They're writing novels about superheroes, now pt 2

[thebitterguy]

So, I finished From the Notebooks of Dr. Brain, and while it was a mostly well put together story, some of the characters were a bit much (the Batman analogue, particularly) and the whole "psychobabble handbook for superheroes" format was worked more against it than for it.

I liked the elements of racial politics in it, although it was a bit cartoony, and X-Man being a NOI type was a neat touch. Considering he had to weave a whole supers universe from whole cloth, Minister Faust comes up with a lot of clever names. I particularly like the fact that a paralyzed scientist transforms into the mighty Hawk-King.

It sucks that Superman's copyright is one of those infinite ones; I can only imagine how different the books might be if they could use some of the iconic characters; admittedly, they'd probably be hesitant to do so, since that carries the taint of fanfic about it*.

Anyway, FtNoDB is a neat book, but since I'm not familiar with the pop-psychobabble it's satirizing, I found those segments of the book, of which there are a lot, more irritating than amusing. The book's conclusion was interesting, although not entirely satisfying, but I'm now very eager to try tracking down his previous book, Coyote Kings of the Space Age Bachelor Pad and see how it came out. Hell, anyone who's gotten on Colby Cosh's bad side has got to be a good guy.

I'm now starting Karma Girl, which got off to a bumpy start when I looked on the back cover and saw "Paranormal romance". Now, mind you, I can deal with chick-lit. I read three or four of the Shopaholic books. And it's likely that the superhero lit boom is gonna cross across a variety of genres, so I'm cool with that. That, and the author is just so darn cute. Hell, she's a gamer.

The first chapter seems almost steeped in cliche, with a heroine done wrong on her wedding day by finding her groom in a clinch with her maid of honour. The protagonist seems kind of dumb for an investigative reporter, since she manages to not notice her fiance's bruises, or the fact he wears a superoutfit under his clothing. I mean, seriously, Lois & MJ both knew by the time they got married, right?

And her best friend is a supervillain, who gets regularly sent to jail, but she takes her word for it she's just going on trips? Does she read the paper she works for? Perhaps talk to the crime reporter, who would mention how the secret ID of the town villain is the same as her best friend?

Ah, well. I may be over-analyzing.

*Cynra is a fan of the Laurie King books about Mary Russell, and I tease her about it regularly. For those out of the loop, Mary Russell is a turn of the century woman **who ends up marrying Sherlock Holmes. I continually tease her about reading published fanfic, and ask if Mrs. Russell's middle name is in fact Sue. Reading that wiki, I think it most definitely is.

Comments

[cargoweasel.livejournal.com]

Have you read "Soon I Will Be Invincible"? It's awesome.

[thebitterguy]

That was the first book in the "They're Writing Novels about Superheroes Now" series. It was quite enjoyable.

[viktor-haag.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the review. I'm less inclined to pick up Faust's latest now not having first read through Coyote Kings to form a better prediction of whether I'd find it worth the money or not.

[sixteenbynine.livejournal.com]

The one book I can lay claim to having read in this category would be Andrew Vachss's Batman: The Ultimate Evil, where he used the Batman-verse as a springboard for a story about one of his iconic obsessions (sexual exploitation of children). Not literature, but I applauded the way he put it all together and used it to draw attention to something he's spent the vast majority of his adult existence trying to combat in a real way.