About the Story
THE ONGOING ADVENTURES OF STUPENDOUS GIRL!
Introduction – Wherein the Author Plows Through a Large Amount of Expository Material, so as to Negate the Need to do so Later. (If you want to skip this and just dive right into the story, head on over to the Table of Contents.)
What, exactly, is The Ongoing Adventures of Stupendous Girl!? Well, it’s a completely free, regularly updated serial story, written and created entirely by yours truly – John DeWolfe. (Expect updates at least once a week. More news to follow on when to look for the first installment.) At heart, it’s a loving parody of the superhero comic book genre, based around our titular hero, Stupendous Girl! (The exclamation mark is part of her name… you know, for marketing purposes mostly.)
SG! is a fairly typical and broadly drawn hero in terms of her superpowers, and in having a mild-mannered secret identity who somehow can’t be outed by any of the other characters despite wearing no greater disguise than a pair of glasses. You know the type. But she’s different in one respect. As you may know, the superhero comic genre (as much geeky fun as it is) is plagued by being perhaps the most sexist of all types of fiction in our culture. Women in superhero comics are either knockoff versions of established male heroes, damsels in distress, or an excuse for undersexed artists to draw big tits and get paid for it. SG! will not be this type of female superhero. The intent, instead, is to make her a counterpoint to the woeful stereotypes that hamper the genre and keep readership down (not to mention keeping over-the-hill hacks employed. Cough*Frank Miller*Cough). She will be a fully realized character, strong, independent, and central to the action. You know, like a hero… and what a crazy concept that is.
Enough with my high horse, on to the funny stuff! There’s more going on than just SG! and her adventures. Along with the action, you’ll get regular doses of surreal comedy, suspense, and metafiction. There’s a reason I put “no fourth wall” in the URL here, people. We’re going to have some fun with the story itself.
On to the setting. The story takes place in the fictional Atlantic Canadian city of Port Manteau (provincial capital of New Normandy), more specifically at the clothing company where SG!’s alter ego works. Henderson Apparel first came to international fashion prominence in 1987, when they designed the “must have” accessory of the year – the disbelief suspenders. Business has been down since then, and Henderson has fallen to the middle of the industry pack. Given that this is the company that invented the disbelief suspenders, corporate HQ is not a normal place. Most of the senior management/supporting characters are, in fact, major figures from history, literature, or myth. For some reason, these modernized versions of Western cultural icons retain most of the characteristics and memories of their original incarnations, yet they live (relatively) ordinary lives in the here and now. Don’t ask me to explain it… just blame it on the disbelief suspenders.
I have no idea how many people might be interested in reading this, but I have a lot of fun thinking about it and writing it. So, as long as you’re game, these characters will be here and will have regular adventures. And who are the characters? I thought you’d never ask. Check out the “Dramatis Personae”, and that should tell you what you need to know to get started.
The Ongoing Adventures of Stupendous Girl! 
Hey John,
Remember when Bart broke his leg and wrote that screenplay and didn’t tell Lisa? How could you not tell me about this? You have to produce disbelief suspenders for marketing purposes.
Funny thing is that I’m going to be taking some creative writing classes later this year. I smell collaboration down the road…kind of like when Guy Ritchie and Madonna made that movie that was so good.
I’m calling you tomorrow.