Saving the Day Pretty Regularly

Posted on November 11, 2007 by Stephen Piccarella

The day I became a superhero was July 11th, 2007, the day I came to my first workshop at 826NYC. Since then, I've been fighting crime and saving the day pretty regularly. I'm sure you've seen me in the papers under headlines like, "CRIME FOUGHT!" or, "DAY SAVED!" I don't have my own series of comic books yet, because I've only been on the scene for a few months, but I've appeared in comics alongside my close friends Daredevil and Dr. Strange several times. Daredevil's a nice guy. He's lived through some rough stuff, so he's not all there all the time, but he's good company. I think he makes appearances here once in a while. If you're reading this, look into it. He's somebody you should meet, no matter who you are. I don't know about Strange, though. Dr. Strange is a really crazy dude. I mean really crazy.

Anyway, I'm sure you're not interested in reading my braggadocious accounts of my glamorous everyday life. Well, I'm not sure. You might be. But I'm going to assume that what's more interesting than that is the story of how I struggled to get where I am today. It began, as I said, on July 11th, when I began my training. That was the day I became a superhero, but at that point I was only technically a superhero in training. Fighting crime and saving the day don't just come to you naturally. Unless you're Superman. But Superman's a special case. I'm not as naturally inclined. I had to hone my talents. I underwent a rigorous "Boot Camp" program that left no time for dawdling or slacking off. Armed with little more than a pen, I was immediately required to attempt to fight both fiction and non-fiction crimes. My style and execution were criticized by experts in the field who pulled no punches. It wasn't easy.

However, the experience was rewarding, and soon, a magazine will be published called First Magazine, which will contain two accounts of instances of my fighting crime with skill and efficiency.

I'm now a full-fledged superhero with a license to fight crime daily. It's awesome.

Translation: My name is Stephen Piccarella. I came to 826 a couple of months ago to work on a literary magazine and thought it was a really cool place. Now I volunteer here. It's a lot of fun. I hang out in the basement, tutor kids, put up flyers, handle office work, and enjoy the literary atmosphere. And also fight crime. For real. Sometimes.

I encourage anyone reading this to follow in my footsteps and traverse the path to superheroism. We even have a "Become A Superhero" class coming up. I just put up flyers for it. Try it out.