herself. 

This is the two hundred twenty-five year old woman that plays a central role in The Hidden War. She makes her debut next month on Patreon, in Book Two of that feature. I hope you'll come see. 

A few words on the future of this blog

I've made the decision to discontinue my regularly Monday Wednesday Friday updates here on the site. I've done this for several reasons, but the primary one is the lack of interaction they've gained in the last several months. I've watched my reader levels drop drastically here even as I've seen sales go up on my work. Clearly there's a major disconnect between this blog and my readership.

Secondly, it isn't really devolved into a lot of discussion of things I like and very little focus on stuff I write. I want to change the focus here to make this blog all about what I'm releasing and when. So the site will still see updates, and with two new stories out every month in the upcoming weeks, it will be far from dead.

If you want to keep up on things upcoming or are just a huge fan of my blogging, I am far from done there. You can read more from me at Medium. Right now it is a few articles on comics, a handful of interviews and several wrestling articles. But I will be endeavoring to update with a new article about every week there. They will likely be longer than a lot of what you've read here as late, and hopefully more in-depth.

Of course, there's also the newsletter and the Patreon. I'm posting at Patreon almost every week and updating the newsletter every other.

This is far from an end, just a change. I'll see you soon as my next release is only days away!

Great Art: the Amazing 80s by J. Scott Campbell

If you haven't figured it out from the radio silence, there's some major changes afoot for this blog in the next few weeks, but I will talk about that in the next couple weeks. But that doesn't mean I'm done with sharing some amazing things, like this epic piece by comics great J. Scott Campbell, featuring pretty much everything awesome about being a kid in the 1980s!

Remember you can check out a lot more Great Art in the Super Powered Fiction Facebook group!. And after you're done admiring some great art here, don’t forget to check out all the places you can find me online!

Cosplay Friday: Zatanna

Sometimes you just need a little magic in your life. Zatanna Zatara always fits that bill and it's especially true when she's brought to life by the amazingly talented Riddle. Fine work by a true cosplay legend!

You can check out a lot more great Cosplay pictures over on my Twitter. And while you are admiring some great cosplay here, don’t forget to check out some of the other great stuff from yours truly this week!

Great Art: Savage Dragon and Spider-Man by Erik Larsen!

Erik Larsen is one of those guys that is just a consummate comic professional. He just loves making comics and has made a living doing so for over three decades now. Twenty-five years of that have been focused on Savage Dragon, his childhood character that he turned into a multimedia star for a few years before comfortably settling in to regular adventures of the entire Dragon family. Hundreds of issues later, he stands as a unique single writer/artist on a book with only Dave Sim and Fred Perry challenging him for commitment to his creation.

He also happens to be one of my favorite comic artists, dating back to his Marvel days. I actually saw his work first in the pages of Marvel Comics Presents though, not Spider-Man. He did a strange little Excalibur arc in that book where the team basically fought the Looney Tunes characters that I adore and am a little surprised has never been reprinted. It wasn't until a few months later I found his Spider-Man and loved that just as much. But I was an X-Men guy up until the rise of Image. Yet after I read the first couple issues of Dragon's adventures, I knew I had read something different. I could almost feel Larsen's commitment to the character and making him work. It impressed me then, and he became the character I most latched onto as a young man. (Though I'm still mad that none of my contributions won his villain creation contest in issue 10.)

To make a long story short, I'm always excited to see unique pin-ups from Larsen. So when I found this Spider-Man / Savage Dragon crossover piece, I thought it was the perfect image to feature on a Great Art installment. Enjoy and be sure to go buy a copy or two of Savage Dragon, still going strong after all these years.

As always, you can check out a lot more Great Art in the Super Powered Fiction Facebook group!. And after you're done admiring some great art here, don’t forget to check out some of the other great stuff from me this week!

Gallur-y: Revenge of the Past!

Over the last few years, Mexican artist Rafael Gallur has become a go to painter for action. A regular painter of amazing lucha libre magazine covers, he channels the energy of Frazetta into modern cover art, something very lacking on this side of the border. And since his art doesn't quite fit into the usual comic-oriented Great Art feature, I thought it was time to give him his own feature here at Super Powered Fiction. Few painters can match the power he brings.

Octagon isn't a luchador well remembered by many American fans, but he was a big time hero when the martial arts craze was all the rage in the 80s and 90s. Long retired now, the character has been brought back on a few occasions with a new "junior" version, with both current WWE star Kalisto and international talent Flamita wearing the mask. He's probably most notable these days because the first incarnation of Octagon Jr gave rise to a new generation of his eternal foe, a young talent that lasted much longer named Pentagon Jr.

In his heyday, the original Octagon starred in his share of lucha libre comics and stories. "Revenge of the Past" is clearly one of the best. There's a whole lot going on here and Gallur combines it all into something awesome. 

Be sure to head over to Gallur's DeviantArt to check out more work by him and order some of his amazing work as prints. After you're done admiring his work, don’t forget to check out some of the other great stuff from yours truly this week!

Cosplay Friday: Batgirl

It's a bit surprising that Batgirl doesn't get nearly as many costumes as some of her peers in DC's superhero community. Admittedly her costume is more detailed than a Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy or even Supergirl, but when she's done right, she just looks iconic. Take as an example, Astelvert's amazing work on her cosplay of the Burnside Batgirl here.

You can check out a lot more great Cosplay pictures over on my Twitter. And while you are admiring some great cosplay here, don’t forget to check out some of the other great stuff from yours truly this week!

Great Art: Rocketeer by Tom Grummett!

Since Diamond just debuted a huge array of merchandise for Cliff Secord at San Diego this year, it felt like a fitting time to share some truly great Rocketeer art. I still feel like the sky's the limit for this character's future if a publisher and a creative team really set out to write an entire series of grand adventures for him. Here's hoping someone makes that a reality. And when they do, it might be great to get Tom Grummett to draw the dang thing. Because as you see here, the man draws Dave Stevens's character with finesse and panache.

As always, you can check out a lot more Great Art in the Super Powered Fiction Facebook group!. And after you're done admiring some great art here, don’t forget to check out some of the other great stuff from me this week!

An important life lesson...

I shared this recently on Facebook and thought it best to share it more widely here. This is an important point for any consumer of art, from novels to comics to paintings to movies to whatever.

Gallur-y: Mars Attacks!

Over the last few years, Mexican artist Rafael Gallur has become a go to painter for action. A regular painter of amazing lucha libre magazine covers, he channels the energy of Frazetta into modern cover art, something very lacking on this side of the border. And since his art doesn't quite fit into the usual comic-oriented Great Art feature, I thought it was time to give him his own feature here at Super Powered Fiction. Few painters can match the power he brings.

The classic Topps card line Mars Attacks has become an icon of weird alien invasion stories, and has transitioned into comics, novels, games and a hilarious Tim Burton film. But when Topps decided they wanted to produce an updated line of cards, Rafael Gallur was one of the talents they tapped for the new cards. Here's an example of his work on a better known licensed property, and it is clear he brings the same craftsmanship he does to his lucha work to the Martian invaders and the human resistance!

Be sure to head over to Gallur's DeviantArt to check out more work by him and order some of his amazing work as prints. After you're done admiring his work, don’t forget to check out some of the other great stuff from me this week!

Cosplay Friday: Mary Jane

Spider-Man: Far From Home is hitting theaters on this long holiday weekend, so it seemed an apt time to pull out an MJ cosplay. But in the spirit of Zendaya playing a very different take on that character (complete with new name), I thought it would be a perfect time to pull out one of my favorite looks at the character. This one is from one of the most beautiful cosplayers out there, Lua Stardust, and is maybe my favorite take on Mary Jane Watson anywhere!

You can check out a lot more great Cosplay pictures over on my Twitter. And while you are admiring some great cosplay here, don’t forget to check out some of the other great stuff from yours truly this week!

Great Art: Moon Knight by John K. Snyder III

I've spent a lot of time thinking about vigilantes and heroes of the mystic of late, although it is for a project I will not say too much about just yet. But with that in mind, I've been perusing some moodier art of dark vigilantes. That's when I stumbled upon this piece by John K. Snyder III.

Snyder has been around for a long time. He was drawing Grendel comics over three decades ago and has worked his way through pretty much every publisher over the years, though much of his work has been for DC. Just in the last year, he drew an issue or two of Bloodshot for Valiant and doesn't seem to show any signs of changing his eclectic release of cool art.

As far as I can tell, this piece is the only time he drew Moon Knight, for a commission. The piece perfectly encapsulates what makes the character pop so well off the panel, with his silver-white costume up against a dark background. Flanked by his enemies and the visage of Khonshu, source of his abilities, it's a super-cool piece that makes the character just look plain awesome.

As always, you can check out a lot more Great Art in the Super Powered Fiction Facebook group!. And after you're done admiring some great art here, don’t forget to check out some of the other great stuff from me this week!

That's My Jam 5: "Dangerous Days" by Perturbator

Straight up, I have no recollection of who first mentioned the name Perturbator to me. I could guess it might have been Warren Ellis' newsletter but I cannot really say for sure. But I can say that I absolutely love things cyberpunk.

And man, Perturbator is so cyberpunk.

Perturbator is just one guy, an amazingly talented French individual with the very un-French real name James Kent. He's been working in the synthwave genre of music for the better part of the decade. Synthwave seems like a genre designed for me, with a heavy focus on 80s film and video games as inspiration. But a lot of artists of the field don't click with me.

But when I stumbled upon the album Dangerous Days I was insta-hooked. It has a powerful continued beat through all its songs, like some kind of rave out of a never made Neuromancer film. It's that push to move forward coupled with the rareness of lyrics that helps make it such a great album to play while writing.

Perturbator also has some great album covers.
Dangerous Days is by Ariel Zucker-Brull. 

Once the slow rise of the opening track "Welcome Back" melds into the driving beat of "Perturbator's Theme" my mind is hyper-focused and ready to get rocking on some words. I'm listening to the album right now as I write about it and it has become so ingrained in my creative process that I just want to go back to the latest Shockwave story.

The entire album is available to listen to on Bandcamp. Perturbator even has a pay-what-you-want model set up for downloads. I'm pretty sure I actually downloaded the album for free many moons ago, but I've certainly given Mister Kent my money with every subsequent Perturbator album he's released. Or you can just listen to on this handy Spotify list...


So it's a win-win to go give this album a chance. If you like eighties movies, synth music or just a driving beat, I doubt you will be disappointed.

Cosplay Friday: Meggan

One of the books I cut my teeth on as a comics fan was Excalibur by Chris Claremont and Alan Davis. The two men created a really solid team book that wasn't worried about being funny here and there. It's heyday was its first year and a half or so of issues, and they still hold up as some of the reasons I will challenge anyone that lumps the 80s and 90s in comics into some generic summation.

Meggan was one of the breakout characters of the series, a faerie girl in love with Captain Britain and with a bevy of powers including shape-changing, flight, super strength and empathy. She spent much of the first year of the series basically just wearing athletic wear as a "costume" until she finally received this number during the Cross-Time Caper story. Cosplayer Sara Moni brings the Davis design to life perfectly, an impressive feat considering all the character traits that come together for the character.

You can check out a lot more great Cosplay pictures over on my Twitter. And while you are admiring some great cosplay here, don’t forget to check out some of the other great stuff from yours truly this week!

Great Art: Ninjak by Michel Fiffe

Michel Fiffe draws one of my favorite comics right now in Copra, but he doesn't do non-creator owned characters all that often. But this variant to the Valiant Ninjak book was totally worth the price of admission!

As always, you can check out a lot more Great Art in the Super Powered Fiction Facebook group!. And after you're done admiring some great art here, don’t forget to check out some of the other great stuff from me this week!

Gallur-y: Super-Nenas!

Over the last few years, Mexican artist Rafael Gallur has become a go to painter for action. A regular painter of amazing lucha libre magazine covers, he channels the energy of Frazetta into modern cover art, something very lacking on this side of the border. And since his art doesn't quite fit into the usual comic-oriented Great Art feature, I thought it was time to give him his own feature here at Super Powered Fiction. Few painters can match the power he brings.

Unlike a lot of his work, Super Nena (or Supernena, as I've seen it written both ways) isn't an actual star of lucha libre. Created for the fiction magazine Sensacional Del Luchas, she allowed some female led stories with a whole lot of T and A. But because of her original nature, it sure looks like she was set up to be a bit more super than some of the other luchadors in the book. She definitely has a Catwoman vibe with her whip as a weapon. This cover seems to pit her against evil duplicates of herself, ones willing to use automatic weapons and murder wantonly. There's a great story there I suspect!

Be sure to head over to Gallur's DeviantArt to check out more work by him and order some of his amazing work as prints. After you're done admiring his work, don’t forget to check out some of the other great stuff from me this week!

Have you joined The Good Fight yet?

I'm going to get real here. I talked about my story in The Good Fight 5: The Golden Age already, but apparently that's not brought quite enough readers to our amazing anthology. Our classic era super-heroics aren't attracting the level of readership for our previous four volumes of the Pen & Cape Society's premiere superhero anthology. Each volume features new stories from a variety of authors and superheroic worlds, and I'm proud to make this my fourth appearance in one of these books.

I could conjecture a hundred reasons as to why the book hasn't found success, but I know one thing that's definitely hurting it: lack of reviews! After just over a month out, it still only has one review on Amazon and none on Smashwords. The digital edition is $3.99, a steal for a book featuring twelve new stories by yours truly and a host of talented authors including the late great James Hudnall.

In order to encourage more reviews and in return, I have five digital copies available for reading and review. If you receive a copy, you must be willing to read it and give it a starred Amazon review within one month of receipt. I will give these away to the first five people that respond to this post here, on social media or by emailing me at nick {at} superpoweredfiction {dot} com.

If you have even a fraction of the love for super powered fiction that I have, I know this is a deal too good to pass up! And even if you don't get a free copy, please buy the book and review it when you're done. Every single review helps immensely. I know you see that a lot, but it is incredibly true.

The Good Fight 5: The Golden Age is now available on Amazon, Smashwords and pretty much everywhere you buy books.