Inspiration Friday!

Inspiration Friday. Every Friday I find a topic and give three things from that topic that inspire me. This is not a favorites list necessarily, though they are some of my favorite things. This weeks topic is Comic Characters.

Well anyone that knows me in person and a few that know me through the interenets, knows I am huge comic fan and also a huge Superman fan. Since it is one week until Man of Steel I figured I'd go full on nerd and talk about the comic characters that inspire me as a writer. Also because I couldn't sleep last night I decided to go ahead and draw all of the pictures for this post, got to love insomnia. 

Since it is no surprise we might as well go with the obvious, SUPERMAN. It is funny as a writer I try to find anything that has to do with writing advice I can. It has become quite common to see people using advice that sounds something like, "Things not to do when creating your hero, be nothing like Superman." Now I know what they mean is on paper(ha comic pun...sorry) Superman just seems too powerful for any kind of good story telling. I agree, limitations are always better for a story than how powerful someone is. Still one of the cool things about being a fan of his comics is I get to see that a good writer can always work with anything to tell a great story. It is something that takes some amount of skill, but overcoming the fact that your hero is supposed to be invincible can make for some really cool ideas. I would be remiss if I left this post and didn't point out what actually makes Supes great. He is the guy that will be wracked with kryptonite and still find the strength to push the kid out of the way of the speeding truck. Will, having been made to believe a villain has killed Lois, still turn that person in to face justice instead of taking it into his own hands. He has at times had to use intelligence to solve what his fist could not and his compassion to show the world a better way. He to me is the definition of hero and he inspires me.

Next we have Colossus from X-men. People love Wolverine and I get it he is a tough guy who is an anti-hero and happens to be played by Hugh Jackman. Even before that he was the one guy in the X-men people wanted to read about. For me though Piotr Nikolaievitch Rasputin (Colossus) always caught my attention. To me he is the most underplayed character in the whole series of books. First of all lets talk about the cool factor. He can turn his entire body to organic steel, he can lift upwards of 70 tons and while in metal form doesn't need to eat or sleep and can take damage to rival other big hitters. Of course beside being cool, this is not what inspires me about this character. Piotr is an artist, he actually paints. He is someone who falls in love easily and can be hurt emotionally where his powers keep him safe from other forms of damage. I like the idea of this giant indestructible "Tin Man" having such a  big heart and gentle soul. It really makes me think of a character before I write them and wonder what is behind all of the amazing things I want this person to do. Here is to hoping Marvel wakes up and sees the potential this guy has.

Last we have Deadpool. So this character is a foul mouthed mercenary with one liners that make Spider-man seem like he took a vow of silence. He is in love with Bea Arthur from Golden Girls and is fond of breaking the forth wall. How could this silly characters among silly reading material inspire a novelist you say? Humor my dear friends humor. I crack up reading this guys comic because it takes the things that comics and comic fans take quite seriously and just plain makes fun of them. There are many staples in writing, especially in fantasy. I have found that sometimes taking these serious but sometimes over used themes and giving them a humorous twist can be just what a story needs. Beside my mom taught me early on if you can't laugh at life it is going to be a long hard road.

Anyway these are some thing that inspire me. What about you? Have any of read a Comic Book? As always have fun and keep reading.