When Owen King came up with an idea for a short story featuring a superhero, there was only one problem. "There was nowhere to put it," says the writer (who is, yes, the son of Stephen King). Solution: he and fellow writer John McNally commissioned a prose superhero anthology, "Who Can Save us Now?," featuring 22 stories by authors known far more for their literary prowess and "Atlantic Monthly" contributions than their knowledge of Batman. The end result reimagines the world of caped crusaders as a funny, lonely and weird place....and one far more believable than that of "The Dark Knight."
There's a real pathos in the stories...even the funny ones are kind of sad.
MCNALLY: We were pleasantly surprised. I think the writers recognized how peculiar it is to have these magical gifts, and that they wouldn't translate to the real world that easily. It's the stuff I loved about comics like "Watchmen," that superheroes are so screwed up. They're not just running around fighting super-villains.
Do you have a favorite story in the book?
MCNALLY: I really like Will Clarke's story, "The Pentecostal Home for Flying Children" (the story of the offspring of a B-level superhero/womanizer). I had worked with Will in a previous literary anthology, and his essay had been banned in some places, and it got us a lot of media attention. We had hoped what he'd turn in here would get us banned again. But no. But it was a very original take on the superhero story - placing it in Shreveport.
Were you surprised by the quality of the work?
MCNALLY: Owen and I were surprised - when you solicit material, you have no idea what you'll get back...and you just hope it's good. For me, the important thing was matching the right people to our subject matter. We would come up with a list of people we admired, and then we'd figure out if they were interested, and, more importantly, could do they do it?
KING: I mean, we like Philip Roth, but it would have been a weird match. And I don't think we could get him.
MCNALLY: (Laughs) Sure, Gabriel Garcia Marquez would have been somebody we would have loved to use. For him, we would have found a way to make it work.
Do you have a favorite superhero?
KING: Growing up, I was an X-Men fan-loved the Dark Phoenix saga. I read graphic novels now, because it's hard to go to the comic book store every week. I like "Top 10" by Alan Moore...actually there's a glut of fantastic, intelligent comics out now. It's starting to be like the fiction world. It's hard to keep up.
MCNALLY: I came to comics through TV shows. Apparently my first word was "Batman." In college, my friend got me into "Dark Knight" and some of Frank Miller's stuff.
Have you ever been to a comic convention?
KING: I went to the New York Comic-Con. Growing up, I remember conventions as these places where middle-aged dudes gathered and looked through mildew-y boxes of comics. Now it's apparently a full-fledged, cross-cultural, cross-gendered experience. It's awesome.
Superheroes are a visual medium. How hard is it to translate into a narrative?
MCNALLY: With these authors, we didn't want to hem them in. And we didn't want to get comic book writers to do prose, or have book writers do comic books.
KING: It was challenging. I did one of the stories, and I think we were all trying to figure out where the story should begin, how much origin you should tell, if you should include and origin, and so on. And then, go and do that all in 16 pages.
What did you think of "The Dark Knight"?
KING: I'm a big fan of [director] Chris Nolan, but I had problems with this one. There were parts I liked, and Heath Ledger's performance was inspired. But the movie was too long. Actually, I started criticizing the film when it was over, and an usher at the theater informed me it was "the best movie ever made." So, clearly, I was wrong.
If you could have one power, what would it be?
MCNALLY: I'm a little under the weather, so some healing power would be nice.
