Welcome! I hope you’ve enjoyed my creative exercises with the “Doppelganger” and “Armored Underworld” fanfictions. I have another one coming: “Herald of Darkseid.”

Why fanfiction?

I write these fanfictions partly as a creative exercise. Sometimes that writer’s block kicks in, or I’m just bored, and it’s a good way to keep the brain working.

Using established characters is actually a bit more work than one would think, especially in the context of smashing worlds together. Sure, we all know Batman and Iron Man, but we don’t have any precedent for the two to be together.

That’s where the creativity comes in.

There’s also the factor of not wanting to wait for someone to ask me to write a story with these characters. I can’t make any money off these efforts, but dammit I can say “I wrote a Batman story.”

The “Man of Steel” curse

When I refer to “Man of Steel” curse, I’m not referring to what some writers say is the problem with writing Superman. They say he’s an indestructible god and that makes him both difficult and boring to write.

I have a completely different opinion. I think Superman is a “man” first, “super” second. Treat him as you would a man and it becomes very easy to deal with him and make him relatable/ not boring.

No, the curse I mean is what’s been done to Superman in the DC Extended Universe movies.

If you follow me on Twitter, you know my low opinions on “Man of Steel” and “Batman v Superman” and their portrayal of the Man of Steel. I was willing to go with the building of the hero narrative until it didn’t go anywhere.

They most assuredly had not earned the right to play the John Williams “Superman” theme in “Justice League.”

Thus the fanboy argument, “Well how would you deal with Superman?”

Now’s my opportunity.

Adding Kara Zor-El to the mix

In keeping with the mashup idea, I wanted to bring in SHIELD, as I’ve established them in my comic book universe as the go-to intelligence network (stole that from the MarvelCinematic Universe, who stole that from the Marvel comics, so we’re all good).

But what would bring SHIELD and Superman together? An alien invasion was obvious, but I didn’t want to retread “Man of Steel” territory by bringing in Zod. Which was a retread of Christopher Reeve’s first two “Superman” movies.

I also had an itch to craft a Supergirl story. But what if, as in the “Batman/ Superman” story “Apocalypse,” (a.k.a. “The Supergirl of Krypton”) Supergirl isn’t so super?

This all ended up as a story entitled “Herald of Darkseid.”

And what the hell? Let’s throw in Captain Marvel!

Now I admit my only reference for Marvel is the excellent Kelly Sue Deconnick run and a few glimpses from “Civil War 2.” I wasn’t a fan of the “CW2” Carol. She seemed brash, belligerent, self-righteous but with good intentions.

I’ve taken this tone with the character, coupled with her military sense of duty from her years with the Air Force prior to her gig with SHIELD. We’ll see if this differs from what Brie Larson will do with the character in her movie next year.

Beware the Herald of Darkseid!

I’m still in the process of writing the complete story, but I don’t want you guys to miss out. I’m having a blast with Kara and Marvel trading blows in space, as well as the sequence introducing Clark Kent sneaking away to become Superman to defend Metropolis against another super-powered foe.

As with the other fanfictions, I leave enough info in there to see how the characters you know and love fit into this newly fabricated mashup world of mine.

You don’t need to read the previous stories, “Doppelganger” and “Armored Underworld,” to follow “Herald of Darkseid,” but it will help flesh out the world, particularly SHIELD’s involvement in everything.

I’ll start posting “Herald” next Wednesday. A new chapter will come out every Wednesday after that until we’re through. Looking at a “Birds of Prey” story after that, with Batgirl, Black Canary, and a video game-based third member.

So thanks for following and I’ll see you back here on Wednesday, May 23rd for part one of “Herald of Darkseid.”

https://shadowdancesaga.com/fanfiction-herald-of-darkseid-1-19/