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Associated Press
07-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
‘The Real Superheroes of Beverly Hills' Get Glitzy Debut at Comic-Con
- Nation's biggest pop culture event was launchpad for new illustrated novel - LOS ANGELES, Calif., Aug. 6, 2025 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — The glittering facade of Beverly Hills just got a serious makeover in the pages of 'The Real Superheroes of Beverly Hills' illustrated novel. Writer and longtime comic-book scribe Steve Stern ('Zen Intergalactic Ninja') said, 'It's the story of four students at Beverly Hills High who receive some wild powers during a cosmic event at Griffith Observatory, are immediately outed by a tabloid reporter, and then given their own reality TV show.' He added with a smile, 'What could possibly go wrong?' Jim Fletcher, who for years was Creative Director of DC Direct, the collectible merchandise division of DC Comics, teamed up with his daughter Leila to provide the illustrations for the novel. 'We set out to explore what heroism looks like when filtered through the lens of fame, vanity and the age of social media,' Fletcher said. 'The Real Superheroes of Beverly Hills' is published by 1First Books. Publisher Ken F. Levin, who is also an Executive Producer of the Amazon Prime megahit 'The Boys,' said, 'With its unique concept, this illustrated novel is a great new addition to our growing imprint, and it received a highly enthusiastic reception at Comic-Con.' Stern and Fletcher have a long history. The two met decades ago when Fletcher created the packaging art for the 'Zen Intergalactic Ninja' videogames from Konami and action figures from Just Toys, as well as illustrated all of the covers for the 'Zen' series published by Archie Comics. A genre-bending mix of action, humor, and satire that offers a fresh take on the superhero genre, 'The Real Superheroes of Beverly Hills' is also suitably action-packed, with a revenge-seeking psychopath who employs an army of AI-enhanced henchmen to disrupt events at the Beverly Hills Hotel — as well as at Comic-Con itself. Stern, himself a resident of Beverly Hills, said, 'We wanted to really have fun at some of the iconic locations that figure into the book.' What's in the future for 'The Real Superheroes of Beverly Hills'? 'Everyone who got a copy at Comic-Con invariably asked, 'Is this a reality TV show?'' Stern added. 'And my answer was always, 'Hopefully, it will be.' Follow Steve online at: NEWS SOURCE: Author Steve Stern ### MEDIA ONLY CONTACT: (not for publication online or in print) For further information, contact Steve Stern at [email protected] or (818) 731-0827. ### Keywords: Books and Publishing, 1First Books, comic-book scribe Steve Stern, The Real Superheroes of Beverly Hills, Publisher Ken F. Levin, LOS ANGELES, Calif. This press release was issued on behalf of the news source (Author Steve Stern) who is solely responsibile for its accuracy, by Send2Press® Newswire. Information is believed accurate but not guaranteed. Story ID: S2P128287 APNF0325A To view the original version, visit: © 2025 Send2Press® Newswire, a press release distribution service, Calif., USA. RIGHTS GRANTED FOR REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART BY ANY LEGITIMATE MEDIA OUTLET - SUCH AS NEWSPAPER, BROADCAST OR TRADE PERIODICAL. MAY NOT BE USED ON ANY NON-MEDIA WEBSITE PROMOTING PR OR MARKETING SERVICES OR CONTENT DEVELOPMENT. Disclaimer: This press release content was not created by nor issued by the Associated Press (AP). Content below is unrelated to this news story.
Irish Times
09-05-2025
- General
- Irish Times
Book reviews in brief: Moral Formations, A Fool's Kabbalah, Motherland
Moral Formations: Discipline and Religion in the Irish Army, 1922-32 by Daniel Ayiotis (Eastwood Books, €20) Replacing the Irish Republican Army that had fought the War of Independence with a 'National Army' that would defend the nascent Irish Free State encumbered the first government as it confronted the threat and then the reality of the Civil War. Ayiotis, who is director of the Military Archives, draws extensively from the archives, and other sources, to show how the Department of Defence and Army GHQ created a command structure and codes of discipline, while Catholic chaplains demanded chapels in every barracks for Masses, retreats and sodalities, and the Medical Corps sought to ensure sanitation and hygiene while fighting 'the twin vices of drink and venereal disease'. Ray Burke A Fool's Kabbalah by Steve Stern (Melville House, £16.99) A Fool's Kabbalah unfolds as a dual narrative set against the wreckage of postwar Europe, where wit becomes not only a refuge but a form of resistance. With precision and dark lyricism, Stern crafts a meditation on survival, grief, memory, and the strange absurdity of history. Gershom Scholem, a renowned scholar of Jewish mysticism, sets out to salvage Jewish texts destroyed by the Nazis, while Menke, a shtetl trickster, faces a very different fate. The novel moves between biting irony and aching sorrow, its language crackling with echoes of Kafka and Beckett. Stern's prose is elegant and richly imaginative, balancing pathos with philosophical insight. He doesn't offer easy solace – only a raw, unflinching reckoning with history's weight. A beautifully crafted novel of intelligence, compassion, and surprising moral grace. Adam Wyeth READ MORE Motherland: A Journey through 500,000 Years of African Culture and Identity by Luke Pepera (W&N, £22) Pepera has set himself an ambitious task in journeying through the history of a people that 'extend[s] all the way back to the beginning of our species'. 'Journey' is the appropriate word, as the author focuses on sharing the essence rather than penning a comprehensive history which, he muses, would take several lifetimes given the 'continent's vastness and the sheer immensity of varied peoples who have lived there'. In order to do so, Pepera reaches beyond the lens of colonialism and the Transatlantic Slave Trade - which occupy a culturally important but rather brief part of the continent's history - focusing rather on topics ranging from ancestral veneration to matriarchal societies, oral storytelling and its influence on modern-day rap music, and how the dead live on in African societies. An informative, enlightening read. Brigid O'Dea
