Rage against the superhero

Comic book writer John Arcudi hates superheroes. Always has. Always will.

A strange admission for the creator of one of the year's most critically acclaimed superhero graphic novels, a god somewhere (WildStorm, $24.99).

"I was never really interested in superhero comics when I was a kid," says the Philadelphia author in an eyebrow-raising statement.

"To me, the whole idea of superhuman beings is so ridiculous. . . . I find them absolutely impossible to understand."

Is the guy dense?

Sure, Superman, Aquaman, Wolverine, and Spider-Man make perfect sense to 10-year-olds, concedes Arcudi, sipping an iced herbal tea at his neighborhood cafe off Rittenhouse Square.

Slim, compact, and bespectacled, Arcudi, who sports a shaved head (it's a summer thing, he says), is an intensely private person who is loathe to discuss his family or personal life. Or even his age. (He's in his 40s.)

Usually unassuming, even self-deprecating, the Columbia University graduate has energetic bursts of passion whenever the conversation touches on his work or his varied interests in literature and philosophy.

He presses on with his dissection of superheroes. Think closely about the idea of a superhero, he says, "really think about who they are and what they do," and you'll be steeped in a whole stew of paradoxes and philosophical noodle-twisters.

How could anyone understand how a super-being thinks? he asks. How could you explain his motives?

He breaks off, then adds with a grin, "Why does Superman expend so much energy on Lois Lane? If you are saving the world, then it would seem unlikely that you'd be wrapped up in dating problems."

DC Comics writer and editor Peter Tomasi, who edited Arcudi's novel, laughs when asked about his friend's superhero allergy.

"That's John! He hates them, but he's been writing them for 20 years," he says from his New York office. "[Arcudi] is a very literary-minded person, and because of that, he brings a fresh perspective" to the genre.

Illustrated by Danish artists Peter Snejbjerg and Bjarne Hansen, a god somewhere is a complex, multilayered, and extremely violent look at what might happen if a regular guy woke up one day with superpowers.

It tells the story of Eric, an easygoing surfer dude from Los Angeles who believes he has been blessed - and chosen - by God when he suddenly acquires Superman-level powers.

Eric reacts by acting the hero - he saves victims caught in a fire and helps cops apprehend violent criminals. But as the story progresses, he becomes increasingly unable to relate to other people and turns into an apparently irrational, destructive, and murderous force.

"There are no original stories anymore in superhero comics," says Tomasi, who has worked with Arcudi for 15 years. "[Yet] John has created a special book . . . that deals with a lot of iconic themes, but turns them on its ear." Adds Tomasi, "I would say it's his magnum opus."

Joey Esposito, comics editor for the pop-culture website Crave Online, points out that the novel isn't so much about Eric as about the people around him who are alienated by his power, including his brother Hugh and his best friend, Sam, who narrates the story.

"The superhero aspect is almost irrelevant. [Arcudi] uses it to look at how we think of ourselves, our society and culture," says Esposito.

Mark Miller, comics editor for online entertainment magazine Ain't It Cool News, notes that Arcudi uses the superhero trope to explore how our culture defines heroism.

"[Eric] is a good guy, a guy whose motives you think you can understand. But his power corrupts him," says Miller, who sums up the book as a warning that "humans aren't meant to handle that kind of power."

Arcudi, who grew up in Genoa, Italy, and Buffalo, N.Y., moved to Philly in 1997. He is perhaps best known by comic fans for his work on Mike Mignola's Hellboy spin-off, B.P.R.D.

Mignola calls a god somewhere "a breath of fresh air" and praises Arcudi's talent for creating three-dimensional, fully human characters.

"I kind of throw thunderbolts and blow up the planet and do these kind of big wreckage things, and John deals with how that actually impacts characters," he says. "It truly elevates our collaboration."

Movie fans may know Arcudi - indirectly, at least - for cocreating "The Mask" comic book, with artist Doug Mahnke.

"Yep, that's [the basis for] the movie that kick-started Jim Carrey's career," Arcudi says, referring to the comedian's 1994 big-screen hit. "Never got a check from Jim."

But checks have been coming - from Marvel DC and other publishers - says Arcudi, who counts himself lucky for being able for two decades to make a living off his writing.

It's ironic, he adds, since comics were furthest from his mind for most of his youth.

"I wanted to become a zoologist when I went to college," he says, "but I quickly discovered you have to know science for that."

After trying his hand at short stories while eking out a living in New York as a freelance writer and news archivist, Arcudi got his first assignment for an illustrated story in Savage Tales magazine.

It was a crime story that turned "on the idea that a Browning semiautomatic pistol carries 13 bullets vs. the standard Army .45, which has seven," Arcudi remembers fondly. "I called it, 'This Round's on You.' "

It wasn't long before the bane - and boon - of Arcudi's existence reared its head: superhero stories, which always are in demand. Never one to compromise on his superhero antipathy, Arcudi took out his philosophical rage against the superhero by creating the satirical comic book series Major Bummer, which has the tagline, "The First Inaction Hero."

He says he has been working on a more serious dissertation on the genre for close to a decade. Its publication is a dream come true.

"This is what I have been waiting to write all my life," he says of a god somewhere.

Not surprising, the inspiration for the story didn't come so much from other comic books or comic masters such as Stan Lee or Alan Moore, but from theological masters St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, and (anti-theologian) Friedrich Nietzsche.

Loosely based on the story of King Saul in the Hebrew Bible, a god somewhere raises questions about heroism, social responsibility, even the nature of God.

"I always wonder why we act as if gifted people are somehow better than the rest of humanity and how they are supposed to be role models," says Arcudi. "Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, Alex Rodriguez are heroes? It's not as if they've pulled people out of a burning building."

Arcudi's novel also raises questions about the nature of otherness. He says he is fascinated by ways we relate to different races, nationalities, species - or to the divine.

"The idea of religion has always sort of challenged me, and the idea of God has challenged me even more," says the self-described atheist.

Eric, he says, is an example of a person who becomes so totally different, so other, that he's labeled a monster. "So he begins acting like one. . . . In his mind, he's a god because he can do anything and have anything he desires."

So, does power invariably corrupt? Is Eric, who has always been a good man, doomed to become a killer and a madman the moment he becomes a superhero?

Arcudi suggests that power can't but be destructive - no matter who wields it, wise man or fool. But, as his longtime friend and collaborator Ryan Sook says, "John wisely keeps those questions unanswered."

Sook believes Arcudi has a feel for religion, even though he may not believe its tenets. And a talent for creating exciting, yet sobering stories.

"Rather than escape reality into the fantastical, like so many comic book writers and filmmakers, [Arcudi] brings the fantastical into the real. [His book] isn't escapist entertainment, but all about the inner search."

Arcudi is already at work on his next book, "a story about life in an inner-city neighborhood."

He won't divulge the plot or themes, except to promise that it will be "totally human. It'll have no superheroes at all."