Ms. Liberty Gets a Haircut

By Cat Rambo

What's a female superhero to do in the face of the everpresent patriarchy? In this short story, which originally appeared in online magazine Strange Horizons, Ms. Liberty, the mysterious X, Dr. Zenith Arcane, Zanycat, Rocketwoman, the Sphinx, and Kilroy team up to fight not just villains, but the forces of popular culture itself.

With deft humor, wry cynicism, and lyrical language, Rambo creates a strange, postmodernist world of neurotic superheroes with her usual masterful craftsmanship. "If you’ve read Cat Rambo before, you’ll know what to expect: her prose is smooth as a dream but often hides an incredibly sharp, emotive edge. At times, she gives more depth to a character in a handful of pages than many novelists manage in hundreds." - Stephen Raets, Tor.com

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cat Rambo
• Release date: Nov 28, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311536341

Cat Rambo

Cat Rambo (they/them) is an American fantasy and science fiction writer whose work has appeared in, among others, Asimov's, Weird Tales, Chiaroscuro, Talebones, and Strange Horizons. A graduate of the Johns Hopkins Writing Seminars, where they studied with John Barth and Steve Dixon, they also attended the Clarion West Writers' Workshop. They are currently the managing editor of Fantasy Magazine. They published a collection of stories, Eyes Like Sky And Coal And Moonlight, and their collaboration with Jeff VanderMeer, The Surgeon’s Tale and Other Stories, appeared in 2007. They live and write in Washington State, and “Cat Rambo” is their real name.

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Ms. Liberty Gets a Haircut

Copyright 2014 Cat Rambo

Published by Cat Rambo at Smashwords

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The superheroes are sitting in a back booth at Barnaby’s Ye Olde Tavern and Pizza. It’s not the usual sort of superhero hangout and they’ll probably never eat here again. They’ve had four autograph requests: two from customers, one from their waitress, and one from the manager, who also insisted on taking their picture with his cell phone.

It’s a shame that they won’t be coming back, Ms. Liberty thinks. The cheese pizza is hot and greasy, the sensation of consuming it agreeable. It’s enjoyable, even, to sit around talking about the world, bullshitting and comparing stories and wishes and pet peeves.

You know what I hate? she says, pouring more beer. The porn star superheroes. And nine times out of ten, they’re female.

Yeah, I know what you mean, Dr. Zenith Arcane says. Names like Pussy Whip and BangAGang.

And Cocktail.

Goddess, yes. Cocktail. They swap wry smiles.

X, the superhero without a shape, methodically shaves away pizza triangles, slurps down high-octane root beer. Ms. Liberty and Kilroy are