The Cuckoo Cage

The superhero of comic books and blockbuster movies might be a State-side phenomenon, with its conservative notions of 'truth, justice and the American way'. But the cultural DNA of the superhero arguably lies in a much older, more progressive, British tradition: the folk heroes of British protest history. Hailing from a time when protestors fought against the injustices of the privileged classes using shared pseudonymss, the British protest hero had just as super powers as their American descendents: Captain Pouch, leader of the 1607 Midlands Revolt, had his bag of magical protections; Captain Swing had the power to cause fires without being anywhere near the scene of the arson. In this unique experiment, a group of authors have been charged with resurrecting this tradition: to spawn a new generation of British superheroes to bring the fight back to these shores, and to more progressive causes.