But not all the Heroes are from four-color cartoons from the 40's or Disney/Warner blockbuster films, thank God. There are lots and lots of independent storytellers, giving us the worlds they want to live in.
Tom Reynolds is one of these authors. And he's given us Meta.
Welcome to Bay View City!
It's an ordinary world, just like ours. Then in the early 2000's something happened, that changed everything. Something other than what changed our world in September of 2001. Tons of curious metal objects fell from the sky and scattered all over the world.
These objects were Meta bands: Bracers that give their wearers unique super powers, known as Meta Powers. Their catch was, that they bind with the wearers DNA, so no-one else can wear them, once they're on. Naturally, in a small amount of time the world was filled with heroes and villains with God-like powers. In a matter of days, the world was beyond recognition.
What we previously saw only in movies we could now see by tuning on the news. Meta Heroes, such as The Governor emerged and showed us the way of righteousness. Unfortunately, as new Heroes emerged, so did villains. Men and women, as colorful, as their adversaries, appeared. Some to gain money or power, some just to cause mayhem. Then came Jones.
The man, who looked as bland as his name was worst of them all. Nobody knew where he came from or what he wanted. Only thing clear was that he was a nightmare come true. He never spoke a word, but created chaos and death where ever he went. It was normal for supervillains to wear colorful and eccentric "uniforms", just as with superheroes. That made Jones even more terrifying: An ordinary man in a business suit, that was as bland as his name. And was more destructive than an atom bomb.
Eventually The Governor defeated Jones, though it took his own life in the process. After him, everyone named Jones rushed to change their names, so they wouldn't be associated with him. The name became just as popular as the name Hitler.
That wasn't the only thing that happened. It also shut down all the Meta bands on earth until...
The Second Wave
This is where Tom Reynolds's books begin. Ten years after the battle between Governor and Jones. It's a time of hard earned peace. But also of pain and sorrow. The battle took its toll on everyone. Countless lives were lost.
Two of these were the parents of Connor Connolly. The tragedy didn't only turn him an orphan. It also made his 19-year-old brother Derrick Connor's unwilling Guardian. Connor is an unmotivated college student and Derrick is an unsuccesful blogger with obsession on all things Meta.
This all changes, when another wave of Meta bands hit the earth. Connor is the first one to find his own bands, which will change his life completely. Trying them on gives Connor all the powers of Superman: He can fly, he becomes invoulnerable, he can see through Walls. He can even teleport. All of these powers are typical with Meta people, but very rare together.
With all these powers, Connor takes his superhero identity. Omni is born.
Like all the teenage superheroes, Connor's life seems to become better at first. Connor's dream girl takes interested in him. His brother becomes rich with his Meta knowledge, that was earlier just a weird nerd thing. But nothing good lasts forever. As Peter Parker's Uncle Ben said: With great power comes great... Headaches.
As tons of new Meta bands fall from the sky, the world fills with super powers, once again. And, once again, Meta bands work the same for the good, the bad and the ugly. It goes without staying, that Connor, who just happens to be one of the most powerful Meta, has his hands full of problems. As if being a teenager wasn’t hard enough.
The momentum builds
Tom Reynolds's Meta series has advanced in its fifth part, The New Empire. To me, it's a refreshing take on the YA genre and got me addicted from the first chapter of the first book.
Although many scifi elements are a bit out of my alley, Meta has been surprisingly inspiring to me. As I'm getting on final stages in my own novel, Shadow of The Vigil, which is very down-to-earth and superpowerless, but dark, take on the genre, it feels good to fly for a change.
I'm so looking forward to The New Empire, which I've already pre-ordered. Make sure you get the whole series now that it's on sale!
Be sure to Put on your Meta bands, and we'll see you on the pages of history!
Check out Tom Reynold's author page here. Be sure to check In next Sunday, when I'll be interviewing Tom. I'm definitely looking forward to that!
-Alex
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