[Apex Magazine 86] • Apex Magazine Issue 86

Perhaps the first thing you noticed about this issue was the striking cover art by Sunny Ray. It’s an evocative image, a young child reaching upward, painting the sky. The perfect image to set the mood for this month’s content.

Jennifer Giesbrecht’s “Lazarus and the Amazing Kid Phoenix” is a superhero tale in the classic Apex Magazine style. The Amazing Kid Phoenix has a tragic origin story (perhaps horrifying is a better description) that culminates with a fast and breathtaking conclusion. In “Starpower” by Christopher Shultz the protagonist discovers a superpower that will remind you of a punk rock version of Garth Ennis’s classic comic Preacher. I’m thrilled to be able to say C.S.E. Cooney returns to our pages with “The Big Bah-Ha.” I can’t even begin to describe this one, so I’ll let the author do it:

“The Big Bah-Ha is a post-apocalyptic katabasis story, complete with kiddie gangs, slingshot battles, strange clowns, Tall Ones, and one very dead (very brave) child protagonist.”

She had me at “strange clowns.”

Our poetry editor Bianca Spriggs has chosen the following for us this month: “Canal of Mars” by David Jibson, “La Llorona” by Rodney Gomez, “Earth, Hearing Her Children Cry Out” by Jon Olsen, and “Knights of the Smooth Hull” by Chris Phillips.

Andrea Johnson interviews Jennifer Giesbrecht about this month’s featured story. Russell Dickerson interviews cover artist Sunny Ray.

Michael A. Burstein rounds out our nonfiction selection with a discussion with Andrew Fazekas about his new book from National Geographic (yes, that National Geographic) titled Star Trek: The Official Guide to Our Universe: The True Science Behind the Starship Voyages. Fazekas has drawn acclaim as the “Night Sky Guy” through his work with National Geographic.