Wolk said, "Superhero comics are stories about our world made much bigger than life, and turned into this enormous, endless ongoing soap opera." That became the title of the book he wrote about the experience. Marvel Brain (a.k.a, one of the few people on Planet Earth to read "all of the Marvels"). It was at this point that Wolk started to transform from Mild Mannered Portland Writer to Dr. "But I started thinking, What would it actually look like to read these half million pages of comics, to read the 27,000 superhero comics that Marvel had published since 1961?" They found themselves jumping around from comic to comic, devouring page after page, issue after issue. "There's lots of weird and boring and arcane and confusing parts, and there are beautiful and magical and fascinating parts." "You just have to find a way in and wander around inside it," Wolk said. Douglas Wolk and his son embarked on a Marvel-ous adventure. So, they set out on a father-and-son adventure, tackling a seemingly impossible challenge. "Not just a continuous story going on for six decades, but the continuous story going on in many, many threads at once that can cross each other at any time." "All of those events are its history, its past, what it can draw on for this perpetually-evolving story," said Wolk. Wolk, a Marvel expert, patiently explained to correspondent Luke Burbank (a non-comic-book person) that Marvel might be the longest-running and most voluminous story told in human history … and it's all connected, meaning if The Hulk stubbed his toe back in 1979, Captain America could be dealing with the consequences in 2022. "Stories that happened in 1961 or 1962 have consequences in comics that are coming out this week." "It all happens in the same setting," he said. The Marvel Universe, says writer Douglas Wolk, contains the biggest story that has ever been told. If you discover a writer whose work you really enjoy and admire, head over to their profile and click ‘Follow’ to keep up to date with their newest writing.Since the Dawn of Time (technically, the 1960s, to be precise), a tale has been building: a single connected narrative involving thousands of characters, and millions of pages of comics. On this page, you can read fiction short stories for free! These are stories that have been submitted to Reedsy’s weekly writing contest, with shortlisted or winning stories chosen by our judges appearing at the top of the page for your convenience. Looking for fiction short stories to read? From literary fiction (the likes of which you’ll see published in The New Yorker), to crime, fantasy, and romance stories, the form is remarkable for its versatility and adaptability.
Short fiction stories span every imaginable genre. The later 20th century brought the increasing popularity of the short story as an artistic and literary undertaking. Later, with the onset of modernism in the beginning of the 20th century, the fiction short story began to adopt more abstract forms, embracing ambiguity and inconclusivity. The short story as we know it today began in the 19th century, when the increasing interest in print literary magazines led to many authors like Arthur Conan Doyle and Charles Dickens writing and publishing stories. Short fiction stories are a fantastic way to access the literary world in compact, bite-sized reading sessions. 2 … 1250 Next › Last » The Best Fiction Short Stories