We all have a story. Not just a collection of experiences or events, but a specific moment in our past that set into motion who we are today. Perhaps you could say my origin story was the day my father took me outside, shovel in hand, and led me to my first burial. It was humid outside. Several yards away a caravan of black cars pulled up beside a freshly dug plot. Men and women with pale, worn, tear-streaked faces surrounded a coffin. A priest said words. People nodded. A child cried, an anguished pained cry and my father told me to snap out of it…to dig. That another plot needed to be prepared. There would always be another plot to prepare. The dirt stained my fingernails and that black stain has never washed away.

Comic book heroes and villains have origin stories as famous as their superpowers. Also known as a pourquoi story, the origin story is a narrative that explains why something is the way it is. Many myths, legends and folk tales have famous origin stories, such as ones that explain the origin of the universe, why snakes have no legs, why the raven is a black bird, or why a tiger has stripes. Many cultures have various origin stories. Continue reading “The Origin Story” »