Best known as the co-creator of Marvel Comics' "New Mutants," veteran comic book artist Bob McLeod's first children's book, "SuperHero ABC," was ranked as one of the best books of 2006 by School Library Journal. We recently talked with him by telephone about the book that features comic book figures ranging from Astro-Man to the Zinger.

	Superheroes such as Power Pup help readers learn their ABCs in Bob McLeod's "SuperHero ABC." Click photo for larger image.

A: It started with her mother, who is 92. She had a degree in library science. She earned her degree when she was about 70. She was always into books and literature. My wife's father was an English professor, whose brother is Al Hirshberg, a sports writer who wrote a book about Jimmy Piersall, called "Fear Strikes Out: The Jim Piersall Story."

My wife's family wouldn't let her read comic books when she was a child. They looked down upon comic books as inferior literature. They just thought they were trash and not to be taken seriously. They were not thrilled when she married a comic book artist.

Then her mom kept wondering when I'd get a real job, even though I was steadily employed and had been for many years when I met my wife and was making a good living. She'd say, "Why don't you do editorial cartooning? Or why don't you do children's books?"

After 30 years of doing comics, I wanted to do a children's book. My wife came up with the idea of a superhero alphabet. So immediately, when I got published, my mother-in-law was thrilled. She's a very sweet woman. There was that undercurrent. She never came out and said, "You bum. Why don't you become respectable?"

Q: How have comic books changed during your career?

A: They became increasingly darker and written for an older audience. When I got in the business, they were written for 12-year-olds. Now, they are written for 25-year-olds.

Q: Your superheroes book is jam-packed with alliteration. When did you learn to love wordplay?

A: English was one of my favorite subjects. I always loved wordplay, crosswords and word humor. I used to love to read Mad magazine when I was growing up, and there was a lot of clever word stuff in it. That was my original goal, to work for Mad magazine. It's not the magazine it used to be. They've turned more toward toilet humor.

Q: How did you decide to use alliteration?

A: I'm trying to teach the letter "A." What better way to teach it than to use alliteration? This is the first thing I've written in my career. I've been an artist and illustrator for 35 years. I figured, "How hard can it be to write an alphabet book?" When I started with the alliteration, it got pretty involved. I had to put a lot of thought into carefully choosing my words. Every word counted. I had to carefully pick every word in the book so I didn't get too overly clever for my audience, which was 6-, 7- and 8-year-olds. With alliteration, you can really go nuts.

Q: How have children responded to the book?

A: I do a lot of school visits. A lot of teachers have the kids make up their own superheroes and alliteration, which are a lot funnier than my book. One of the kids came up with a character called Sloth Sister and had the SuperHero woman hanging upside-down from a tree limb. They're so funny. It's hysterical to go to these schools. They just really are into it, which is why I think the book is a success. They are happy to see a superhero in a costume. They don't have to be fighting anybody. The idea of superheroes appeals to them, visually and literally.

Q: What opportunities for creativity did you find in doing "SuperHero ABC"?

A: I could create my own characters. I didn't want to use Batman and Wonder Woman. I wanted to make up my own, which were hopefully a little funnier and sillier. That was a big challenge creatively because there are hundreds, if not thousands of superheroes out there.

It's difficult to come up with something that's not been done. I made them different enough to be original, but there is still a kernel of some well-known superheroes in the book.

Q: Can you give me a specific example?

A: The superhero on the cover has a visor over his face. There's a character called Cyclops in The X-Men. But that's the only similarity.

Q: Can you give us a hint as to the theme of your next children's book?

A: I've written three more books since this. They were superhero-related. I got so many e-mails from parents who wanted the same type of thing.

Q: I notice that you live in an Eastern Pennsylvania town. Have you ever visited the Brandywine River Museum in Chadds Ford to see the work of N.C. Wyeth, the famous children's book illustrator?

A: I'm a big fan of N.C. Wyeth. I like his sense of color, his use of color. His compositions are so well-designed and dramatic. I just love what he does with color. He's influenced a lot of comic book artists.

Q: What other artists influenced your work?

A: Mort Drucker. He did the TV and movie satires for Mad magazine. There's a character in my book on the letter "Y," the Yellow Yeller. She's modeled after the Mort Drucker style. What I like about Mort Drucker is that he didn't just caricature the face. He would caricature the whole body. He was one of my prime influences when I was coming up.