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  • The Redsaw Origin and How I Write Supervillains

    The Redsaw Origin and How I Write Supervillains

    Redsaw Origin Write Supervillains

    Note: This post on how I write supervillains was originally published on Jeffrey Allen Davis’s blog

    Disclaimer: The following article is meant for those who have read some or all of The Axiom-man Saga. If you have not read the series, please stop now and consider checking out the series first as this article contains spoilers, namely Redsaw’s secret identity, which is part of the mystery of the first book.

    Like Axiom-man, Redsaw has something of a muddled past. I’m talking about his real life origin, not his story one. However, Redsaw didn’t really come together until writing Axiom-man. Until that point, he was more an idea that never materialized in the mental fantasy I had going which eventually birthed The Axiom-man Saga we know today. All I knew about my overall fantasy was there were two cosmic beings at war. One that represented Good (known as the messenger in the saga), and one that represented Evil (known as the master). How these cosmic beings work is they each have champions on multiple planets throughout the universe, one guy stepping forward for them and duking it out on these planets while these two cosmic beings fight it out elsewhere. Usually, the messenger only puts his man in place once the master strikes an unsuspecting world. On Earth, the messenger’s champion is Axiom-man so, you guessed it, the master’s main man is Redsaw. What’s interesting to note is Axiom-man was put in place shortly before Redsaw’s arrival, a pre-emptive move on the messenger’s part and for reasons revealed in the series.

    Redsaw is the main supervillain of The Axiom-man Saga.

    That should bring you enough up to speed on who’s who in my superhero universe.

    When it came to creating Redsaw, other than knowing he had to be the bad guy, he needed to be more than just the bad guy. The first thing I decided was it was imperative he was more powerful than Axiom-man, first and foremost in his superpowers—which are similar but stronger—and secondly as his human alter ego.

    In costume, Redsaw can fly twice as fast, is twice as strong, and the energy beams he shoots from his hands do twice the damage.

    Out of costume, Oscar Owen is rich, well-known, and utterly confident, whereas Gabriel Garrison (Axiom-man) struggles with money, is a nobody, and has self-esteem issues.

    But that’s just the superficial stuff.

    Even the name “Redsaw” is superficial in that I needed a cool name for a villain and “red” typically represents evil and “saw” was named after a sawblade, a dangerous weapon if used to kill somebody. The jagged lines on Redsaw’s red and black costume represent his own jaggedness and danger—again, the sawblade thing.

    Going deeper, however, I didn’t want a bad guy who was the bad guy simply because he was the bad guy. In other words, I didn’t want a bad guy being bad for bad’s sake. There needed to be a reason, and the best reason for any villain in literature or film is the one that says they’re the bad guy because they don’t have any other choice. They have a strong motive that turned them down a dark path. A classic example is Darth Vader. He joined the dark side to save Padme. The dark side consumed him and we all know the rest of the story.

    Oscar Owen was chosen by the master because Oscar drove himself hard to rise from poverty and become a somebody and tried to be a good guy with his powerful position. Once joined with the black cloud that gave him his superpowers, even then, he strove to be a hero like Axiom-man. He just didn’t know joining with the black cloud came at a cost and the black cloud transformed him into someone he wasn’t: the reluctant villain. The villain you and I can relate to. The one that, if you or I were put in their shoes, would do what they do no matter how dark or despicable because, from their point-of-view, they’re doing the right thing even if the cause is evil.

    That’s the kind of main villain I was after for Axiom-man: someone like him. Someone who strove to do what they perceived was the right thing. Unfortunately, for Redsaw, his “right thing” is the wrong thing, but thankfully we have Axiom-man there to stop him.

    Regarding other supervillains I’ve created—Char, Bleaken, Battle Bruiser, and Lady Fire—they all have something in common and it all goes back to what I did with Redsaw: they’re more powerful than the hero. It might be their powers, it might be their intellect, but either way, my villains always have a leg up on Axiom-man so they’re a challenge to fight. It’s the only way to create true conflict in the novels otherwise, if they were weaker, Axiom-man would stomp them into the ground every time and the story would be over in a few pages. Sure, it’s fun to have a few purely-human bad guys for Axiom-man to quickly dispose of, but when it comes to his superpowered rogues gallery, I needed my bad guys to be stronger than the hero and make him really dig deep whether physically or mentally to put the villains away for good. And even then . . . they might not always stay put, but for what I mean by that, you’ll have to check out the books and see for yourself.

    A supervillain—breaking down the word—sure, the “villain” part is easy. It’s the “super” part that’s hard because that goes beyond their powers. They need to be above average in who they are as a person. They need to be motivated by something beyond what gets us normal people through our day. They need to be motivated by something “super.” It could be a tragedy, a misguidance, even a dark heart birthed out of something beyond their control in years past. There’s no such thing as a person who’s born bad. We all make choices. Some yield Good. Others yield Evil. Others take us down roads filled with both. Throw superpowers into the mix and you have the potential to create a superpowered problem that only a superhero can fight.

    As for Redsaw, well, like Axiom-man, he’s on a journey, too. One that can only lead to one place. As for where or what that is, you’ll just have to read and find out.

    Thanks for tuning in on how I write supervillains.


  • The Axiom-man/Auroraman: Frozen Storm Kickstarter Has Been Launched!

    Axiom-man/Auroraman Kickstarter Page

    The Axiom-man/Auroraman: Frozen Storm Kickstarter has fired off the launch pad and is already off to a crazy phenomenal start. Thank you to everyone who’s pledged support to these two prairie heroes. You’re going to be in for one heck of a ride.

    This Kickstarter supports not only Frozen Storm, but also The Adventures of Auroraman No. 1!

    I co-wrote the mini comic at the back of Auroraman No. 1 that will lead into Frozen Storm, a superhero novel with action and suspense start to finish. Fans of The Axiom-man Saga won’t want to miss out on this adventure.

    It’s been a pleasure working with Jeff Burton on this project and I can’t wait to share with you the story we concocted for Frozen Storm.

    Two superheroes. One icy threat.

    To back the Kickstarter, please go here.

    Thank you so much from Jeff and I in advance for your support.


  • Axiom-man: Tenth Anniversary Special Edition

    Axiom-man Tenth-Year Anniversary Special Edition

    Axiom-man: Tenth Anniversary Special Edition

    One night, Gabriel Garrison was visited by a nameless messenger who bestowed upon him great power, a power intended for good. Once discovering what this power was and what it enabled him to do, Gabriel became Axiom-man, a symbol of hope in a city that had none.

    One night, after a routine patrol, a mysterious black cloud appears over the city. Flying over to investigate it, Axiom-man is stopped short when the cloud’s presence shakes him to the core. An electrifying fear emanates from the cloud, and he can barely get near it. Quickly, the cloud takes flight and leads him on a wild goose chase throughout the city, only to flee from him in the end. Almost immediately after the cloud’s appearance, a new hero arises, Redsaw, clad in a black cape and cowl. The people, now enamored with this new super-powered marvel, seem to have forgotten about Axiom-man and all he’s done for them.

    Except something’s wrong. That same fear that emanated from the cloud drips off Redsaw like a foul smell and Axiom-man can barely get close to him without feeling ill.

    What is Redsaw’s agenda and who is he? And why is it every time Axiom-man gets close to him, it feels as if his powers are being sucked away?

    As if that wasn’t enough, Gabriel’s day job hasn’t gotten any easier. His co-worker and the woman he adores, Valerie Vaughan, has little interest in him, and his boss has made it clear that one more day late to work will be the day he cleans out his desk. Then there’s the new trainee, Gene Nemek. What is his fascination with Redsaw, and why is he never around when Redsaw appears?

    From flying over city streets and soaring at dizzying heights, to balancing a secret identity with destiny, Axiom-man must discover what Redsaw’s presence means and how it ties into the messenger’s life-altering visit before the city—and the world—are enamored with an evil that has haunted the cosmos since the dawn of time.

    This newly-revised special edition includes an introduction by the author, a bonus short story that takes place right after the novel, and the essay, “The Axiom-man Origin and Why I Write Superhero Fiction.”

    Welcome to the Axiom-man: Tenth Anniversary Special Edition.

    Available as a paperback at:

    Amazon.com
    Amazon.ca
    Amazon.co.uk
    Barnes and Noble

    Available as an eBook at:

    Amazon Kindle
    Drivethru Fiction
    Smashwords

    Be sure to check out the Book and Comic Shop for more thrilling superhero adventures!


  • Axiom-man Revision Underway

    axiommandrivethruI’m a great deal through revising the original Axiom-man novel and prepping it for the 10th-anniversary special edition that’s coming out in the fall.

    It’s like going back in time. Not only do I get to revisit the story, but I also get to revisit myself because it was written when I was 25 and still new at this writing game. I was a very different writer back then so my mission with the revision isn’t to do a complete overhaul, but maintain the voice of that 25-year-old while updating the text to match the writer I am now.

    The special edition will not only contain the revised version of the story, but a lot of bonus material, too, which will be revealed at a later date.

    Whether you’re new reader or have been following The Axiom-man Saga since the beginning, this is a book you’ll want to add to your collection once it’s released.


  • The Axiom-man Saga Reading Order (Updated)

    perf5.000x8.000.inddIn light of yesterday’s release of Axiom-man Episode No. 3: Rumblings, below is the updated reading order for the saga. In short, it’s real easy: full-length book, episode, full-length book, episode, etc. While there are a few short stories that take place throughout, the main storyline follows the books.

    Axiom-man
    Episode No. 0: First Night Out
    Doorway of Darkness
    Black Water (short story)
    Episode No. 1: The Dead Land
    There’s Something Rotten Up North (short story in the anthology, Metahumans vs the Undead)
    City of Ruin
    Rite of the Wolf (short story in the anthology, Metahumans vs Werewolves)
    Episode No. 2: Underground Crusade
    Outlaw
    Episode No. 3: Rumblings

    For ordering information, please see the Book and Comic Shop on this site.

    Thanks.


  • Rumblings (The Axiom-man Saga, Episode No. 3)

    Rumblings (The Axiom-man Saga, Episode No. 3)

    Axiom-man Episode No. 3: Rumblings Front Cover

    Axiom-man has been captured and locked inside an enormous electric cage. Within? A small city and residential zone. Who made them or for what purpose, he doesn’t know. One thing is certain, however: he is trapped and at the mercy of those who took him captive.

    The intentions are soon made clear with the appearance of two super-powered beings: the tank-like Battle Bruiser and the playful femme fatale Lady Fire. Soon the battle begins and Axiom-man is forced to survive against those with powers that rival his own. And it seems these two new metahumans are only the beginning. Something is brewing beneath the surface of reality, something sinister that will change the course of history and Axiom-man’s life forever.

    Something is rumbling.

    Available as a paperback at:

    Amazon.com
    Amazon.ca
    Amazon.co.uk
    Barnes and Noble

    Available as an eBook at:

    Amazon Kindle
    Drivethru Fiction
    Smashwords

    More Axiom-man adventures after Rumblings to be had by going here!


  • Metahumans vs Werewolves: A Superhero vs Werewolf Anthology

    Metahumans vs Werewolves: A Superhero vs Werewolf Anthology

    Metahumans vs Werewolves edited by A.P. Fuchs

    The war between Good and Evil has raged since before Time began. Now it’s ultimate power versus ultimate savagery.

    With ferocious fangs, flesh-ripping claws and a feral hunger to destroy anything in their path, werewolves are one of the most feared monsters on the planet.

    Stepping in to stop their quest for blood are the metahumans, men and women with powerful abilities that set them apart from the rest of humanity. Some wear costumes as symbols of hope, others operate discreetly, using their special abilities for good. Put these two groups of people together and you have a clash between light and darkness that is sure to rock the foundation of the world and bring about an epic battle unlike anything seen before.

    Featuring familiar heroes like Axiom-man, Midnight Angel, Nightcat, The Wraith, The Cowl and others, these eleven stories of super-powered heroism and terror are a thrilling ride through the worlds of wolf and superhero, and to a place where only one can remain standing.

    Contains stories by Frank Dirscherl, Lorne Dixon, A.P. Fuchs, Anthony Giangregorio, Keith Gouveia, Jon Klement, J.L. MacDonald, Gina Ranalli, Jim Robb, Stephen Semones and Scott Story.

    Available as a paperback at:

    Amazon.com
    Amazon.ca
    Amazon.co.uk
    Barnes and Noble

    Available as an eBook at:

    Amazon Kindle
    Drivethru Fiction
    Smashwords

    Check out this anthology’s superhero vs werewolf predecessor, Metahumans vs the Undead, by going here.


  • Metahumans vs the Undead: A Superhero vs Zombie Anthology

    Metahumans vs the Undead: A Superhero vs Zombie Anthology

    Metahumans vs the Undead: A Superhero vs Zombie Anthology edited by A.P. Fuchs

    The war between Good and Evil has raged since before Time began.

    Now the battle continues with the Ultimate Good versus the Ultimate Evil.

    Metahumans vs the Undead

    Metahuman: one of the human species endowed with one or more powers beyond that of mortal men; a person who uses those abilities to serve either themselves or society. Typically branded by a codename and colorful costume. AKA Superhero.

    Undead: one of the human species endowed with life even after death; a walking corpse. Typically branded by their decayed form and appetite for human flesh. AKA Zombie.

    In a world where superheroes and zombies collide, only one can prove the victor.

    Featuring indie heroic favorites like Axiom-man, The Wraith and Shadowflame, while also introducing newcomers like Nightcat, Spectrolite, Midnight Angel and more, Metahumans vs the Undead is a terror-filled action adventure where Light and Darkness collide and only one can prevail.

    Contains stories by: Rebecca Besser, Eric S. Brown, Frank Dirscherl, Lorne Dixon, A.P. Fuchs, Anthony Giangregorio, Keith Gouveia, J.L. MacDonald, Joe Martino, Rhiannon Paille, Gina Ranalli and J.B. Robb.

    Available as a paperback at:

    Amazon.com
    Amazon.ca
    Amazon.co.uk
    Barnes and Noble

    Available as an eBook at:

    Amazon Kindle
    Drivethru Fiction
    Smashwords

    Grab the sequel to this superhero vs zombie anthology, Metahumans vs Werewolves, by going here.


  • The Axiom-man Origin and Why I Write Superhero Fiction

    Note: This post was originally published on Jeffrey Allen Davis’s blog

    Axiom-man Display
    The Axiom-man Saga at the C4 Comic Con 2013

    The Axiom-man Origin and Why I Write Superhero Fiction
    by
    A.P. Fuchs

    The Axiom-man Saga is an old story. A couple decades, in fact, as it was around then that I started to daydream about a similar hero while walking my paper route each morning. I’d get so lost in this story about a hero caught in a cosmic war between Good and Evil that I’d be done my route before I knew it and would often run house-to-house to double check and make sure I delivered the paper to the right places.

    In that fantasy, of course, I played the hero. As the story grew and I got older, I ended up transferring the honor of being that character to someone else, a fictitious someone else who would one day go by the name of Gabriel Garrison.

    Axiom-man began to take shape in concept throughout all my years of delivering the paper—and went by a different name, which was featured in my novel, April, written as Peter Fox (for that secret name, you’ll just have to read the book to find out). In 1995, Axiom-man received his new costume, the one he wears today. At the time, Axiom-man—originally called Trinity—and this concept character of mine were two different people. Trinity was more of a supernatural hero ala Spawn and fought demons, whereas my other hero was more down-to-Earth in nature and had very Superman-like powers. Yes, I know: Superman isn’t very down-to-Earth, but he does deal with things on this plane of existence 9 times out of 10. Anyway, as time went on, Trinity became Axiom—who was yet another character at the time—and as even more time went on and after being inspired by the likes of Frank Dirscherl and his Wraith character—who back in 2005 had one novel, a comic and a movie in the works—I decided it was time to put my long-thought-about superhero to paper. I merged my paper route fantasy character with Axiom because I always had an affinity for him, and after doing a quick web search on the Axiom name and finding a company out there with the same name, I went and made it my own by adding “man” to the end of it, hyphenated, of course, because that’s who Axiom-man really is: a self-evident truth embodied in a single person, in his case the self-evident truth of being one to do good rather than evil. From there it was an issue of scaling his powers waaaay back and settling upon three of them: strength, flight and eye beams. And when I say I scaled his powers way back, I mean way, way back. When Axiom-man debuted, he could only lift around 1000 pounds, could fly at about 60 kilometers an hour, and his energy beams only carried so much force. I didn’t want to make him too powerful thus making him always the winner and, because of his great strength, have no choice but to always pit him against ultra powerful foes. My story was to take place in our world under the idea of, “If this happened in our reality tomorrow, how would it most likely play out?” Making him with that kind of power set helped keep him grounded in reality and gave me plenty of options for enemies he could fight to sometimes win and sometimes lose against.

    His backstory and mythology were left unaltered and kept the same as the character I thought about growing up, still the product of a nameless messenger having visited him and granting him his abilities without explanation. As the story goes on, Axiom-man finds out why he received his powers and how he is caught in a cosmic war that has raged since time immemorial.

    The reason Axiom-man made his debut in books rather than comics was because, at the time I brought him to market, I knew of superhero fiction but didn’t think to do it independently. Frank Dirscherl’s The Wraith and Knight Seeker by Eric Cooper showed me otherwise. Axiom-man was originally a comic book character and I even drew a 21- or 22-page comic with him when he was called Trinity back in high school. I still have it somewhere and might publish it one day as a kind of behind-the-scenes thing. Anyway . . .

    By doing superheroes in prose, I was able to work alone, could tell the story exactly how I wanted it, and because I was already self-publishing other fiction at the time, had the system in place to get Axiom-man out there.

    You know, even though Axiom-man was my first official superhero release, I look over my fiction and every book I’ve written is a superhero novel in some way. Take A Red Dark Night, for example. It’s about a summer camp under siege by blood creatures. One of the protagonists, Tarek, is superheroic in nature, wears an otherworldly outfit complete with a cape, and shoots blue fire from a gauntlet on his forearm.

    My epic fantasy book, some quarter million words long, called The Way of the Fog, is about a group of people who get superpowers in a medieval/fantasy-style setting.

    My zombie trilogy, Undead World, deals with the supernatural, time travel, and each character is superheroic in how they act, even archetypical in some cases, with comic book-like good vs evil action.

    Zombie Fight Night—aside from an aged Axiom-man making an appearance in there, is full of comic book characters monster-wise, everything from werewolves to vampires; to robots to pirates; to ninjas to samurai; and beyond, all battling the undead.

    The Metahumans vs anthology series is, obviously, about Metahumans aka superheroes fighting a themed foe throughout each book.

    As mentioned, my love story, April, is about a comic book writer who’s fallen in love, and what does he write? Superhero comics.

    Look, Up on the Screen! The Big Book of Superhero Movie Reviews is about . . . well, I guess I don’t have to explain that one.

    The list goes on.

    I think it’s only fitting that superhero fiction in its truest form—an actual superhero storyline—became a part of my repertoire. It seemed inevitable considering my love for the genre. Ever since I knew what a superhero was—at three years old, I think—I’ve been hooked, and not a day in my life has gone by where I haven’t thought about them, theorized about them, fantasized about them, pretended to be them and more. I even wear Superman and Batman onesies to bed for crying out loud!

    Calling me a geek is an understatement, but I don’t care. Geeks make the world go round and fanboys are the ones providing people with entertainment. Superhero fiction just happens to be my main venue for doing so.

    And where is Axiom-man going from here? Well, thus far, 7 prose books have been released along with a few comics and short stories. The whole saga is planned to be 50 books long, so I’m coming up on being 20 percent finished. The good part is the story is pretty much all mentally written. I had 9 years or so of delivering papers to get the story right, after all.

    What I’m enjoying about the superhero fiction format is I’m able to do things with my characters that comic books don’t allow, at least, current superhero comics don’t allow. I’ve long advocated—and still do—that the comic book is the greatest storytelling medium to ever come down the pike, with books being a close second. Why? Because it’s the one-two punch of pictures combined with narration, whereas prose is a text-only medium. I still believe that, but being that at this stage in my career I’m primarily a writer versus a writer/artist, I’m sticking to books and the book medium is capable of telling superhero stories in a way comics haven’t as yet, namely getting inside a character’s head. Very few comic writers have succeeded in that in the past. Superhero comics are far too picture-heavy these days, with flashy computer coloring jobs, flimsy stories and scant dialogue. I miss the old days where there were almost equal amounts of text and pictures. At least with The Axiom-man Saga as it stands now, I can bring the reader dense characters where every thought and feeling is brought to the fore and, hopefully, pull the reader into the characters’ shoes in a way that superhero comics don’t. That’s my main goal with this: bring the reader in so that they feel they are experiencing my fiction versus just reading it. I’ve yet to read a superhero comic where this has happened. I have, however, read superhero books where this has occurred, Batman: Knightfall by Dennis O’Neil being a major favorite of mine and my first foray into the superhero fiction world.

    What also sets The Axiom-man Saga apart from any of the current superhero offerings is that it’s a cross-medium superhero story that encompasses books, comics and short stories, all part of the same continuity. This has never been done before, and putting new spins on old things is one of the things I’ve always striven for in my fiction, especially in this industry where things are pretty copycat and cookie-cutter (we all know of certain authors that seem to turn out the same book over and over again just under a different title, right?).

    Whether Axiom-man becomes this wild success or remains under the radar, for me it’s about writing the superhero story I always wanted to read, the one I’ve always thought about, and the one that, when my time on Earth is done, is the one I’ll be remembered by. It’s meant to be a career piece, a giant story with a beginning, middle and end, the story of a superhero, his life, and what that means to the world around us.

    I invite you to come along for the ride.

    Hope you enjoyed this little insight into the Axiom-man origin.


  • The Dead Land (The Axiom-man Saga, Episode No. 1)

    Axiom-man: The Dead Land by A.P. Fuchs

    The Dead Land (The Axiom-man Saga, Episode No. 1)

    A young boy goes missing.

    Taken, in the middle of the night.

    No clues. Nothing except the remnants of a black cloud, like the one coughed up from inside the Doorway of Darkness.

    A black cloud that takes Axiom-man to a world not his own.

    A dead world, where a gray and brown sky shrouds an entire city in a miasma of decay.

    The streets are empty. The young boy is nowhere to be found.

    Those he does find . . . are dead.

    And walking.

    Welcome to The Dead Land.

    Available as a paperback at:

    Amazon.com
    Amazon.ca
    Amazon.co.uk
    Barnes and Noble
    Other On-line Retailers

    Available as an eBook at:

    Amazon Kindle
    Drivethru Fiction
    Smashwords

    For more books in this exciting superhero series, please visit the Book and Comic Shop.