Why?

I am a comic book lover. Period. There is no getting around it, it has been that way since I was a kid and it isn't likely to change anytime soon.

A child changes your perspective on everything. As my wife and I prepared for our first child, a little girl who we were so excited to welcome into our world, I was thrilled by the thought of introducing her to comics. When I visited my local comic store I thought I would just browse around with our daughter in mind- not to buy her anything yet, but rather just try and look through her eyes and what a young girl would like.

I wasn't thrilled with what I found.

Here was this amazing medium that gave me so many heroes and stirred my imagination so many ways for my whole life and I could practically count on one hand how many female leads there were. That's female leads that aren't in comics for mature readers. The ones I did find were largely independent comics and you better believe I'll introduce my daughter to them... But I also thought that there still were not enough.

So I decided to make some.

Which brings me to Extra Heroes Kids, which I quickly decided to branch off of my own Extra Heroes project and create in honor of my daughter. It will begin with children's stories based on four strong female characters as told through the eyes of four different young girls. I hope to have sketches and art added as we go to ultimately create a set of online children's books for any age or gender to enjoy.

So welcome to the product of my hang-up! I hope you find something you like, but more than anything I hope this adds to what is already out there and drives more kids to comics and more creators to creating great roles for female heroes.

Dean Browell
February, 2004