Cover art for the standard edition of Kids in Capes, published by Hunters Entertainment, plus some process work! The original thumbnail (not shown) upon which this cover was based was done by Sean Peacock, the cover artist for the Deluxe Edition.

It was very important to me to portray a fat queer kid on the cover because I don't see very many RPGs with that kind of representation anywhere— and for a game grounded in reality, centered around characters who are (typically) aged 10/12-16/18; kids who look like the one on the cover are typically outcasts (and/or are bullied by their peers). My hope is that ALL kinds of kids and teenagers (and adults of course) see a cover like this and feel affirmed that ANYONE can be a hero, no matter what you look like.

The narrative of Kids in Capes of 'finding your own identity' while growing up and dealing with all the usual trials and tribulations of being a teenager (further pushed by adding superpowers) stands out to me as a queer trans person of color. After all, what are superpowers—Something that a lot of kid-heroes may need to hide from others, feeling alone and disconnected from peers due to something unchangeable about themselves (a feeling I really wanted to evoke with this kid sitting alone on a roof, looking up at a brilliant sky of possibility, of the future, of hope), grappling with a bunch of adults who could never understand, or even fear, their new abilities— What are superpowers but an allegory for Queerness in a world where being straight (ie powerless) is the norm? This cover art means a lot to me and I hope you like it as much as I do.

ALT Text: Cover art. An androgynous fat teenager wearing a striped t shirt and ripped jeans sits cross-legged on the roof of a neoclassical stone building, gazing up at the night sky reflected in their glasses lenses. The teen's blue buffalo plaid cape blows to the right where, distantly on the horizon, a city skyline twinkles, made small under the vastness of the blue-purple sky that takes up two thirds of the composition. A brilliant galaxy curves upwards from the horizon, dotted with twinkling stars and halftone textures. A small silhouetted caped figure flies upwards from the city, blue light trailing behind them, akin to a shooting star. The title "Kids in Capes' sits nestled in the curve of the galaxy.