GLASSES ARE KEY TO ANY SECRET IDENTITY. Eau Claire writer Adam Oster is
penning a superhero saga.

The Chippewa Valley never seems to be short on talent.  The region is practically a breeding ground for musicians and artists, and it also plays host to a number of fantastic authors.  One of those aforementioned scribes who is sure to be a large blip on the local literary radar soon is Adam Oster, an author with a couple of unique projects in the works.

"The book takes on the many tropes of the comic book genre and turns them on their head." – Eau Claire writer Adam Oster on The Legend of Buddy Hero

Oster, who has called Eau Claire home for the past 17 years, has a deep fascination with and passion for comic books and superheroes in general; one only needs to read a recent blog post of his to know where his loyalties truly lie. This passion for superheroes has translated into The Defenders Saga, a collection of short stories and novels that Oster has been plugging away at.  The central character in the series is Buddy Jackson, whom Oster refers to as “an everyman, in that he’s lost his way.”  

The series begins with The Legend of Buddy Hero and introduces the main character as a washed-up has-been who spends the majority of his time alternately nursing liquor and hangovers. When Buddy’s city is ravaged by a series of natural disasters and a bizarre monster, he slowly begins to realize that he was once the world’s greatest superhero and sets out on a quest to retrieve his stolen past.  

“The book takes on the many tropes of the comic book genre and turns them on their head,” says Oster.  “It takes many aspects we’re all familiar with from superhero stories, whether told in comic books, films, or whatever, but it takes them a step further and tells an entirely new story about what it really takes to be a hero.”

The Legend of Buddy Hero is currently available electronically through Amazon.com, and Oster is in the final stages of creating a paperback edition.  He’s also working on a sequel, tentatively titled The Rise of the Fat Mogul, which picks up several months after the end of the first novel.  Buddy and his band of superheroes, collectively referred to as The New Defenders of America, are still central to the plot, but Oster is shifting his focus towards the history of the superhero world that he’s created.  The Rise of the Fat Mogul is still in its infancy, but a winter release is Oster’s target for the book.  In the meantime, Oster is gearing up for the release of The Agora Files, the first book in an unrelated series for young adults set to drop sometime in August of this year.

Make sure to check out The Legend of Buddy Hero on Amazon and be on the lookout for The Rise of the Fat Mogul.  

More information about the multiple endeavors of Adam Oster can be found on his website, www.fatmogul.com.