Sunday, July 8, 2012

Authors/illustrators dressed as superheroes

Halloween time machine!

Welcome to the first known gallery of children’s/YA authors and illustrators in superhero costumes (a few got in on a technicality).

This is simply a celebration of the kind of childhood passion that can take you from this...



...to this:


It is also a warm-up for/safe alternative to San Diego Comic-Con, held every July; this year I am doing a presentation, a panel, and a signing. (By default I dress as Bill Finger: button down, pants, receding hairline.)

To all who contributed: Bountiful thanks. I appreciate your time and your gracious spirit. You are already a creative hero to kids. Now kids will see you as a hero in a totally different light/suit.


To authors/illustrators first learning of this now: If you have a qualifying photo, please e-mail it anytime. I will eagerly add it.

And now I hereby present the Justice League of…Authordom!

Peter Brown as Superman
1984
Hopewell, NJ

Lemony Snicket/Daniel Handler as Superman
age 5 or 6
San Francisco

Daniel (the bigger one) and David Kirk as Superman
circa 1957
Columbus, OH

Sarah Darer Littman as Robin
age 22 or 23
New York City
Halloween party during her post-college Wall Street days
Her college roommate was Batman.
Her Robin cape was tablecloth.

Bruce Hale as Tarzan
age 9 or 10
Palos Verdes, CA

Tom Angleberger as Superman’s delicious foe the Boxing Hot Dog

Chris Barton as Batman (center)
age 4
Dallas Zoo
The boy on the right is wearing the pants to a different Batman costume.

Adam Rex as Darth Vader
1980
Phoenix, AZ

Meghan McCarthy as Spider-Man (Spider-Face?)

Alan Gratz as Starman
2002
Dragon*Con
Atlanta

Ralph Cosentino as (almost) the Green Hornet

Andrea Beaty as Superman
Taken in Metropolis…Illinois.

Amy S. Hansen (and family) as Mrs. and Mr. Kent and baby Kal-El (Superman)
1998
Seabrook, MD

Michelle Knudsen as Princess Leia

Kelly Milner Halls as Robin
1960s

Kirsten W. Larson (right) and her sister, 
both as Wonder Woman
age 6

Matthew Cordell with Spider-Man

The technicalities, original creations, and other exceptions:

Go Wild West, young men. I’m counting the following foursome because some people consider cowboys heroes, and because some superheroes are cowboy-themed, and because these are fantastic photos.

Wendell Minor as Roy Rogers
1949
Aurora, IL

Richard Michelson as Roy Rogers
Brooklyn
“If there has to be a showdown between me and Wendell,
I am ready! (Wendell and I had lunch last week.
Had I known, I’d have insisted we both come in costume.)”


Daniel Kirk as a cowboy

Terry Trueman as a "cowboy meets Tarzan"
1956

Mark Buehner as a knight
(but not the Dark Knight, or the Shining Knight for that matter)

1966
Salt Lake City

Dan Santat


Aaron Reynolds as Ponch from CHiPS and
(yikes) the Incredible Melting Man from ?

Melting Man: age 9, Okinawa, Japan
Ponch: age 10, New Jersey

Katie Davis as SuperSuki
2005

Andrew Douglas and Marc Tyler Nobleman as the Blue Bagel and Lox Lad
1993 (yes, not 1951 as the graininess implies)
Waltham, MA
Note the Blue Bagel’s accessory: mini-bagel projectiles.
Cower at them, criminal scum!

(I was also Superman and Robin multiple times.)

And somewhere out there is also a photo of a young Shana Corey as Wonder Woman, Kevin Hawkes as a cowboy, and Jarrett J. Krosoczka as someone caped, masked, or both. Please demand to see them!

David Ezra Stein did not have a childhood superhero costume photo
but did have something even rarer: childhood superhero drawings.
Not that you will need a key, but here are Tarzan riding an elephant,
Superman, Spider-Man, and Catwoman. This was in Queens at age 5½.

Nora Baskin’s bathroom windowsill

Lisa Yee's American Girl doll Ivy Ling as Batgirl
(plus a geek-approved bonus...can you spot it?)

Excerpted explanations from authors who did not have such a photo (many of which are as funny as any photo would’ve been):

“No superhero pix. The six Scieszka boys went from ghosts and bunny rabbits directly to army men and hobos.”
Jon Scieszka

“Oh, you have no idea how much I wish that I did have such a picture. But, alas, no... (I’m waaaay too old to have had the joy of Underoos.)”
Bruce Coville

“I was a child in China. No superheroes about to influence me. When I came to the States, it was the brink of WWII. We played commandos. We did read comics, but on the sly.”
Katherine Paterson

“Yeah, I kind of had a hard time identifying with Wonder Woman as a kid. I didn’t wear my underwear in public.”
Jenni Holm

“I just couldn’t find one. I knew I had Underoos, but thankfully my parents didn’t take a pic of me in them.”
Jay Asher

“I’ve been scanning my brain for what my old Halloween costumes were. I found one of Harry Potter, but that’s not exactly right. I was more of the witch/cat/boring variety.”
Wendy Mass

“I don’t have any photos of me dressed as a superhero. I never went through a superhero phase and I was the youngest, so there are few photos of me anyway. My parents just showed me baby pictures of my older brothers, ‘Here, you sorta looked like this.’”
Bob Shea

“What a great idea. They didn’t have cameras in my superhero days.”
Roland Smith

“Oh boy, I can’t wait to see what this turns up… (Curse my parents for not saving that Wonder Woman baton-twirling outfit!)”
Jennifer Allison

“I was a skeleton every Halloween. And while I don’t have any superhero pix, [I do have a] recent pic of me with a squirrel mask on. Can you use it?”
Alan Katz

“I don’t have one although I did have a deep and continuing love for Batman and Robin since age 5. And had Batgirl Underoos. No photographic evidence, however. There is also no photographic evidence of me in my Wonder Woman pjs that I currently own and there never will be.”
Lisa Brown

“My parents never took pics when I was sporting my Underoo-superhero look as a kid. But maybe one of these days I should draw it. (Feel free to replace ‘niche’ with ‘nerdy’!)”
Paul Hoppe

“Your email made me very sad for two reasons.
1) I don’t have a photo of myself dressed as a superhero.
2) I don’t think I ever had a superhero costume.

Given the fact that the year I was born I had a book called The Great Comic Book Heroes dedicated to me, you’d think I would have fashioned myself a superhero. I so wish I could partake in this. I could fake it with Photoshop if you’d like.

Great fun project.”
Kate Feiffer

“It’s definitely a cool project. Alas, I have nothing. When you do your spread of unathletic kids reading books, I’ll be much better able to offer something.”
David Lubar

“My ‘name’ when I order a chai at Starbucks is ‘Batman.’ Always gets a great response and sometimes they draw a little bat on the cup and one time they wrote ‘Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-n/a’ on my order. Every time I walk in the door now, they greet me, “Hey, Batman!” and when they announce that Batman’s order is ready, everyone looks up expecting to see a big guy in a cape or at least a geeky comic book guy, and then it’s just little old me and it always gets a smile.”
Karen Gray Ruelle

“I don’t have any such pictures. I wish.”
Tad Hills

“I have no photos of myself as a superhero but if you’re ever needing photos of authors dressed up as clowns, witches, or fat, bald, crying men, I’m your girl!”
Laurie Keller

“Fantastic idea. I went through a long Wonder Woman period, but no photographic evidence exists. The best I could do is me in Star Trek garb, posing with a toy phaser.”
Jennifer Ziegler

“I’ve dressed as a cowboy, hobo, snowman, even a can of green beans (my sister was the Jolly Green Giant), but never a superhero.”
Brad Sneed

“A fun idea but I don’t think I have the goods.”
Brian Floca

“Well don’t I wish.”
Deborah Heiligman

“This is a great idea! I wish I had a photo to contribute but my costumed past is sadly lacking in superherohood. (Does Big Bird count?)”
Julia Sarcone-Roach

“I was never a superhero guy. But I do have this shot on my blog.”
Mike Rex

“The closest I come to superhero is dressing up as ‘Lady Lovely Locks’ and I don’t think she would pass superhero status (her credentials max out at talking with woodland creatures and protecting her tresses from an evil sorceress Duchess Ravenwaves who oddly wants nothing more than to cut Lady’s hair).”
Julia Denos

“I was known to use a bath towel as a cap after Batman was over every day, but I don’t think we have any pictures of it. And we lived out in the country and so I never really got to trick or treat much.”
Michael Spradlin

“I do not have any such photo. I wish I did, though!”
Eric Luper

“This sounds like so much fun! Wish I had a Wonder Woman costume, but I’m not sure it’d suit me anyway.”
Maryann Macdonald

“I am mostly walking around with my head hanging, so sad that I never even thought to act like a superhero, much less photograph myself acting like a superhero.”
Audrey Glassman Vernick

“Oh...I wish I did… I did really want to be included…and believe it or not…you probably don’t know this…but I am Catwoman.”
Nora Baskin

“Somewhere in the great O’Malley photo archive there is a pic of three O’Malleys dressed as Batman [but said archive is in another state].”
Kevin O’Malley

“I’m missing out on the Superhero Me. Have no pictures of any kind. Bummer…”
Loren Long

“I keep my superpowers hidden (to better fight evil).”
Barbara Kerley

“I don’t have any photos dressed as a superhero. I wish I did!”
Dan Yaccarino

“I thought I might be able to locate one of me as Aquaman, but all I have is me wearing an Aquaman tee.”
Phil Bildner

“At age 64, when I was a kid Superman was about the only superhero out there and all of us played him by wrapping a towel around our necks…”
Terry Trueman

“Zoinks! My organizational superpowers have failed me. There was a picture of me at 3 or 4, wearing a blue fleece with a big white star on my chest, and a blue blanket pinned to my shoulders for a cape. I can’t find it and neither can Mom, but what a great idea. Can’t wait to see everyone’s photos!”
Tanya Lee Stone

9 comments:

openbooktheater.com said...

This is brilliant. After the Lit conference in Shenandoah I was struck by the consistency of this concept. Also found it intriguing to discover what childhood chatskis are displayed in the author/Iluustrators studio. Perhaps that could be a future thread?! Have you seen this link for what various authors like to eat and drink while they write? http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/07/31/books/review/macnaughton.html

Marc Tyler Nobleman said...

Thanks openbooktheater!

Lisa Yee said...

Love these!

Anonymous said...

When asked what I was going to be when I grew up, I told people, 'wonder woman'. That's still the plan.

Melissa Manlove

Marc Tyler Nobleman said...

Thanks Lisa! And Melissa, as you see, we are lacking a Wonder Woman so...it's not too late.

eluper said...

Such a fun project!!

Susanna Reich said...

Hilarious! Thanks, Marc.

Unknown said...

Where did Lisa Yee get the doll batman costume?

Marc Tyler Nobleman said...

Clover - Etsy.