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Superheroes
Superheroes: modern gods and goddesses, remote, revered, but like the pantheon of heroes and heroines of ancient myth, great power tempered with flaws. And now, find within these pages tales by gifted and award-winning authors who move superheroes from the four-color panels of comic books to fiction... reminding every adult of the child within, who ever wanted to wear a cape and cowl!
384 pages, Paperback
First published February 27, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
December 31, 2014
This was a real mixed bag of an anthology. Half of the novellas were worth the reading and the other half were not. The stories that made the best impression on me were Secret Identity, Downfall, and Superhero Family.
Overall rating: 3.5 stars
Audio Note: This anthology was performed by Oliver Wyman, Joe Barrett, Christina Delaine, and Suzanne Toren. All four narrators were good. Oliver Wyman was the best of a good group.
This anthology included a not particularly inspiring introduction by Rich Horton. It would have been better just to cut this.
Some thoughts on the individual novellas in this anthology:
Sunlight Society by Margaret Ronald
This was a slightly slow story. It did improve as it progressed and the twist at the end was quite interesting.
Rating: 3 stars.
Secret Identity by- Kelly Link
This was a strange, but very engaging story. It was more about online dating than superheroes, but I had no problem with that. The characters were likable and the story was fun.
Rating: 4 stars.
The Illustrated Biography of Lord Grimm by Daryl Gregory
Superheroes vs supervillains. Good vs evil. Who wins? Not the poor civilians that is for sure! This was a brutal tale highlighting the horrors of war for native civilians who are unwittingly caught a war zone.
Rating: 4 stars.
Tonight We Fly by Ian McDonald
This was a pretty boring tale featuring a superhero who is slipping into old age.
Rating: 2 stars.
Wild Card by Leah Bobet
This was a fairly average story following a special crime unit as they sought to apprehend a supervillain. Neither the plot or the characters were especially memorable.
Rating: 2.5 stars.
Heroic Measures by Matthew Johnson
This should have been more accurately titled The Euthanasia of Superman! The story alternated between boring or depressing.
Rating: 2.5 stars.
The Biggest by James Patrick Kelly
This was a fun, but slightly sad, tale of Fillbrick van Loon aka "Big" or "the Stilt" as he arrived in 1920s New York and sought to become a superhero. It was an engaging enough read. It also showed the possible dangers of using superpowers for those that possess them.
Rating: 3.5 stars.
Dr. Death vs. the Vampire by Aaron Schutz
This is the story of empath, or more accurately psychopath, Dr.Death as he hunts down new "heroes" for The League of Almost Superheroes. He is no longer a member as the Laguae frowns on his tendency to "help" sad people, help them into the grave! During a bus ride Dr. Death encounters and emotional vampire. The vampire feeds on peoples pain. Dr.Death "saves" the vampire's victim by killing them! The vamp is not happy and a conflict ensues. It was hard to tell who the real villain was in this tale.
Despite being filled with abhorrent characters this was quite an engaging read.
Rating: 4 stars.
Superhero Girl by Jei D. Marcade
This novella was too short to make any real impression on me. It was about a guy who's cancer stricken love likes to pretend she is a superhero. The guy is not all that sane. It was actually quite sad.
Rating: 2 stars.
Super. Family. by Ian Donald Keeling
The story of Magnet Man's struggles to deal with being both a superhero and a dad. This was an entertaining read. It was easy to sympathize with every member of the family. The superhero action was pretty cool as well.
Rating: 4 stars.
The Strange Desserts Of Professor Natalie Doom by Kat Beyer
Doctor Doom's daughter is a chip off the old block. A bit less murderous than her father at least. Unfortunately this novella was not to my taste. Too much humor that did not work for me.
Rating: 2 stars.
Downfall by Joseph Mallozzi
Marshall AKA Downfall has cut a deal with the authorities to get an early release from prison. Here he helps track down an old associate who is suspected of the murder of prominent and famous superhero. Marshall has a criminal past but really wants to put those days behind him and start a family with his girlfriend. The world is a cool one and well established despite the short size of the novella.
It's an engaging and entertaining story that also had some fun twists.
Rating: 4 stars.
Dirae by Peter S. Beagle
This was an interesting story. It followed a superhero who appeared at crime incidents in time to save people, but who had no memories of who they were or how they got there.
It was intense and engaging. Also quite sad.
Rating: 4 stars.
Grandma by Carol Emshwiller
This was a short and not particularly interesting tale of an aging superhero. It was told through the eyes of her granddaughter.
Rating: 2.5 stars.
The Los Angeles Women's Auxiliary Superhero League by Elana Fortin
This was a boring tale of superheroes in Los Angeles. A place where even a superhero group needs a publicist and a re-branding.
Rating: 2 stars
Wonjjang And The Madman Of Pyongyang by Gord Sellar
After a slow start the story proved to be quite interesting. South Korean hero Wonjjang has to save his mother from the clutches of the North Korean supervillain the Madman of Pyongyang. It had plenty of action and humor and highlighted the tensions of the region quite well.
Rating: 3.5 stars.
Overall rating: 3.5 stars
Audio Note: This anthology was performed by Oliver Wyman, Joe Barrett, Christina Delaine, and Suzanne Toren. All four narrators were good. Oliver Wyman was the best of a good group.
This anthology included a not particularly inspiring introduction by Rich Horton. It would have been better just to cut this.
Some thoughts on the individual novellas in this anthology:
Sunlight Society by Margaret Ronald
This was a slightly slow story. It did improve as it progressed and the twist at the end was quite interesting.
Rating: 3 stars.
Secret Identity by- Kelly Link
This was a strange, but very engaging story. It was more about online dating than superheroes, but I had no problem with that. The characters were likable and the story was fun.
Rating: 4 stars.
The Illustrated Biography of Lord Grimm by Daryl Gregory
Superheroes vs supervillains. Good vs evil. Who wins? Not the poor civilians that is for sure! This was a brutal tale highlighting the horrors of war for native civilians who are unwittingly caught a war zone.
Rating: 4 stars.
Tonight We Fly by Ian McDonald
This was a pretty boring tale featuring a superhero who is slipping into old age.
Rating: 2 stars.
Wild Card by Leah Bobet
This was a fairly average story following a special crime unit as they sought to apprehend a supervillain. Neither the plot or the characters were especially memorable.
Rating: 2.5 stars.
Heroic Measures by Matthew Johnson
This should have been more accurately titled The Euthanasia of Superman! The story alternated between boring or depressing.
Rating: 2.5 stars.
The Biggest by James Patrick Kelly
This was a fun, but slightly sad, tale of Fillbrick van Loon aka "Big" or "the Stilt" as he arrived in 1920s New York and sought to become a superhero. It was an engaging enough read. It also showed the possible dangers of using superpowers for those that possess them.
Rating: 3.5 stars.
Dr. Death vs. the Vampire by Aaron Schutz
This is the story of empath, or more accurately psychopath, Dr.Death as he hunts down new "heroes" for The League of Almost Superheroes. He is no longer a member as the Laguae frowns on his tendency to "help" sad people, help them into the grave! During a bus ride Dr. Death encounters and emotional vampire. The vampire feeds on peoples pain. Dr.Death "saves" the vampire's victim by killing them! The vamp is not happy and a conflict ensues. It was hard to tell who the real villain was in this tale.
Despite being filled with abhorrent characters this was quite an engaging read.
Rating: 4 stars.
Superhero Girl by Jei D. Marcade
This novella was too short to make any real impression on me. It was about a guy who's cancer stricken love likes to pretend she is a superhero. The guy is not all that sane. It was actually quite sad.
Rating: 2 stars.
Super. Family. by Ian Donald Keeling
The story of Magnet Man's struggles to deal with being both a superhero and a dad. This was an entertaining read. It was easy to sympathize with every member of the family. The superhero action was pretty cool as well.
Rating: 4 stars.
The Strange Desserts Of Professor Natalie Doom by Kat Beyer
Doctor Doom's daughter is a chip off the old block. A bit less murderous than her father at least. Unfortunately this novella was not to my taste. Too much humor that did not work for me.
Rating: 2 stars.
Downfall by Joseph Mallozzi
Marshall AKA Downfall has cut a deal with the authorities to get an early release from prison. Here he helps track down an old associate who is suspected of the murder of prominent and famous superhero. Marshall has a criminal past but really wants to put those days behind him and start a family with his girlfriend. The world is a cool one and well established despite the short size of the novella.
It's an engaging and entertaining story that also had some fun twists.
Rating: 4 stars.
Dirae by Peter S. Beagle
This was an interesting story. It followed a superhero who appeared at crime incidents in time to save people, but who had no memories of who they were or how they got there.
It was intense and engaging. Also quite sad.
Rating: 4 stars.
Grandma by Carol Emshwiller
This was a short and not particularly interesting tale of an aging superhero. It was told through the eyes of her granddaughter.
Rating: 2.5 stars.
The Los Angeles Women's Auxiliary Superhero League by Elana Fortin
This was a boring tale of superheroes in Los Angeles. A place where even a superhero group needs a publicist and a re-branding.
Rating: 2 stars
Wonjjang And The Madman Of Pyongyang by Gord Sellar
After a slow start the story proved to be quite interesting. South Korean hero Wonjjang has to save his mother from the clutches of the North Korean supervillain the Madman of Pyongyang. It had plenty of action and humor and highlighted the tensions of the region quite well.
Rating: 3.5 stars.
June 24, 2016
Most short story collections follow the same pattern for me; most stories are middle of the road, some good and some bad. The good and bad stories usually cancel out and you are left with a nice middle of the road book. This one had the usual number of middle of the road and bad stories just none that stood out as "good" to me. If you like superhero fiction and are looking for some new reads then give this a try but to me it gets a not recommended.
July 13, 2016
Superheroes as we know them more or less started in the comic books of the late 1930s, with the most obvious first “true” superhero being Superman. And comic books have largely shaped our perceptions of costumed superheroes ever since. But sometimes prose is a perfectly acceptable way of writing about people with unusual powers and distinctive appearances who fight crime and injustice. There have been quite a few anthologies of short stories in the field, and this is one of them.
Superheroes
The sixteen stories cover various aspects of the superhero genre, from the superheroes themselves, through supervillains, and to the civilians who have to try to survive in these larger than life worlds. The lead story is “Sunlight Society” by Margaret Ronald. A nethead (a cyborg able to interface with computers) is called in to deal with a virus in a superhero base’s computer. But that’s not all he’s there for, and the information he seeks will cost him dearly.
“Wonjjiang and the Madman of Pyongyang” by Gord Sellar is the story of a South Korean superhero who’s been forced into the role of leader for a multi-national team operating in his homeland and sometimes in neighboring countries. Unfortunately, politics has freed his North Korean nemesis, budget cuts have gotten Wonjjiang laid off, and our hero’s overbearing mother is pushing him to get married. (Sadly, the one woman he’s interested in already has a boyfriend.) One of the more “traditional” superhero stories in the book.
A couple of the stories are of special interest. “Wild Card” by Leah Bobet is set in the Shadow Unit continuity, about a secret group of government agents that normally battle serial killers who’ve developed super-powers. Except that this time, the “anomaly” has picked on someone whose personal mythology comes from comic books, and he’s decided to become a full-fledged super-villain. Somewhat lighter than the usual Shadow Unit story.
Peter S. Beagle (The Last Unicorn) contributes “Dirae.” Suddenly in the city there’s a woman who appears out of nowhere to save lives like a real-life superhero, then vanishes again until the next rescue. It’s told from the perspective of that woman as she slowly comes to realize she literally does disappear between those incidents, with no clue where she’s spending the rest of her time, if any. She tries to work out who she really is and what’s happening to her. Mr. Beagle is an excellent fantasy writer, and this is one of the best stories in the book.
The weakest story for me was “Secret Identity” by Kelly Link. A young woman comes to a hotel to meet a man she got to know on the internet; by coincidence (or is it?) there’s a superhero convention going on at the same time. The secrets she’s been keeping from her prospective lover are compared to a hero’s secret identity. I didn’t like the main character and found most of the people she interacted with boring. Overall, a decent collection of 21st Century superhero themed writing.
There’s some vulgar language and sexual situations in the stories, and a couple of them deal with euthanasia. I’d recommend this to senior high students and up.
Superheroes
The sixteen stories cover various aspects of the superhero genre, from the superheroes themselves, through supervillains, and to the civilians who have to try to survive in these larger than life worlds. The lead story is “Sunlight Society” by Margaret Ronald. A nethead (a cyborg able to interface with computers) is called in to deal with a virus in a superhero base’s computer. But that’s not all he’s there for, and the information he seeks will cost him dearly.
“Wonjjiang and the Madman of Pyongyang” by Gord Sellar is the story of a South Korean superhero who’s been forced into the role of leader for a multi-national team operating in his homeland and sometimes in neighboring countries. Unfortunately, politics has freed his North Korean nemesis, budget cuts have gotten Wonjjiang laid off, and our hero’s overbearing mother is pushing him to get married. (Sadly, the one woman he’s interested in already has a boyfriend.) One of the more “traditional” superhero stories in the book.
A couple of the stories are of special interest. “Wild Card” by Leah Bobet is set in the Shadow Unit continuity, about a secret group of government agents that normally battle serial killers who’ve developed super-powers. Except that this time, the “anomaly” has picked on someone whose personal mythology comes from comic books, and he’s decided to become a full-fledged super-villain. Somewhat lighter than the usual Shadow Unit story.
Peter S. Beagle (The Last Unicorn) contributes “Dirae.” Suddenly in the city there’s a woman who appears out of nowhere to save lives like a real-life superhero, then vanishes again until the next rescue. It’s told from the perspective of that woman as she slowly comes to realize she literally does disappear between those incidents, with no clue where she’s spending the rest of her time, if any. She tries to work out who she really is and what’s happening to her. Mr. Beagle is an excellent fantasy writer, and this is one of the best stories in the book.
The weakest story for me was “Secret Identity” by Kelly Link. A young woman comes to a hotel to meet a man she got to know on the internet; by coincidence (or is it?) there’s a superhero convention going on at the same time. The secrets she’s been keeping from her prospective lover are compared to a hero’s secret identity. I didn’t like the main character and found most of the people she interacted with boring. Overall, a decent collection of 21st Century superhero themed writing.
There’s some vulgar language and sexual situations in the stories, and a couple of them deal with euthanasia. I’d recommend this to senior high students and up.
March 31, 2015
Let me preface this by saying, I am lazy. Combine that with how long I took to get around to this review and the fact that a couple of the stories I'd already read in other compilations, and I'm just not even going to try to give my thoughts on every one of these stories. Instead, I'm going to hit the highlights of what was actually a pretty solid collection.
First I have to give pride of place to Peter Beagle's "Dirae." I love Beagle's writing, I think he's seemed like a wonderful person each time I've had the pleasure of meeting him and his work more than most has inspired my own writing as well as my personal taste and standards for reading.
"Dirae" is an unusual story, sometimes hard to follow but not in a bad way. It's about a vigilante who, somewhat Winter Soldier-like, can't remember anything between the end of one fight and the beginning of another. But as time goes on, bits start to stick with the character, leading to questions of purpose and identity and eventually, what reality is for them. I found it to be deeply compelling. Definitely worth the read.
Perhaps my favorite narrative out of the bunch was "Downfall," by Joseph Mallozzi. It talks about a former villain who's set on a right path and tries to settle into a normal life - until he's called on to help the law deal with one of his old comrades. I really enjoyed the main character in this one, and when this was over I found myself wanting mooooooore. I was disappointed to find I can't go buy a book by this guy, but I may have to check out the "Dark Matter" comic.
Wonjjang and the Madman of Pyongyang is probably the most "superhero-y" of the stories, and another really enjoyable one - an international superhero team facing evil madmen and economic problems.
There were several other great stories and a few that didn't do it for me, as well as the obligatory Superman fanfic that seems to be in every superhero shorts collection >.< .
First I have to give pride of place to Peter Beagle's "Dirae." I love Beagle's writing, I think he's seemed like a wonderful person each time I've had the pleasure of meeting him and his work more than most has inspired my own writing as well as my personal taste and standards for reading.
"Dirae" is an unusual story, sometimes hard to follow but not in a bad way. It's about a vigilante who, somewhat Winter Soldier-like, can't remember anything between the end of one fight and the beginning of another. But as time goes on, bits start to stick with the character, leading to questions of purpose and identity and eventually, what reality is for them. I found it to be deeply compelling. Definitely worth the read.
Perhaps my favorite narrative out of the bunch was "Downfall," by Joseph Mallozzi. It talks about a former villain who's set on a right path and tries to settle into a normal life - until he's called on to help the law deal with one of his old comrades. I really enjoyed the main character in this one, and when this was over I found myself wanting mooooooore. I was disappointed to find I can't go buy a book by this guy, but I may have to check out the "Dark Matter" comic.
Wonjjang and the Madman of Pyongyang is probably the most "superhero-y" of the stories, and another really enjoyable one - an international superhero team facing evil madmen and economic problems.
There were several other great stories and a few that didn't do it for me, as well as the obligatory Superman fanfic that seems to be in every superhero shorts collection >.< .
June 30, 2013
I recieved an ARC, courtesy of Diamond Book Distributors and NetGally, for the purpose of an honest review.
Rich Horton has drawn together an anthology of short stories around a central theme of Superheroes. The stories range from a few pages, to vignettes over several short chapters. The styles, as one would expect from a range of different authors, is varied - some of the prose is stark, while in others, particularly Dirae by Peter S. Beagle, were lyric and evocative. I enjoyed quite a few of the stories - of note for me were The Illustrated Biography of Lord Grimm, Tonight We Fly, Wild Cards, Dr. Death vs. the Vampire, Super Family and The Biggest. Each cast their interpretation of the theme well. The world building in most of the stories was strong, and the stylistic word-crafting, while it varied from tale to tale, was notable. The final story left me cold - I can see where it was going, but it was just to anodyne a treatment for my liking.
All in all, not a collection for the graphic novel aficionado, speaking as many of the stories did from outside the comic canon, but a genuinely readable collection of stories - most drawn from an unexpected angle.
I did feel somewhat worn down by the end of the novel though. Maybe the burdens of today's society weigh heavier on writers than the creators of superheroes past, but I found these tales to be more stark than dark - and the joy of bursting out of the pedestrian, into the firmament that accompanies the transcendence from the ordinary, was lacking. I wish there had been more inspiration, and less pathos.
Perhaps it is just me.
Rich Horton has drawn together an anthology of short stories around a central theme of Superheroes. The stories range from a few pages, to vignettes over several short chapters. The styles, as one would expect from a range of different authors, is varied - some of the prose is stark, while in others, particularly Dirae by Peter S. Beagle, were lyric and evocative. I enjoyed quite a few of the stories - of note for me were The Illustrated Biography of Lord Grimm, Tonight We Fly, Wild Cards, Dr. Death vs. the Vampire, Super Family and The Biggest. Each cast their interpretation of the theme well. The world building in most of the stories was strong, and the stylistic word-crafting, while it varied from tale to tale, was notable. The final story left me cold - I can see where it was going, but it was just to anodyne a treatment for my liking.
All in all, not a collection for the graphic novel aficionado, speaking as many of the stories did from outside the comic canon, but a genuinely readable collection of stories - most drawn from an unexpected angle.
I did feel somewhat worn down by the end of the novel though. Maybe the burdens of today's society weigh heavier on writers than the creators of superheroes past, but I found these tales to be more stark than dark - and the joy of bursting out of the pedestrian, into the firmament that accompanies the transcendence from the ordinary, was lacking. I wish there had been more inspiration, and less pathos.
Perhaps it is just me.
October 29, 2013
A collection of short stories:
Introduction -- Rich Horton
"Sunlight Society" - Margaret Ronald: This isn't really as much about superheroes as it is about advanced/integrated technology within a person. Though there does seem to be some superheroes in the society structure surrounding the story. Basically, a tech-head gains access to a highly fortified place i norder to get rid of a super virus ... a virus, we learn, that the tech-head himself wrote. There, the tech-head downloads all the information on the computers, gaining access to information such as superhero secret identities. An interesting story that didn't really go anywhere. Reads like the first chapter of a novel.
"Secret Identity" -- Kelly Link: A sad commentary of a fifteen year old girl who ventures out to meet a man she met on-line through multi-player role playing games. The plan is to meet at a hotel which is hosting both a superhero convention and a dentist convention. Which one is Paul Zell...her mystery man?
"The Illustrated Biography of Lord Grimm" -- Daryl Gregory: Told from the point of view of a villager in a town, very similar to Latveria...Dr. Doom's home territory. Even features a character (Lord Grimm) who is described much like Doom. Very well written. Best of the first four stories, easily.
"Tonight We Fly" -- Ian McDonald: What happens to an aging supervillian? This is one such story.
"Wild Card" -- Leah Bobet: A seemingly normal criminal claims to be supervillian ... there are no super heroes without first a supervillian. Police discover his secret identity rather easily (he's a comic book fan) and find his secret hideout (a storage unit).
"Heroic Measures" -- Matthew Johnson: How do you let a superhero die when his body super-heroically fights to stay alive?
"The Biggest" -- James Patrick Kelly: In the late 1920's-early 1930's, Fillbrick van Loon aka "Stiltman" or "the Stilt" or "Big" looks to work for Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt.
"Dr. Death vs. the Vampire" -- Aaron Schutz: With the questionable 'ability' of killing people by lethal injection and making it look like heart attacks, Dr. Death, and his tenuous connection with a League of Almost-Superheroes, faces off against a vampire.
"Superhero Girl" -- Jei D. Marcade: Is his girlfriend a superhero, with a lot of enemies, or a young girl dying of cancer?
"Super Family" -- Ian Donald Keeling: The children of superheroes learn the truth about their parents as they realize their own super powers in front of the family arch-nemesis.
"The Strange Desserts of Professor Natale Doom" -- Kat Beyer: A young girl with a highly developed ability to work with electronics, engineering, and cooking.
"Downfall" -- Joseph Mallozzi: A former supervillain is pulled out of retirement to help the FBI investigate the mysterious death of a grandstanding superhero.
"Dirae" -- Peter S. Beagle: Not a human, but a spirit who appears where tragedy is about to happen.
"Grandma" -- Carol Emshwiller: A grandchild is left to care for an aging superhero.
"The Los Angeles Women's Auxiliary Superhero League" -- Elana Fortin: Three young women discover their super powers (such as they are) and form a league, complete with agent/promoter.
"Wonjjang and the Madman of Pyonyang" -- Gord Sellar: A superhero can still be human, with meddling parents and desires for companionship.
----------------
It's not likely that this book will be picked up by anyone not already interested in superheroes or comic books, or in some other form of this genre, so we can skip the conversation about who this book would be targeted toward. Clearly it's for someone just like me...someone who enjoys science fiction/fantasy, comic book superheroes, and short fiction. Sounds like win-win-win!
As is typical with anthologies, I find that there are some stories I really enjoy and some that I simply can't get in to. This collection is no different. While the first two stories ("Sunlight Society" and "Secret Identity") were both well written and interesting, but I did wonder if I was really about to read a book about superheroes -- these main characters seemed anti-heroic, or touched on superheroes only very briefly. Definitely seemed an odd beginning.
I really enjoyed "The Illustrated Biography of Lord Grimm." While this, too, seemed to deal with superheroes somewhat indirectly, it connected with me as a comics reader. This story seemed to be told from the point of view of a villager in a poor nation, dealing with the effects of a superhero/supervillian battle. It's a brilliant concept, well told. The fact that this seemed so clearly to be a village under the rule of comics villian Dr. Doom (of Fantastic Four fame), helped with my visualizing the story.
"Tonight We Fly" and "Wild Card" were not particulalry strong stories, for me. "Tonight We Fly" was an interesting concept but no longer a new one. "Wild Card" was also interesting, but mostly was just a dull read for me.
Aging superheroes are not a new idea, and we see a few of them in this collection, but "Heroic Measures" is a slightly different take on the theme. I don't want to give anything away, but it looks at medical issues for the super-powered. Very nice.
Again, I come to a story that is told well ("The Biggest"), and is an interesting read, but ultimately leaves me with a "eh" attitude. I wanted to like it...I enjoyed the personal aspects, but it just didn't follow through.
"Dr. Death..." was another in the vein of 'not quite a superhero' as I felt the first couple of stories were. Again...nice writing, well told, but the lack of true super-hero power left me wondering what the criteria of this book was all about. I understand and appreciate trying to change it up...to not be too traditional...but this one left me a little exhausted. I was trying to invest myself, but it just wasn't working.
"Superhero Girl" follows in the same vein...not quite a superhero. Again, well written, well told, but ....
Finally we come to what one might consider a more traditional superhero story, "Super Family," and a strong showing at that. Although possibly a little too much like Pixar's The Incredibles, this was really a delightful read. Parents retired from the superhero business, an arch nemesis that won't quite let them retire, and children who are just discovering their family history and their own powers. A very nice work.
Kat Beyer's piece, "Strange Desserts..." is a fun read that might seem a little borderline as to whether or not there's true superheroism here...but a superhero doesn't mean super power, although she might have that as well. This was an oddity that actually fits well in to this collection.
The last five stories are much more traditional with their definitiion of superhero. "Downfall" brings the supervillian out of retirement, by coersion, and "Grandma" sees an aged superhero cared for by child. "The Los Angeles..." might be one of my favorites as it takes on an aspect that wasn't touched on anywhere else...promotion and management...how does a new superhero or super team get the recognition they deserve? But it also plays with what makes a superhero and super powers. A very nice take! "Wonjjang and the Madman..." repeats a theme of superheroes being human and having some of the same troubles that 'ordinary' people have, but it does it well and offeres a unique voice by placing the super in a location other than the traditional European-American style city.
Peter S. Beagle's "Dirae" might be the most original of all the works in the collection (though not necessarily the 'best'). More lyrical than the others (almost a poem rather than fiction), this tells of a character (not a human) who appears when a distaster is about to happen and that character works to prevent it. An interesting read, original as I say, but I was a bit bored with the style. It might be that for a book on superheroes, I'm charged for something more than poetic lyricism.
Let's acknowledge that super hero doesn't mean super power, and not all these characters have super powers, but not all are super heroes (or even super villians) either, and I question their inclusion in this anthology. There's also a familiar theme, no longer original, of aging super heroes. What happens to the super hero who gets old? The other theme that seems prevalent here is darkness... how disturbing the world is and pathetic life is as a superhero..
While I applaud the efforts of the writers and editor, to try something different and fit within the superhero mold, there was a lack of originality and a tediousness to the collection. Perhaps there is a reason that superheros don't fly well off the pages of graphic novels? Perhaps this is a unique literary character, the superhero, that is really best identified by the art as well as the story?
Looking for a good book? The writing is strong here, but the title and cover art might be misleading.
Introduction -- Rich Horton
"Sunlight Society" - Margaret Ronald: This isn't really as much about superheroes as it is about advanced/integrated technology within a person. Though there does seem to be some superheroes in the society structure surrounding the story. Basically, a tech-head gains access to a highly fortified place i norder to get rid of a super virus ... a virus, we learn, that the tech-head himself wrote. There, the tech-head downloads all the information on the computers, gaining access to information such as superhero secret identities. An interesting story that didn't really go anywhere. Reads like the first chapter of a novel.
"Secret Identity" -- Kelly Link: A sad commentary of a fifteen year old girl who ventures out to meet a man she met on-line through multi-player role playing games. The plan is to meet at a hotel which is hosting both a superhero convention and a dentist convention. Which one is Paul Zell...her mystery man?
"The Illustrated Biography of Lord Grimm" -- Daryl Gregory: Told from the point of view of a villager in a town, very similar to Latveria...Dr. Doom's home territory. Even features a character (Lord Grimm) who is described much like Doom. Very well written. Best of the first four stories, easily.
"Tonight We Fly" -- Ian McDonald: What happens to an aging supervillian? This is one such story.
"Wild Card" -- Leah Bobet: A seemingly normal criminal claims to be supervillian ... there are no super heroes without first a supervillian. Police discover his secret identity rather easily (he's a comic book fan) and find his secret hideout (a storage unit).
"Heroic Measures" -- Matthew Johnson: How do you let a superhero die when his body super-heroically fights to stay alive?
"The Biggest" -- James Patrick Kelly: In the late 1920's-early 1930's, Fillbrick van Loon aka "Stiltman" or "the Stilt" or "Big" looks to work for Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt.
"Dr. Death vs. the Vampire" -- Aaron Schutz: With the questionable 'ability' of killing people by lethal injection and making it look like heart attacks, Dr. Death, and his tenuous connection with a League of Almost-Superheroes, faces off against a vampire.
"Superhero Girl" -- Jei D. Marcade: Is his girlfriend a superhero, with a lot of enemies, or a young girl dying of cancer?
"Super Family" -- Ian Donald Keeling: The children of superheroes learn the truth about their parents as they realize their own super powers in front of the family arch-nemesis.
"The Strange Desserts of Professor Natale Doom" -- Kat Beyer: A young girl with a highly developed ability to work with electronics, engineering, and cooking.
"Downfall" -- Joseph Mallozzi: A former supervillain is pulled out of retirement to help the FBI investigate the mysterious death of a grandstanding superhero.
"Dirae" -- Peter S. Beagle: Not a human, but a spirit who appears where tragedy is about to happen.
"Grandma" -- Carol Emshwiller: A grandchild is left to care for an aging superhero.
"The Los Angeles Women's Auxiliary Superhero League" -- Elana Fortin: Three young women discover their super powers (such as they are) and form a league, complete with agent/promoter.
"Wonjjang and the Madman of Pyonyang" -- Gord Sellar: A superhero can still be human, with meddling parents and desires for companionship.
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It's not likely that this book will be picked up by anyone not already interested in superheroes or comic books, or in some other form of this genre, so we can skip the conversation about who this book would be targeted toward. Clearly it's for someone just like me...someone who enjoys science fiction/fantasy, comic book superheroes, and short fiction. Sounds like win-win-win!
As is typical with anthologies, I find that there are some stories I really enjoy and some that I simply can't get in to. This collection is no different. While the first two stories ("Sunlight Society" and "Secret Identity") were both well written and interesting, but I did wonder if I was really about to read a book about superheroes -- these main characters seemed anti-heroic, or touched on superheroes only very briefly. Definitely seemed an odd beginning.
I really enjoyed "The Illustrated Biography of Lord Grimm." While this, too, seemed to deal with superheroes somewhat indirectly, it connected with me as a comics reader. This story seemed to be told from the point of view of a villager in a poor nation, dealing with the effects of a superhero/supervillian battle. It's a brilliant concept, well told. The fact that this seemed so clearly to be a village under the rule of comics villian Dr. Doom (of Fantastic Four fame), helped with my visualizing the story.
"Tonight We Fly" and "Wild Card" were not particulalry strong stories, for me. "Tonight We Fly" was an interesting concept but no longer a new one. "Wild Card" was also interesting, but mostly was just a dull read for me.
Aging superheroes are not a new idea, and we see a few of them in this collection, but "Heroic Measures" is a slightly different take on the theme. I don't want to give anything away, but it looks at medical issues for the super-powered. Very nice.
Again, I come to a story that is told well ("The Biggest"), and is an interesting read, but ultimately leaves me with a "eh" attitude. I wanted to like it...I enjoyed the personal aspects, but it just didn't follow through.
"Dr. Death..." was another in the vein of 'not quite a superhero' as I felt the first couple of stories were. Again...nice writing, well told, but the lack of true super-hero power left me wondering what the criteria of this book was all about. I understand and appreciate trying to change it up...to not be too traditional...but this one left me a little exhausted. I was trying to invest myself, but it just wasn't working.
"Superhero Girl" follows in the same vein...not quite a superhero. Again, well written, well told, but ....
Finally we come to what one might consider a more traditional superhero story, "Super Family," and a strong showing at that. Although possibly a little too much like Pixar's The Incredibles, this was really a delightful read. Parents retired from the superhero business, an arch nemesis that won't quite let them retire, and children who are just discovering their family history and their own powers. A very nice work.
Kat Beyer's piece, "Strange Desserts..." is a fun read that might seem a little borderline as to whether or not there's true superheroism here...but a superhero doesn't mean super power, although she might have that as well. This was an oddity that actually fits well in to this collection.
The last five stories are much more traditional with their definitiion of superhero. "Downfall" brings the supervillian out of retirement, by coersion, and "Grandma" sees an aged superhero cared for by child. "The Los Angeles..." might be one of my favorites as it takes on an aspect that wasn't touched on anywhere else...promotion and management...how does a new superhero or super team get the recognition they deserve? But it also plays with what makes a superhero and super powers. A very nice take! "Wonjjang and the Madman..." repeats a theme of superheroes being human and having some of the same troubles that 'ordinary' people have, but it does it well and offeres a unique voice by placing the super in a location other than the traditional European-American style city.
Peter S. Beagle's "Dirae" might be the most original of all the works in the collection (though not necessarily the 'best'). More lyrical than the others (almost a poem rather than fiction), this tells of a character (not a human) who appears when a distaster is about to happen and that character works to prevent it. An interesting read, original as I say, but I was a bit bored with the style. It might be that for a book on superheroes, I'm charged for something more than poetic lyricism.
Let's acknowledge that super hero doesn't mean super power, and not all these characters have super powers, but not all are super heroes (or even super villians) either, and I question their inclusion in this anthology. There's also a familiar theme, no longer original, of aging super heroes. What happens to the super hero who gets old? The other theme that seems prevalent here is darkness... how disturbing the world is and pathetic life is as a superhero..
While I applaud the efforts of the writers and editor, to try something different and fit within the superhero mold, there was a lack of originality and a tediousness to the collection. Perhaps there is a reason that superheros don't fly well off the pages of graphic novels? Perhaps this is a unique literary character, the superhero, that is really best identified by the art as well as the story?
Looking for a good book? The writing is strong here, but the title and cover art might be misleading.
January 20, 2021
It took me a while before I finished this collection of short stories, as I'd typically read a story or two, put it down for a while to read some other novels, then eventually come back again.
Some of the stories are stronger than others. Some stretch the limit of what can be considered a superhero story -- and that's actually a good thing. There were some unusual additions here I really liked that stuck with me, like Mathew Johnson's "Heroic Measures" which looks at an elderly Superman like character who is close to the end of his life. "Superhero Girl" by Jei D Marcade felt like an introspective independent film. "Downfall" and "Dirae" were great back-to-back. And I was surprised by how much Gord Sellar's "Wongjjang and the Madman of Pyongyang" captured my interest with not only the superhero exploits, but the very real world of our hero dealing with his overbearing mother.
All in all, a nice collection of stories that feature action, scifi, and personal troubles of these heroes.
Some of the stories are stronger than others. Some stretch the limit of what can be considered a superhero story -- and that's actually a good thing. There were some unusual additions here I really liked that stuck with me, like Mathew Johnson's "Heroic Measures" which looks at an elderly Superman like character who is close to the end of his life. "Superhero Girl" by Jei D Marcade felt like an introspective independent film. "Downfall" and "Dirae" were great back-to-back. And I was surprised by how much Gord Sellar's "Wongjjang and the Madman of Pyongyang" captured my interest with not only the superhero exploits, but the very real world of our hero dealing with his overbearing mother.
All in all, a nice collection of stories that feature action, scifi, and personal troubles of these heroes.
May 27, 2022
A fairly large, and largely uneven collection of stories based on the concept of superheroes - or more aptly the concept of superpowers. There are a couple of fairly memorable stories among many less than memorable stories. As someone who grew up reading 'comic books' I often read books and stories based on these ideas. Some have been pretty darn good, but many more are like these. Thankfully this is a book of short stories, so it's easy to take in a story or two and come back later - a method I would recommend if you decide to wade into this one.
September 12, 2021
Interesting take on the superhero genre as a whole. Enjoyable listen on audible as well. The last story by Beagle was a little hard to follow for me, great concept just couldn't keep my attention for long, admittedly that might have been a side effect of the audio.
December 21, 2023
book 500 on my goodreads and 69 on my reading challenge!...what's that? you wanted a review? this isn't about them! fine they were good. would recommend and is a great introduction to these authors. please check out all of their works.
July 23, 2017
Some really good stories in this anthology
November 22, 2020
3 rounded to 4 because of a few standout stories. Overall, a bit mediocre. My favorites included:
- Secret Identity
- Tonight, We Fly
- Dr. Death vs. The Vampire
- Super. Family.
- Downfall
- Secret Identity
- Tonight, We Fly
- Dr. Death vs. The Vampire
- Super. Family.
- Downfall
April 20, 2022
A great collection of superhero short stories
September 11, 2024
This anthology includes a bunch of fun and fresh takes on the superhero subgenre. Highlights for me included 'Secret Identity' (Kelly Link), 'Grandma' (Carol Emshwiller) and 'The Biggest' (James Patrick Kelly). Recommended.
August 22, 2013
Prose superheroics are undergoing something of a mini-boom right now, so this anthology is nothing if not timely. But timely is one thing: more importantly, an anthology needs quality and variety, particularly where (as here) none of the contributions are appearing for the first time. (In fact, some, like Peter Beagle's 'Dirae', have more than one previous appearance under their belts.)
Fortunately, this compilation has both quality and variety in spades. Sixteen stories in all, with a nice range and hardly any duds.
Highlights include Kelly Link's 'Secret Identity'. As you might expect from Link, this is only tangentially a superhero story, instead using the title trope as a way of exploring issues of honesty, deception and the presentation of self. It's a funny, touching story about a damaged girl making an assignation with her online romantic interest amidst a superhero convention - maybe a bit too self-conscious in places, but fun and intelligent.
Daryl Gregory's 'The Illustrated Biography Of Lord Grimm', on the other hand, starts out as an amusing henchmen's-eye perspective but rapidly takes a sadder, more serious twist. I loved it: it's probably my favourite in the collection. And it makes a great bridge between the Link and Ian McDonald's 'Tonight We Fly', a poignant little vignette of a hero and a villain growing old in Belfast, facing irrelevance, and finding that sometimes what matters is what you shared.
'Heroic Measures', by Matthew Johnson, is also good. A final Superman story with the names filed off, though the titular character is a bystander, really: the kicker is the scene with 'Lois' and 'Lex'. Great stuff. James Kelly's 'The Biggest' follows, and it has a terrific early-'30s setting that makes it stand out. I liked the main character too, an appealing, simple type. 'Superhero Girl', by Jei Marcade, on the other hand, is the worst entry by far, a pretentious failure.
'Super. Family.' is at least an interesting take on the 'kid discovers parents are superheroes' trope, though it's annoying that the mother is at once central to the story's dynamic and the least-developed character. In a cute bit of placement, Kay Beyer's 'The Strange Desserts of Doctor Natalie Doom' follows, also on the theme of gender- and specifically father-daughter dynamics, but more entertaining.
Gord Sellar's 'Wonjian and the Madman of Pyongyang' rounds off the collection nicely with a silly Pacific-based romp - occasionally it strays over the line from knowing humour into plain stereotyping, but it's mostly quite good fun.
Overall, well worth picking up.
Fortunately, this compilation has both quality and variety in spades. Sixteen stories in all, with a nice range and hardly any duds.
Highlights include Kelly Link's 'Secret Identity'. As you might expect from Link, this is only tangentially a superhero story, instead using the title trope as a way of exploring issues of honesty, deception and the presentation of self. It's a funny, touching story about a damaged girl making an assignation with her online romantic interest amidst a superhero convention - maybe a bit too self-conscious in places, but fun and intelligent.
Daryl Gregory's 'The Illustrated Biography Of Lord Grimm', on the other hand, starts out as an amusing henchmen's-eye perspective but rapidly takes a sadder, more serious twist. I loved it: it's probably my favourite in the collection. And it makes a great bridge between the Link and Ian McDonald's 'Tonight We Fly', a poignant little vignette of a hero and a villain growing old in Belfast, facing irrelevance, and finding that sometimes what matters is what you shared.
'Heroic Measures', by Matthew Johnson, is also good. A final Superman story with the names filed off, though the titular character is a bystander, really: the kicker is the scene with 'Lois' and 'Lex'. Great stuff. James Kelly's 'The Biggest' follows, and it has a terrific early-'30s setting that makes it stand out. I liked the main character too, an appealing, simple type. 'Superhero Girl', by Jei Marcade, on the other hand, is the worst entry by far, a pretentious failure.
'Super. Family.' is at least an interesting take on the 'kid discovers parents are superheroes' trope, though it's annoying that the mother is at once central to the story's dynamic and the least-developed character. In a cute bit of placement, Kay Beyer's 'The Strange Desserts of Doctor Natalie Doom' follows, also on the theme of gender- and specifically father-daughter dynamics, but more entertaining.
Gord Sellar's 'Wonjian and the Madman of Pyongyang' rounds off the collection nicely with a silly Pacific-based romp - occasionally it strays over the line from knowing humour into plain stereotyping, but it's mostly quite good fun.
Overall, well worth picking up.
April 18, 2013
New Release - I received a copy of this book from Netgalley for the purpose of review.
Premise: A new anthology of fiction based around the title theme.
From other reviews of this book, I expected to like it a bit more than I did, but I did still enjoy it. Like most anthologies, this was a mixed bag. The first few, especially, I thought were just fine, nothing too exciting. The last one I found long, meandering, annoying and pointless.
In general, I think the target market for this book are people with a casual knowledge of superheroes, but who aren't really hardcore comic fans. For example, I enjoyed The Illustrated Biography of Lord Grimm, which followed the average citizens of a country ruled by a supervillain, and Tonight We Fly, about an aging hero, but these aren't any more inventive or interesting than stories that have already been told with Dr Doom or in Astro City. Not necessarily less interesting either, but I didn’t feel like new ground was being broken.
There were some stories I really liked, though. Wild Cards, about a Federal Unit investigating a criminal with a superpower was pretty great, and Dirae, by Peter S. Beagle, was tremendously evocative and had lovely prose. Also Dr. Death vs. the Vampire and Super Family were both pretty solid superhero stories. The Biggest had a great retro style.
I overall enjoyed this collection, but it suffered, for me, from comparison with some of the great comic writing I've read over the years. Also, I found the foreword highly pretentious and it lowered my expectations for the whole enterprise.
Still, some strong stories, some weak, and the majority good but not great.
3 Stars - A Good Book
Premise: A new anthology of fiction based around the title theme.
From other reviews of this book, I expected to like it a bit more than I did, but I did still enjoy it. Like most anthologies, this was a mixed bag. The first few, especially, I thought were just fine, nothing too exciting. The last one I found long, meandering, annoying and pointless.
In general, I think the target market for this book are people with a casual knowledge of superheroes, but who aren't really hardcore comic fans. For example, I enjoyed The Illustrated Biography of Lord Grimm, which followed the average citizens of a country ruled by a supervillain, and Tonight We Fly, about an aging hero, but these aren't any more inventive or interesting than stories that have already been told with Dr Doom or in Astro City. Not necessarily less interesting either, but I didn’t feel like new ground was being broken.
There were some stories I really liked, though. Wild Cards, about a Federal Unit investigating a criminal with a superpower was pretty great, and Dirae, by Peter S. Beagle, was tremendously evocative and had lovely prose. Also Dr. Death vs. the Vampire and Super Family were both pretty solid superhero stories. The Biggest had a great retro style.
I overall enjoyed this collection, but it suffered, for me, from comparison with some of the great comic writing I've read over the years. Also, I found the foreword highly pretentious and it lowered my expectations for the whole enterprise.
Still, some strong stories, some weak, and the majority good but not great.
3 Stars - A Good Book
May 9, 2013
So far my favorite stories in this anthology are "Secret Identity" by Kelly Link and "The Illustrated Biography of Lord Grimm" by Daryl Greogry. Link's story was different for me (with the main character speaking in third person) but focusing on her coming of age as a young woman was interesting with superheroes playing in the background thru the entire story. Gregory's story was interesting because it was told from the perspective of people who are residents of a supervillian's country and do not have any idea how evil he truly is because they are not allowed to know by their leader. The way the "U-Men" are described was frightening and makes you feel how dangerous people with such destructive power can be. I feell the the constant link between these stories are that superheroes are part of the story but not the focus of the story and I find this idea very interesting and different.
I just finished the anthology last night (May 8th); enjoyed the last story Wonjjang and the Madman of Pyonyang; loved the fact the focus was on Asian superheroes and it was a complete story with action, humor and a peek into the Korean culture which I found very informative. I also had to add I enjoyed very much the Dr.Death story made me think what Stephen King would write if he was interested in creating a superhero story.
I just finished the anthology last night (May 8th); enjoyed the last story Wonjjang and the Madman of Pyonyang; loved the fact the focus was on Asian superheroes and it was a complete story with action, humor and a peek into the Korean culture which I found very informative. I also had to add I enjoyed very much the Dr.Death story made me think what Stephen King would write if he was interested in creating a superhero story.
June 10, 2013
Superheroes are on display in this new anthology of stories edited by Rich Horton, and there are a good mix of stories told from the viewpoint of heroes, villains and bystanders.
Standouts for me included Kelly Link's 'Secret Identity' about a young girl making a secret rendezvous in a hotel filled with superheroes and dentists, and 'The Illustrated Biography of Lord Grimm' by Daryl Gregory about the citizens of an Eastern European country run by a supervillain under attack by superheroes. But there is something here for everyone: old heroes and villains, young assistants discovering unusual powers and teaming up, a group of heroes based in South Korea and facing bureaucracy, among others.
I was especially pleased to find 'The Biggest' by James Patrick Kelly which is part of Adam Christopher's Worldbuilder project and takes place in the same universe as his novels 'Empire State' and 'The Age Atomic.'
While I like most of the stories, they seemed to focus more on the tedium of the job rather than how amazing it might be. I found this to get a bit old after a while, but maybe that's the state of superhero fiction in our enlightened age. Still, it's a great collection of stories and it was nice to discover some new authors.
Standouts for me included Kelly Link's 'Secret Identity' about a young girl making a secret rendezvous in a hotel filled with superheroes and dentists, and 'The Illustrated Biography of Lord Grimm' by Daryl Gregory about the citizens of an Eastern European country run by a supervillain under attack by superheroes. But there is something here for everyone: old heroes and villains, young assistants discovering unusual powers and teaming up, a group of heroes based in South Korea and facing bureaucracy, among others.
I was especially pleased to find 'The Biggest' by James Patrick Kelly which is part of Adam Christopher's Worldbuilder project and takes place in the same universe as his novels 'Empire State' and 'The Age Atomic.'
While I like most of the stories, they seemed to focus more on the tedium of the job rather than how amazing it might be. I found this to get a bit old after a while, but maybe that's the state of superhero fiction in our enlightened age. Still, it's a great collection of stories and it was nice to discover some new authors.
February 24, 2013
I do love me some superheros. Granted I can’t tell you which Robin was which in what order, or name off every villain in the Marvel universe. But I do enjoy the occasional graphic novel reading or superhero movie. So I was really glad to get to read this collection. But will the review be good? How will Batman get rid of that bomb? What will Hulk smash today?
Ahem. Sorry about that. Seriously though, the review.
This collection of short stories was gathered together with the theme of superheroes in mind. A theme which scores instant points with me. The fact some of the stories are written by well-known writers (Peter S Beagle of “The Last Unicorn” fame for example.) only serve to give it more points.
In the end, what is the score? Read on gentle reader.
I enjoyed this collection so much. I’ll admit in many collections there is a story or two I will skip if it doesn’t grab my interest. That did not happen here. Every story had interesting characters or an engaging plot to it.
A wonderful collection of Superhero short stories that is indeed worth your time and money. So with that gentle reader I go on to my next book. To the bookmobile!
RATING: 10 out of 10.
Ahem. Sorry about that. Seriously though, the review.
This collection of short stories was gathered together with the theme of superheroes in mind. A theme which scores instant points with me. The fact some of the stories are written by well-known writers (Peter S Beagle of “The Last Unicorn” fame for example.) only serve to give it more points.
In the end, what is the score? Read on gentle reader.
I enjoyed this collection so much. I’ll admit in many collections there is a story or two I will skip if it doesn’t grab my interest. That did not happen here. Every story had interesting characters or an engaging plot to it.
A wonderful collection of Superhero short stories that is indeed worth your time and money. So with that gentle reader I go on to my next book. To the bookmobile!
RATING: 10 out of 10.
April 1, 2013
I'm absolutely delighted at the resurgence of super hero fiction hitting the shelves lately. I've been a HUGE fan of series such as Wild Cards and others for a very long time and its great to see the sub genre return in such a strong fashion.
While there have been several duds published recently, this is NOT one of them.
All of the stories were well-written and did an adequate job of capturing the four color appeal of "supes" in fiction.
Standouts include;
“Dirae” by Peter S. Beagle
“Wild Card” by Leah Bobet
“The Illustrated Biography of Lord Grimm” by Daryl Gregory
“Tonight We Fly” by Ian McDonald
But my two favorites were;
“Wonjiang and the Madman of Pyongyang” by Gord Sellar
“Super. Family.” by Ian Donald Keeling
There were a few stories which, while well written did not appeal to me. Overall the book is a good value for the money and I'd recommend it to any discerning reader with an interest in the genre.
While there have been several duds published recently, this is NOT one of them.
All of the stories were well-written and did an adequate job of capturing the four color appeal of "supes" in fiction.
Standouts include;
“Dirae” by Peter S. Beagle
“Wild Card” by Leah Bobet
“The Illustrated Biography of Lord Grimm” by Daryl Gregory
“Tonight We Fly” by Ian McDonald
But my two favorites were;
“Wonjiang and the Madman of Pyongyang” by Gord Sellar
“Super. Family.” by Ian Donald Keeling
There were a few stories which, while well written did not appeal to me. Overall the book is a good value for the money and I'd recommend it to any discerning reader with an interest in the genre.
January 28, 2014
These stories aren't about superheroes. Not really. They're about living on the edge of the superhero world. About being collateral damage. About family. About living with chaos. About being crazy. And, yes, about superheroes.
I really enjoyed this group of stories. Many had interesting twists. Sunlight Society was original and interesting. Secret Identity had a cool play on words.
Superhero Girl was short, yet amazing.
Super. Family. was a sweet story about - what else? - family.
Serendipity! Oddly enough, this anthology was picked to read for the (book club) during the same month as the novel Empire State - and one of the short stories (The Biggest) actually takes place in the world of the Empire State.
I really enjoyed this group of stories. Many had interesting twists. Sunlight Society was original and interesting. Secret Identity had a cool play on words.
Superhero Girl was short, yet amazing.
Super. Family. was a sweet story about - what else? - family.
Serendipity! Oddly enough, this anthology was picked to read for the (book club) during the same month as the novel Empire State - and one of the short stories (The Biggest) actually takes place in the world of the Empire State.
March 27, 2013
My first review so bare with me ... Was really excited to read this book. Growing up I always dreamed of being a superhero. So this book caught my attention right away. This collection of short stories all has to do with characters that have superpowers or close to that. The second short story kinda made me put this book down and I began reading other things. But I finally returned to it and I'm glad I did. There are a few stories I didn't really like. Two of them come to mind that made me want to stop reading. But the number of good stories outweigh the bad. So if the whole superhero genre is something your interested in. You might wanna pick this up and take a look.
May 4, 2013
I've become a fan of the superhero sub-genre in recent years, so picking up this themed collection of short stories was an obvious thing to do once it came to my attention. The stories ranged from 'meh' to 'excellent', which is a decent spread for this type of book.
The stories that stood out in my mind were "Wild Card" by Leah Bobet, "Heroic Measures" by Matthew Johnson, "Super. Family." by Ian Donald Keeling and "Dirae" by Peter S. Beagle. The last in particular was a real emotional gut-punch, extremely well-done.
Definitely worth the price for those interested in the genre.
The stories that stood out in my mind were "Wild Card" by Leah Bobet, "Heroic Measures" by Matthew Johnson, "Super. Family." by Ian Donald Keeling and "Dirae" by Peter S. Beagle. The last in particular was a real emotional gut-punch, extremely well-done.
Definitely worth the price for those interested in the genre.
September 16, 2015
Most of the short stories were really quite good. Some better then others, but overall a good selection. There was only one story that I thought was horrible. While some of the stories did the typical superhero storyline, many branched out. Some of the stories are about superheroes getting old, getting sick, having children, having minor super powers, or being delusional.
July 10, 2020
It's not every day you read a story about Korean superheroes. "Wonjjang and the Madman of Pyongyang" is about the Pan-Asia Super Squad and their ongoing battle against overbearing Korean mothers, duplicitous matchmakers, and soju-fueled karaoke parties. In a word: K-Pow!
February 7, 2016
I started to give this a 3 star, as the first stories did keep my attention, but was really pleased that the stories got better as I progressed until reaching the end, every story making me think "I'm really glad I read that!"
March 31, 2016
Solid superhero anthology with a wide range of writers, stories, and depth of content.
April 10, 2013
Some fun stories here, though a few of the early ones are skippable.
October 12, 2015
very entertaining short stories.
March 27, 2017
Superheroes have been enjoying a century of popularity, building on their predecessors the folk heroes, heroes of tall tales, and mythic heroes. The most successful of heroes are the ones that despite their uber-human status, grapple with their humanity and oh-so-human weaknesses. They also exemplify the potential contradiction between pubic and private personae.
This enjoyable anthology brings together 16 tales of larger-than-life heroes dealing with common themes: family, relationships, and aging. My favorite tale was Matthew Johnson's "Heroic Measures" meriting 5 stars. This heart-stirring/heart-breaking tale shows familiar, unnamed characters--with a very strong resemblance to Superman, Lois Lane, and Lex Luthur--grappling with the painful sorrow of old age. The very nature of heroism and bravery earns a new definition in this tale.
My honorable mentions, each with 4 stars, are:
--"Super. Family." by Ian Donald Keeling. Sparring with one's supervillain nemesis may make the papers, but raising teens is the real struggle . . .
-- Downfall by Joseph Mallozzi. The road to recovery is difficult and unappeciated. But it's also necessary for this reformed supervillain just trying to do right by his loved ones.
-- Wonjjang and the Madman of Pyongyang by Gord Sellar. Culture and politics clash when multinational superheroes try to do right by "the people."
I've reviewed and rated all of the tales. Also included are:
Beagle, Peter S.--"Dirae"--3 stars
Beyer, Kat--"The Strange Desserts of Professor Natalie Doom"--3 stars
Bobet, Leah--"Wild Card"--3 stars
Gregory, Daryl--"The Illustrated Biography of Lord Grimm"--3 stars
Kelly, James Patrick--"The Biggest"--3 stars
Marcade, Jei D.--"Superhero Girl"--3 stars
Ronald, Margaret--"Sunlight Society"--3 stars
Schutz, Aaron--"Dr. Death vs. the Vampire"--3 stars
Emshwiller, Carol--"Grandma"--2 stars
Fortin, Elana--"The Los Angeles Women's Auxiliary Superhero League"--2 stars
Link, Kelly--"Secret Identity"--2 stars
McDonald, Ian--"Tonight We Fly"--2 stars
I've previously reviewed a couple anthologies edited by Rich Horton:
The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy: 2015 --4 stars
The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy: 2016 --4 stars
This enjoyable anthology brings together 16 tales of larger-than-life heroes dealing with common themes: family, relationships, and aging. My favorite tale was Matthew Johnson's "Heroic Measures" meriting 5 stars. This heart-stirring/heart-breaking tale shows familiar, unnamed characters--with a very strong resemblance to Superman, Lois Lane, and Lex Luthur--grappling with the painful sorrow of old age. The very nature of heroism and bravery earns a new definition in this tale.
My honorable mentions, each with 4 stars, are:
--"Super. Family." by Ian Donald Keeling. Sparring with one's supervillain nemesis may make the papers, but raising teens is the real struggle . . .
-- Downfall by Joseph Mallozzi. The road to recovery is difficult and unappeciated. But it's also necessary for this reformed supervillain just trying to do right by his loved ones.
-- Wonjjang and the Madman of Pyongyang by Gord Sellar. Culture and politics clash when multinational superheroes try to do right by "the people."
I've reviewed and rated all of the tales. Also included are:
Beagle, Peter S.--"Dirae"--3 stars
Beyer, Kat--"The Strange Desserts of Professor Natalie Doom"--3 stars
Bobet, Leah--"Wild Card"--3 stars
Gregory, Daryl--"The Illustrated Biography of Lord Grimm"--3 stars
Kelly, James Patrick--"The Biggest"--3 stars
Marcade, Jei D.--"Superhero Girl"--3 stars
Ronald, Margaret--"Sunlight Society"--3 stars
Schutz, Aaron--"Dr. Death vs. the Vampire"--3 stars
Emshwiller, Carol--"Grandma"--2 stars
Fortin, Elana--"The Los Angeles Women's Auxiliary Superhero League"--2 stars
Link, Kelly--"Secret Identity"--2 stars
McDonald, Ian--"Tonight We Fly"--2 stars
I've previously reviewed a couple anthologies edited by Rich Horton:
The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy: 2015 --4 stars
The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy: 2016 --4 stars
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