How We Became Astounding . . .

No one is born Super (except Superman obviously).

The Incredible Hulk was mild-mannered scientist Bruce Banner until he was blown up by his own Gamma Bomb.

Spider-Man was ninety-pound weakling Peter Parker until he was bitten by a radioactive spider.

Swamp Thing was a botanist. He was trying to find a way to make deserts fertile, but he died and his soul got stuck in a bush.

They didn’t choose to be heroes. They didn’t even want to be heroes. Something weird happened and they became astounding. Maybe they could have gone to hospital to have their astoundingness removed. But no. They chose to use it for Good. That’s what made them heroes.

That’s exactly how it was for us.

When I looked up at the hospital roof, I seemed to see all the weird things that had happened to us, trailing after us like the tail of a comet. My life was flashing past me like the pages of a Spider-Man comic!

And I don’t even like comics! (My dad does but I don’t.)

On the front page of this comic was a picture of me and Tommy-Lee and the words, ‘How We Became Astounding . . . Now read on.’