Tales of the Astonishing Black Spark

Trapped in a dead-end job in his Ohio hometown, watching the girl of his dreams move on to a glamorous new life in a big city—Donald McDougal's aimlessness has held him back for a long time. When a lightning strike grants him superhuman powers, he jumps at his chance to finally be somebody. But the new abilities and the pursuit of superheroic fame come with a price tag, and it may not be one he can afford.

This wry debut is at once a fanboy's homage to the history of superhero storytelling in America and a keen-eyed satire of those same stories, raising questions about race and privilege that are becoming impossible to ignore.

Charlie J. Eskew is an author from Columbus, OH. His novel Tales of the Astonishing Black Spark, winner of the Foreword Indies 2018 Multicultural award, was published by Lanternfish Press. His novella When The Light Lay Still, a prequel to the Judge Dredd universe was published in 2019 by Rebellion Publishing. He is an Assistant Editor of Fiction with BreakBread Literacy Project, an alumni of the VONA writing workshop, and a member of Phi Beta Sigma, Incorporated.