Robbi and I spent all weekend surrounded by comic books. It was great. I was inspired! And so, this morning, I have written a story inspired by comic books.

When I say that the story is inspired by comic books, I mean that I wrote the story after spending time thinking about comic books. But since I’m a writer and not an illustrator, this story isn’t actually a comic book. Because even though it’s entirely possible to have a comic book with pictures and no words, a comic book with words and no pictures isn’t a comic book at all.

And so, here is my story about Superman, and what he might do if he were in a comic book trying to deal with some bad guys.

Superman Helps Out

By Matthew Swanson

Superman landed on the roof. He looked great in his cape and tights. “Powee!” he said

There was no one there but some pigeons.

“Why did that funny-looking man say that, Dad?” said the baby pigeon her pigeon father.

“I don’t know, Dear,” said her dad. “Eat your worm.”

Superman flew away.

 

Superman landed on a different roof. This roof was full of bad guys. “Powee!” he said.

The bad guys looked at Superman, wondering what was going on. “Are you going to capture us?” said one of the bad guys, “Or are you just going to say ‘Powee’?”

“I was just going to say ‘Powee,’” said Superman. “Isn’t that how it’s supposed to work?”

“Not at all,” said the other bad guy. “In addition to saying ‘Powee,’” you have to actually do something, such as grab us with your super arms or put us in an unbreakable cage.

“I had no idea,” said Superman. “Thank you both for helping me to understand.”

“No problem,” said one of the bad guys.

“But we’re leaving now,” said the other bad guy.

The two bad guys jumped into their invisible helicopter.

“Wait just a second,” said Superman.

“So long, Super Sucker,” said one of the bad guys.

Super Man was disappointed. Being a super hero was so hard.

Suddenly, he heard someone say ‘Powee,’

It was Spider Man! The bad guys were wrapped up in spider web. The invisible helicopter was still invisible.

“Hooray!” said Superman.

“Want to get some french fries?” said Spider Man.

“Yes!” said Superman. “I love being a super hero.”

It would be so fun to be a super hero, wouldn’t it? The great news is, you can say ‘Powee!’ whenever you want to, even if you’re just a kid. Even if you’re just a 39-year-old guy writing a story in his pajamas. I just said it very quietly. Robbi is still asleep, and I don’t think she’s ready to deal with any super heroes this early in the morning.

Please write us a story about comic books, or super heroes, or pigeons! Write a story about whatever you are INSPIRED to write a story about. And post it in the comments below.

POWEE!