Dendiggityopolis: Westword parents make their kids draw superheroes

Superman, reinterpreted.

​Superman provides the basic template: publicly mild-mannered and lame, but secretly able to jump tall buildings and dominate everything. The potential for variations on that superhero theme is basically endless -- and particularly so coming from kids, whose superheroes, unencumbered by the conventions of the genre, don't really have to do anything except, you know, be awesome. That's the idea behind the fifth annual Dendiggityopolis Superhero Drawing and Writing Contest this weekend, where Denver School of the Arts students showcase their finest crime-fighters. And since we're not above blatantly stealing a good idea, we sent out an interoffice memo demanding everyone with kids make them draw superheros for our crappy blog. Here's what they came up with.

Caden's Superman is even cooler than the original, because he has a laser shooting out of his chest.

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Another Superman, this one reinterpreted by Jared as a cubist abstraction, perhaps as a commentary on the fractured nature of conscious perception

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John's Spiderman is a little offended you would even say that.

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Is the Haiball Good? Is she Evil? Lily's not telling, but we're going to guess evil, because, you know, hairballs are gross.

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Leah didn't give here manga-inspired superhero a name, but she does helpfully provide a ballpark on her shoe size.

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The first in a short series of water-women, this one by Tess. If you study this one carefully, it reveals that Aqua Girl's superpower is her starfish-like ability to regenerate her own head.

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Aaliyah's Water Girl has the power to maintain a cheerful demeanor while swimming through a sea of broken hearts. Metaphor for life?

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The one supervillain we got, a collaboration between Leah and Sydney, shoots flames from his "fingaz," and possibly spits mad rhymez.

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Maya's superhero doesn't even need superpowers. She's pleased to just hang out and be the queen of everything.

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His name was obscured (we're assuming it was a boy), but this guy his hands-down our favorite, just because of the gratuitous tape. What are his superpowers? We think that's pretty clear.

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