Brian Buccellato Re-Teams With Artist Stefano Simeone On Upcoming ‘Midlife (Or How To Hero At Fifty!)’

New York Times bestselling writer Brian Buccellato (No/One, The Flash, Chicken Devil) will re-team with artist Stefano Simeone (The Last Days of Black Hammer, Radiant Black) for an all-new character-driven superhero series in the upcoming, Midlife (Or How to Hero at Fifty!). This ongoing series is set to launch in October from Image Comics.

Ruben Kwan is a 50-year-old firefighter who’s been afraid of fire his whole life. Instead of running into burning buildings, he pushes papers, living in the shadow of his father—who died a hero on the job. After 25 years in the LAFD, he’s firmly in the middle of an unremarkable life…until his new wife gets pregnant and a random act of courage reveals that Ruben is FIREPROOF! Readers won’t want to miss out on this totally relatable (sometimes cringey) story of a middle-aged dad who’s about to find out that his new powers have major strings attached.

“I’m super excited to tell this weirdly personal story that is tonally closer to my recent Aftershock series, Chicken Devil,” said Buccellato. “It’s a combination of grounded, humorous, dark, and absurd—featuring a biracial fifty-year-old rookie hero who accepts the challenge of using his newfound powers for good… even if he does have a bad back and creaky knees. It’s also an opportunity to tell a superhero story from a different point of view, with a protagonist who is half Chinese and half Puerto Rican and drawn from my own life experience as a father starting a new family again at fifty.”

Simeone added: “When Brian first talked to me about his idea for Midlife my son had just been born, so I can relate a lot with this. Ruben is 50 and I’m in my 30s, but I feel older. So now I just need superpowers. I hope people will enjoy this series, it has so much heart and action, I think we all need someone like Ruben to protect us in real life.”

Midlife (Or How to Hero at Fifty!) by Simeone will be available at comic book shops on Wednesday, October 11. Midlife (Or How to Hero at Fifty!) will also be available across many digital platforms, including Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, and Google Play.