Introducing Marv: Q&A with Alex Falase-Koya

February 2nd 2022

New beginner reading superhero series, Marv, by debut author Alex Falase-Koya, and illustrated by Paula Bowles, is out this week. Aimed at readers aged five plus, the series will follow the thrilling adventures of a young superhero as he discovers the infinite powers of his new superhero identity. Alex tells us more.

Who were your favourite superheroes growing up?

So, I think when I was a child it was Spiderman. I have, like, a million photos of me wearing a Spiderman costume. My mum always says that I used to practically live in that costume so that was a big one for me. I don't really know how I got so into Spiderman (because I don't really remember anything from when I was like 5), we didn't have any movies about him, so I'm guessing that it must have been the Spiderman animated series. I say that because it came out pretty soon after I was born.

It's funny how media is so closely tied to what you end up liking and being interested in when you're a child. I think my other examples here also speak to that. That's one of the reasons I think that Marv is so important as a series.

As I got a little bit older that changed. I started getting into Static, because of the TV show Static Shock, who was a young black superhero.

Then I remember getting very into Batman for a while as a bunch of those Tim Burton movies came out. I also remember getting quite a few batman comics from my awesome library.

Why is representation so important for young children in beginner reading superhero books and comics?

So, when I was a pre-teen, I loved reading for pleasure and I started writing my own stories for the first time. And when I did, I quickly noticed that all my main characters were white, and any black characters I had were side characters. This shocked me, I'm black so why was I writing all these white main characters? When I thought about it, I realised that because all the books I had been reading only had white main characters, that was what I was pulling from.

My imagination had been completely moulded in a way that didn't even consider the idea that a hero in a story could be black, it didn't even take into account my own identity. That's the power of representation.

In a lot of ways, we, children's authors, are getting the chance to shape the imaginations of children, so why shouldn't we do it in a way that displays the diversity that exists in our world.

In superhero stories, there are very few black main characters. In my lifespan, I've only seen a few, but I will always remember the impact seeing superheroes like Static or Black Panther had on me. That's why I think books like Marv are so important for superhero fiction.

Marv’s super-hero suit allows him to have endless super-powers. In books 1 and 2, which superpower that Marv uses is your favourite and why?

This is a hard one because so many of the powers are so fun.

I really enjoyed Marv being able to walk on walls with his super suction cups in Marv and the Mega Robot. There's something really thrilling about it, it almost makes you feel like a spy like you're in a Mission Impossible movie (with fewer explosions of course).

I also enjoyed Marv being able to shoot slime out of his arms in Marv and the Dino Attack. We all love a good old fashioned slime attack, especially when that gets in the way of our villains. Specifically, I think I could use that block my doorway so I can make video calls in peace. My cats love to appear whenever I'm on a zoom call.

Ultimately though, I think my number one Marv superpower has to be the ability to grow wings and fly, a power he has in Marv and the Dino Attack. That would be great, a real help when I need to get around town. If I ever feel bored of the underground, or when the busses and roads get too full, it would be nice to have such a fun fallback. I mean who wouldn't want the ability to fly?

If you could only have one super-power powered by kindness and imagination, what would it be and how would you use it?

Hmm, powered by kindness and imagination, just like Marv. It's another tough one, but I think I know what I'd like to pick. In front of me right now is one of my cats, rubbing her face on my hands and purring very loudly. I think it would be really cool if I could communicate with my cat. What if I could talk to animals?!

Communication, at least being able to communicate well, seems to me to be a thing that is ultimately fuelled by your kindness and imagination so adding a new form of communication, one where I could communicate with all the random animals I meet, seems like it would be cool.

When I walk home there's a cat, with a collar that says, 'do not feed me', that occasionally tries to follow me home. It would be cool if I could talk to that cat and let it know that unfortunately I cannot take it into my house and feed it.

There's even a book by OUP, my publisher, that's kind of about this. Kitty, it's a book series by Paula Harrison about a little girl with feline powers.

Who is your favourite character from the book and why?

Pixel. Hands down. There are quite a few fun characters in the books, especially the villains who have very funny dialogue. But Pixel is the cream of the crop, she wears the crown. Let me try and get through all my reasons here.

Also, to give you all a peek behind the curtain, Pixel is just fun to write. All the rest of the characters are humans and so they express themselves in pretty normal ways, but Pixel is a robot so even though she's very much human in a lot of ways, she can express herself very differently. She might accidentally beep because she's too excited. It's rare for me to have a character where every time I write them, I have the fun challenge of thinking about how they might express themselves.

However, while being a robot, she's not perfect. She makes mistakes and doesn't know everything, but she's always willing to learn. Pixel is always excited about being a sidekick and all the fun stuff that comes with that. Pixel is a great person for Marv to share his adventures with. If I could have a sidekick, I'd want it to be Pixel!

The first two books in the Marv series, Marv and the Mega Robot and Marv and the Dino Attack are out this week. Suitable for beginner reading in key stage 1 reading for readers aged 5+ and published by Oxford University Press.