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Super Powereds #5
Corpies
Titan was one of the nation’s most loved and respected Heroes, until an infidelity scandal tore his image and family apart. After decades spent out of the limelight, Owen Daniels has decided to take up the mantle of Titan once again to try and make amends for his years away. Unfortunately, the Titan Scandal is still common knowledge, and no Hero team wants such a polarizing figure. With no other options, Owen is forced to take a job overseeing a group of corpies, corporate-sponsored Supers who do rescue work… as long as there are cameras around.
Between a team that doesn’t want him, fellow Heroes who don’t trust him, and a nation that might not be ready to forgive the sins of the past, the return of Titan could prove even harder than the scandal that drove him away. But Owen will have to push on, because his new city is far from a peaceful one. A mysterious enemy is attacking Heroes and growing steadily stronger. An enemy that only the once-legendary Titan might be able to stop.
If he can manage to stick around this time.
Between a team that doesn’t want him, fellow Heroes who don’t trust him, and a nation that might not be ready to forgive the sins of the past, the return of Titan could prove even harder than the scandal that drove him away. But Owen will have to push on, because his new city is far from a peaceful one. A mysterious enemy is attacking Heroes and growing steadily stronger. An enemy that only the once-legendary Titan might be able to stop.
If he can manage to stick around this time.
392 pages, Hardcover
First published April 13, 2016
374 people are currently reading
918 people want to read
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March 10, 2019
Corpies is an excellent addition to the world of Super Powereds. I didn't expect to like it as much as I did, considering I LOVED Super Powereds so much and this was an entirely separate part of the world Drew Hayes was focusing on, but, of course, when it comes to Drew Hayes novels I should have expected to love it. I have yet to find a book by him I haven't loved, and this was no exception.
This book's main character is a lovely mixture of grey. He's not just good or bad. He's done some bad things, but you can certainly see his side of things. They are still bad, and when I was going into the story knowing this character was focusing on him, I was concerned I wouldn't like it as much, however, the beautiful thing Drew Hayes does is sheds light on his side of things. The best thing about the main character, Titan, is that he doesn't make excuses for what he did, and he lets his actions speak much louder than his words, which is why I liked him so much more.
I hope there's more of these spin-off books. Whether they focus on Titan, other heroes, or other supers. All I know is that if Drew Hayes does come out with more, it will be phenomenal.
Read in 2016
Re-read in 2017
This book's main character is a lovely mixture of grey. He's not just good or bad. He's done some bad things, but you can certainly see his side of things. They are still bad, and when I was going into the story knowing this character was focusing on him, I was concerned I wouldn't like it as much, however, the beautiful thing Drew Hayes does is sheds light on his side of things. The best thing about the main character, Titan, is that he doesn't make excuses for what he did, and he lets his actions speak much louder than his words, which is why I liked him so much more.
I hope there's more of these spin-off books. Whether they focus on Titan, other heroes, or other supers. All I know is that if Drew Hayes does come out with more, it will be phenomenal.
Read in 2016
Re-read in 2017
July 26, 2020
Rating 4.0 stars.
Re-read May 2019. Best drink name ever was written about in this book- Adios Motherfu**er. Basically long island with double the alcohol, blue caracao instead of triple sec and sprite instead of coke. I wonder if it is a real drink? Original review below.
While this book is not quite as good as the super powered's series, it still no same or old with the same author and the same narrator, which means are still had a good time while listening. The story follows Titan, disgrace tomorrow and father of Roy and Hershel from the before mentioned series. As far as the timeline goals it takes place after book 2, and during book 3 of the super powered's series. If anyone hasn't read the super powered series yet this is the only warning, I'm about to get more storylines and plots from book 1 and 2.
After Roy and Herschel come to see their father in Colorado to help with Roy's power plateau problem, and he is confronted with how much they hate him, not because he is gay, but because he acted cowardly by leaving, he comes to realize that he has been running away acting scared. Titan wants to come back to the hero world and try to make amends for everything he did wrong in the past, so he comes out of retirement. The only problem is that no team wants to work with him, except for 1 team of corpies (or PEERS). These are non hero supers that have corporate funding to help with rescue operations. They are only allowed to use their powers to help with rescue operations and cannot use their powers to fight criminals. Because a lot, if not most, rescue operations are caused by some super or powered individual (or group), the team needs a Hero liaison in order to function. Almost every hero looks down on Corpies as wanna-be heroes and any hero that works with them are considered sellouts.
The story was enjoyable but again, I liked the super powered's storyline better. While Titan is gay and that was the reason he left the hero community in the first place, Titans sexuality did not play much of a role in this story, at least not directly. There were some comments about his sexuality in the beginning, but it seemed that leaving the hero world was much worse than the reason he left the hero community. Another thing about the story that was not as good is that Titan was too powerful. There was never a situation that he was actually in any real trouble, so there was not as much suspense.
If you liked the Super Powered's series, then you will definitely like this book. Plus it fills in some gaps between the end of book 3 and book 4.
Re-read May 2019. Best drink name ever was written about in this book- Adios Motherfu**er. Basically long island with double the alcohol, blue caracao instead of triple sec and sprite instead of coke. I wonder if it is a real drink? Original review below.
While this book is not quite as good as the super powered's series, it still no same or old with the same author and the same narrator, which means are still had a good time while listening. The story follows Titan, disgrace tomorrow and father of Roy and Hershel from the before mentioned series. As far as the timeline goals it takes place after book 2, and during book 3 of the super powered's series. If anyone hasn't read the super powered series yet this is the only warning, I'm about to get more storylines and plots from book 1 and 2.
After Roy and Herschel come to see their father in Colorado to help with Roy's power plateau problem, and he is confronted with how much they hate him, not because he is gay, but because he acted cowardly by leaving, he comes to realize that he has been running away acting scared. Titan wants to come back to the hero world and try to make amends for everything he did wrong in the past, so he comes out of retirement. The only problem is that no team wants to work with him, except for 1 team of corpies (or PEERS). These are non hero supers that have corporate funding to help with rescue operations. They are only allowed to use their powers to help with rescue operations and cannot use their powers to fight criminals. Because a lot, if not most, rescue operations are caused by some super or powered individual (or group), the team needs a Hero liaison in order to function. Almost every hero looks down on Corpies as wanna-be heroes and any hero that works with them are considered sellouts.
The story was enjoyable but again, I liked the super powered's storyline better. While Titan is gay and that was the reason he left the hero community in the first place, Titans sexuality did not play much of a role in this story, at least not directly. There were some comments about his sexuality in the beginning, but it seemed that leaving the hero world was much worse than the reason he left the hero community. Another thing about the story that was not as good is that Titan was too powerful. There was never a situation that he was actually in any real trouble, so there was not as much suspense.
If you liked the Super Powered's series, then you will definitely like this book. Plus it fills in some gaps between the end of book 3 and book 4.
March 3, 2021
4.5/5
CORPIES is a spin-off of Drew Hayes' SUPER POWEREDS series but can read as a stand-alone. I read the Super Powereds series first and really enjoyed it, so I was interested in picking this up. I'm also a fan of Drew Hayes' other series like FRED THE VAMPIRE ACCOUNTANT and VILLAINS' CODE. So, I was eager to pick this one up. I actually think this is probably my second favorite of his works as Villain's Code just barely edges it out.
The premise is that the hero formerly known as Titan has returned. Titan quit being a superhero a decade ago due to the fact he was outed as a gay man during a time when it was less accepted than now. It wasn't doubly ugly because he was married with children at the time. Inspired to return, his reputation is still mud and he has to join with a band of corporate sponsored rescue workers (PEERS if you're being polite, CORPIES if you're not) instead of proper Heroes.
Corpies are basically the Minor Leagues of superheroes and Titan is resentful of being stuck with them. If I were to draw a comparison, it's like if Superman returned out of retirement and was forced to join the Great Lakes Avengers. I really like this premise because while Titan holds prejudice against the idea of corporate-sponsored superheroism, he's polite and professional about it for the most part. The PEERS heroes are not jokes, either. They may not have degrees in heroism but they're all decent people who have proper power-sets. It just wasn't quite enough to get them into the big leagues or they had complications.
This is a bit more action packed as a series than Super Powereds and Villain's Code both, focusing on the emergency work that the city of Brewster needs. This includes frequent robot attacks, super-powered gang warfare, and Powereds losing control of their abilities. I actually didn't think this was necessary because I was enjoying the slice of life stories that came with being a corporate hero. I liked all the publicity, public relations snafus, and other things designed to promote them as celebrities capable of raising their sponsor's status.
I'm far from alone but my favorite character in the book is easily Hexcellent. A Goth girl summoner who is aware that she's beloved by marketing for her sex appeal as much as her ability to create enormous magical constructs,
Hexcellent is a character tailor made for me. I can't say I disliked any of the main team, though. I also liked the sex scandal with Bubble Bubble, too, who has to deal with her good girl image being smashed by an ex-lover. Frankly, I think it was a bit too mild of a scandal and anyone could have taken care of it let alone our hero's super-agent.
One thing I like about Corpies is the fact that it is one of the rare depictions of corporations in media where they're not pure evil. As much as I'm an enemy of late stage capitalism as any First Worlder can be, I do think it gets a bit tiresome seeing executives engaged in nefarious ne'er do wellery. So it's nice to see the corporates really just want to try to increase our heroes' brand and don't mind if they do a bunch of good on the side. Hell, they encourage it since it's good business not to lose the city they're based in.
If I had any problem with the story, I would have appreciated some more insight into the timing and nature of Titan's fall. If the book is set in the timeline of the book's release, Titan's fall was somewhere around 2000 and gay/straight relations have changed a lot since then. I would have liked to have known what specifically people felt about it a bit more and how they reacted to his return. Then again, maybe that's asking a bit much for a fun popcorn book. As such, this is also formatted in a somewhat odd way that readers should be warned of beforehand.
In conclusion, I really liked this book and am kind of sad that it didn't become a full-fledged alternative series to Super Powereds.
CORPIES is a spin-off of Drew Hayes' SUPER POWEREDS series but can read as a stand-alone. I read the Super Powereds series first and really enjoyed it, so I was interested in picking this up. I'm also a fan of Drew Hayes' other series like FRED THE VAMPIRE ACCOUNTANT and VILLAINS' CODE. So, I was eager to pick this one up. I actually think this is probably my second favorite of his works as Villain's Code just barely edges it out.
The premise is that the hero formerly known as Titan has returned. Titan quit being a superhero a decade ago due to the fact he was outed as a gay man during a time when it was less accepted than now. It wasn't doubly ugly because he was married with children at the time. Inspired to return, his reputation is still mud and he has to join with a band of corporate sponsored rescue workers (PEERS if you're being polite, CORPIES if you're not) instead of proper Heroes.
Corpies are basically the Minor Leagues of superheroes and Titan is resentful of being stuck with them. If I were to draw a comparison, it's like if Superman returned out of retirement and was forced to join the Great Lakes Avengers. I really like this premise because while Titan holds prejudice against the idea of corporate-sponsored superheroism, he's polite and professional about it for the most part. The PEERS heroes are not jokes, either. They may not have degrees in heroism but they're all decent people who have proper power-sets. It just wasn't quite enough to get them into the big leagues or they had complications.
This is a bit more action packed as a series than Super Powereds and Villain's Code both, focusing on the emergency work that the city of Brewster needs. This includes frequent robot attacks, super-powered gang warfare, and Powereds losing control of their abilities. I actually didn't think this was necessary because I was enjoying the slice of life stories that came with being a corporate hero. I liked all the publicity, public relations snafus, and other things designed to promote them as celebrities capable of raising their sponsor's status.
I'm far from alone but my favorite character in the book is easily Hexcellent. A Goth girl summoner who is aware that she's beloved by marketing for her sex appeal as much as her ability to create enormous magical constructs,
Hexcellent is a character tailor made for me. I can't say I disliked any of the main team, though. I also liked the sex scandal with Bubble Bubble, too, who has to deal with her good girl image being smashed by an ex-lover. Frankly, I think it was a bit too mild of a scandal and anyone could have taken care of it let alone our hero's super-agent.
One thing I like about Corpies is the fact that it is one of the rare depictions of corporations in media where they're not pure evil. As much as I'm an enemy of late stage capitalism as any First Worlder can be, I do think it gets a bit tiresome seeing executives engaged in nefarious ne'er do wellery. So it's nice to see the corporates really just want to try to increase our heroes' brand and don't mind if they do a bunch of good on the side. Hell, they encourage it since it's good business not to lose the city they're based in.
If I had any problem with the story, I would have appreciated some more insight into the timing and nature of Titan's fall. If the book is set in the timeline of the book's release, Titan's fall was somewhere around 2000 and gay/straight relations have changed a lot since then. I would have liked to have known what specifically people felt about it a bit more and how they reacted to his return. Then again, maybe that's asking a bit much for a fun popcorn book. As such, this is also formatted in a somewhat odd way that readers should be warned of beforehand.
In conclusion, I really liked this book and am kind of sad that it didn't become a full-fledged alternative series to Super Powereds.
December 20, 2016
Yes love. I can't think clearly right now because I am very seriously am having so many emotions right now for a SIDE series. Like I don't even want this to be simply a side series. I could be okay with the main series a minor primer for THIS. (okay thinking more clearly, I am pretty attached to all of the Landers people... I am not sure I could ever put them to minor status. Owen can't be either. This is his series unlike Landers being about 15-ish. Disagree if you like on the number of Landers but each person is so well written. I am not simply focused on the students but the teachers, parents, and uh others? Corpies is also done just as well but too spoilery for any explanation. Also this is just the 1st I hope in like 100, I hope =P.)
Look I don't care for romance in a big way. It isn't 100% necessary in anything I read. But Owen/Titan is a hero returning to the scene after being media shamed for having an gay affair while maintaining a straight family. We get the justified anger of LBGTQ for him hiding it. We already have the extremely justified resentment from his children in the main series. I don't need them to be pushed into accepting him, because being abandoned is absolutely awful. There is barely any legit gay hating in this story. There is a man in his 50s trying and learning to be a better person, not just a hero. This is the "It's Never too late to be who you want to be" story. Most of his friends are retired, dead, or due to his disgrace don't want him around, yet he isn't sitting back hiding at his bar when there are people who need him - weather they like it or not. Romance is pretty damn minor as it should be in this story. I don't dare ruin anything but I support Owen's choices in weather he is capable of moving on with that aspect of his life or not. I am just happy it was addressed because of how big of a part it is to his past.
I really had so many other things I thought about this story but I have forgotten everything with that epilogue. Absolutely convinced, Thank you Corpies, will be reading Drew Hayes site to keep up from now on. Then you can 100% guarantee I will be buying the books when released in audio format.
Look I don't care for romance in a big way. It isn't 100% necessary in anything I read. But Owen/Titan is a hero returning to the scene after being media shamed for having an gay affair while maintaining a straight family. We get the justified anger of LBGTQ for him hiding it. We already have the extremely justified resentment from his children in the main series. I don't need them to be pushed into accepting him, because being abandoned is absolutely awful. There is barely any legit gay hating in this story. There is a man in his 50s trying and learning to be a better person, not just a hero. This is the "It's Never too late to be who you want to be" story. Most of his friends are retired, dead, or due to his disgrace don't want him around, yet he isn't sitting back hiding at his bar when there are people who need him - weather they like it or not. Romance is pretty damn minor as it should be in this story. I don't dare ruin anything but I support Owen's choices in weather he is capable of moving on with that aspect of his life or not. I am just happy it was addressed because of how big of a part it is to his past.
I really had so many other things I thought about this story but I have forgotten everything with that epilogue. Absolutely convinced, Thank you Corpies, will be reading Drew Hayes site to keep up from now on. Then you can 100% guarantee I will be buying the books when released in audio format.
March 14, 2017
[Bleep]. Now what do I read?
I enjoyed the Super Powereds series. Owen was mentioned and shown as a bit of a tragic figure, but he was barely more than a blip in the whole series. Now we get to meet him and his team of PEERs and as in most of Drew's other books, his characters are compelling. You know, as in compelling you to keep reading. The basics are: it's a really good story with some great supporting cast members. I really want to see more of Owen's life, PEERs team, and maybe a giant bunny soon.
Also, Kyle's superhero voice is great.
I enjoyed the Super Powereds series. Owen was mentioned and shown as a bit of a tragic figure, but he was barely more than a blip in the whole series. Now we get to meet him and his team of PEERs and as in most of Drew's other books, his characters are compelling. You know, as in compelling you to keep reading. The basics are: it's a really good story with some great supporting cast members. I really want to see more of Owen's life, PEERs team, and maybe a giant bunny soon.
Also, Kyle's superhero voice is great.
August 8, 2017
After reading Super Powereds Year 2 and finding out about Hershel and Roy's father, Titan, I was curious how this book would go. I read a lot of MM romance and other LGBTQI fiction. Having a gay character in a book not targeted at a particular audience was pretty cool . This book is part of a super hero series. This particular story is about a hero who happens to be gay.
The characters, both heroes and supers, are battling villains, giant robots and dealing with prejudices from people without super hero abilities as well as other supers, heroes and powereds. You would think all people with "super" abilities would support one another, but this is not the case, as it often is in real life. The story also deals with the prejudices some people have for those who have a different sexuality than themselves. I enjoyed finding out more about Titan's character, what drove him to the choices he made, how others reacted and what has changed now that he has re-entered the hero world again. The story is fun, fast paced, has an awesome cast of characters and I have to say Hexcellent is one of my all time favorite characters.
I listened to the audiobook and I love the narration. Kyle McCarley does a wonderful job
A wonderful spinoff to the Super Powereds series. On to year three.
The characters, both heroes and supers, are battling villains, giant robots and dealing with prejudices from people without super hero abilities as well as other supers, heroes and powereds. You would think all people with "super" abilities would support one another, but this is not the case, as it often is in real life. The story also deals with the prejudices some people have for those who have a different sexuality than themselves. I enjoyed finding out more about Titan's character, what drove him to the choices he made, how others reacted and what has changed now that he has re-entered the hero world again. The story is fun, fast paced, has an awesome cast of characters and I have to say Hexcellent is one of my all time favorite characters.
I listened to the audiobook and I love the narration. Kyle McCarley does a wonderful job
A wonderful spinoff to the Super Powereds series. On to year three.
May 8, 2019
4 stars, maybe 4.5, I liked the other powers book as well but I think this one is even better.
December 16, 2022
Re-read 14-2-2020 --- 5 stars
Corpies is the first spin-off novel from the Super Powered series by Drew Hayes.
Owen Daniels formerly known as the superhero Titan, is a washed up figure more known for the scandal that ruined him, than any other deed he ever did. Having got a firm kick in the ass (metaphorically speaking, you'd break your foot otherwise) Owen decides to get back into the Life and say sorry to the world. With actions rather than words. Except no-one really wants to have anything to do with him any longer. So he has to start with the lowest of the low.... Corporate sponsored hero rip-offs: Corpies.
This novel gives us a whole new look at the world of Super Powered. This is the life outside the walls of the Lander's HCP. With Owen/ Titan as a main character we get to see far more than we ever did. From active to retired heroes, Prejudice to open-mindedness and much more in a world with supers. The characters were well written and well developed.
Overall this was a well written novel with a solid plot, interesting characters and a sympathetic lead.
Corpies is the first spin-off novel from the Super Powered series by Drew Hayes.
Owen Daniels formerly known as the superhero Titan, is a washed up figure more known for the scandal that ruined him, than any other deed he ever did. Having got a firm kick in the ass (metaphorically speaking, you'd break your foot otherwise) Owen decides to get back into the Life and say sorry to the world. With actions rather than words. Except no-one really wants to have anything to do with him any longer. So he has to start with the lowest of the low.... Corporate sponsored hero rip-offs: Corpies.
This novel gives us a whole new look at the world of Super Powered. This is the life outside the walls of the Lander's HCP. With Owen/ Titan as a main character we get to see far more than we ever did. From active to retired heroes, Prejudice to open-mindedness and much more in a world with supers. The characters were well written and well developed.
Overall this was a well written novel with a solid plot, interesting characters and a sympathetic lead.
July 5, 2024
Sērijā kā tādā vēl eksistē Corpies grāmata, kas Goodreads portālā sēriju kopumā skatot ir atzīmēta kā piektā pēc kārtas, bet pārlūka vēsturē kā #2,5, kas pēc hronoloģiskā laika būtu krietni iederīgāk, jo ceturtajā ir moments, kad Roja/Heršela (dubulta personība) varonis piemin tēva Titāna (vērā ņemami labs progress tēva-dēla attiecībās sērijas gaitā) kulminācijas punkta cīņu no Corpies.
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https://poseidons99.wordpress.com/202...
April 7, 2023
Plot was somewhat predictable, but that's alright when the story is still this much fun to read!
September 24, 2022
(1) Why did no one tell me to read this BEFORE Super-Powereds 4? :(
(2) LOVED the Hexcellent character
(3) This would make a great movie!
4.25 stars
(2) LOVED the Hexcellent character
(3) This would make a great movie!
4.25 stars
March 1, 2022
I like this book a lot. I think it is an excellent, almost needed book for the Super Powereds series. Owen/Titan is a very compelling and lovable character with a lot of heart. The world building is fluid and fleshed out, and the characters are all spectacular. Hayes shines the most when he is showing his characters.
Much like my other reviews, I am gonna try to list off what I like and dislike. But I still think this is a great book and one that most people can enjoy.
1. The Titan Scandal. One thing I feel readers should know going into this book is that there might be expectations/questions you as a reader want to see/know, and they will not be addressed. The main thing that falls into this category for me is the Titan Scandal. If you read Super Powereds before reading Corpies, you will know about this event from the perspective of a different character. If you find out about it in this book, you learn about it from Owen/Lenny.
Regardless, you find out that Titan was a family man who was caught by the media/paparazzi cheating on his wife with another hero named Tower, who is a man. And really, that is all the information you are going to get on this topic. So if you go into this book expecting any information or backstory or clue to the what exactly happened with the scandal, you will be disappointed. The book does not care about solving the mystery of the Titan Scandal. Which is disappointing. It feels like a giant plot point of information that the entire world knows about, but the author is refusing to elaborate on for the readers.
You never learn about who Titan's partner was, save for a name you've never heard before. You don't know if it was a slow burn or a first encounter, or if they were even on the same hero team. You don't know how or why they were together. And I find that frustrating because I wanted to know what happened. If Titan was even still in a relationship with the guy or not. It would have established more weight into the actions of what happened. Would have made me care a little bit more about Owen's side of the story in the event, or at least make his story more empathetic.
I kept waiting for information to come up about it, since the Titan Scandal was what pushed Titan out of the Hero business and what started the falling out with his family. When we had the encounter with Zone I was on edge waiting to get more pieces to the puzzle. Then surely when Bubble Bubble's own scandal dropped I was confident that we'd get more details. But nope. Just words saying "you didn't do anything wrong" coming from Titan. (I want to clarify that I agree that Bubble Bubble didn't do anything wrong. She didn't.) This was clearly a literary device to see comparisons between Titan and Bubble Bubble, and yet I know more about her scandal than the one that impacted the main character.
We don't even get any flashbacks or insight into Owen when he ran a gay bar. Which? Why are you running a gay bar if you are supposedly celibate for the last 10 years. Why a gay bar? Why not a regular bar? Why not a bookstore, or gym, or pet store, or whatever. Until a friend reminded me, I had forgotten entirely that he even ran a gay bar. Because it never comes up. It just feels like yet another aspect of his character is MIA for me.
So this was both an unsolved mystery for me as a reader, since we never learn about the circumstances of how Titan fell from grace, and it feels like a failed opportunity to explore a superhero who is gay. You can read this entire book, and save for a few lines of dialogue, completely ignore the fact that Owen is supposed to be gay. It feels... really disingenuous to say that Owen is a gay superhero, because it literally never comes up within the story. Because that isn't what this story is really about.
This is not a story about coming out, not about being gay, and not a romance. This is a story about owning mistakes, and learning how to be a father/parental figure. And this is a good story to tell, don't get me wrong. I love a lot of the character growth that Owen has in this book. I think Hayes handles these themes really well. But if you are going to throw a world changing scandal event about a closeted gay character, then I wanted to see more information about that and how it impacts/impacted the main character. So this is a big plot point of the book that I feel was not well done for a book centered entirely around Owen. I didn't mind it being glossed over in Super Powereds because the Titan Scandal is not an important story beat in those books. It was never about Titan, but how Owen's absence affected Roy/Hershel.
2. Jeremiah. I love his character. I just feel bad because I think he was pretty wasted in this book as a potential romantic interest. This circles back to my previous point a little bit. This is not a book centered on romance. It is not trying to push any boundaries with showing gay heroes or couples. Canonically, the only gay couple in the Super Powereds world building are L-Ray and Steve. Titan and Jeremiah are the only other named gay characters. And zero of these characters have an on screen, on purpose, displays of affection relationship. L-Ray and Steve are side characters, and Owen and Jeremiah aren't even dating.
And this is because I feel like this series doesn't want to shake the boat. I suffered through all the blushy, heart racing, sex focused and relationship nonsense in Super Powereds. Julia and Roy, Mary and Hershel, Vince with Sasha and later Camille, etc. Each one has scenes with blushing and internal monologues about liking the other person and thinking about them. Heck we even see Dean Blaine pinning over Chad's mom, Alice's dad obsessing over her mom, and Clarissa mourning her unrequited love. So characters across the board all smitten with each other. We get the estranged relationship between Nick and Alice even. For all those characters, they get to explore their emotions and feelings. But Owen and Jeremiah? No. It feels like a business relationship - because it is one. And the finale feels flat because there's no buildup to it at all.
Jeremiah initiates a relationship with Owen, but it doesn't go anywhere. After that literally nothing except platonic nonsense happens. Owen doesn't even get lost in thought about it. So it just feels flat. And this is another area that I wish the author would have done more of. If I am supposed to care and be excited about Owen dating again, then I want to see it happen. I want to see the dinner, or see Owen wanting to do it. At the end, having listened to it a couple times, it sounds like he's going just because he thinks he should. Not because he actually even likes the guy.
He lists off things like: Jeremiah doesn't age (just like Titan), he doesn't need to be protected, he has interesting superpowers. It feels like a freaking checklist. Then Owen literally says, "I just decided to try something new. We can always call it off if you get too annoying." And it is played as banter, but it's actually completely accurate. Owen doesn't care about Jeremiah. He really is just trying something new like dating again. So the finale feels really out of place. It doesn't feel like a high note to end on. I think it should have been flipped with the scene with Hexcellent. Which leads me to:
3. Owen learning to be a father/parental figure. One of the best aspects about the book. Now that I have vented my frustrations out, I can focus on this gem. Starting from the beginning of the book, we meet Owen and see that he has renewed dedication in joining the hero game. He knows he messed up and feels a sense of guilt for having run away from the life after his scandal. And his first opportunity back in the game is with the bench-warmers that are Corpies/PEERs. Right off the bat he sees them as weak imitations and children pretending to be Heroes.
He even refers to them as kids throughout the book. After a lot of insight and counseling with his old teammates and agent, he begins to see them as people. Getting to know how skilled a leader Galvanize is. How repressed and driven Bubble Bubbles is. How confident and unapologetic Hexcellent is. And how jealous and hurt Zone is. Each one is a new person and they all wiggle their way into Owen's heart by the end of the book. He even comments on having wanted a daughter when he is with Hexcellent near the end. (Which would've been a stronger ending than the Jeremiah scene.)
In a lot of ways, Owen is learning and experiencing what having kids is like. He missed out on that with Roy and Hershel. But here you can see him learning about trying to understand them on a personal, deep level. Each one's struggles are unique and they teach him how to open up again and how to be himself. No doubt as a way for Owen to get up enough courage and skill to approach his sons. He learns how to comfort and support Bubble Bubble. He learns to respect the intellect and leadership of Galvanize. He learns to accept and apologize with Zone. And he learns to love (parentally) openly with Hexcellent.
Let me clarify the last one a little bit. I am not saying Owen stopped loving Roy/Hershel. He does, and always has. But he stopped loving them openly and keeps them at a distance. He sees them as the children in the photos in his mind. I am sure that had he asked for them, He could have up to date and current pictures of both boys. But he keeps the ones with them together. And he reminisces on how they had been when he was there. Through Hexcellent as an allegory, Owen begins to see the boys as they are now. Hexcellent's summons being based on fear/loneliness and of a childhood fear, is comparable to Roy/Hershel's own fear and loneliness after Owen left.
Each one of the PEERs team is there to help Owen overcome the aftermath of the scandal and is a test to Owen coming back. Had Owen gone solo, or hung up the cape again, he would not have had the willpower or courage to show up in Year 3. And that is why this is such a great book. It is an opportunity to see this character redeem himself through actions and self growth. It also shows the story of a man learning how to be a father. And I love it for that.
4. This is also a book about overcoming mistakes. A book about redemption and owning one's guilt. One of the major reasons this book thrives is because it focuses on one aspect of Hero life that none of the others in the series has: guilt. The pain of not being there, and because of that people died/got hurt. This is seen most vividly with the Wild Bucks/Zone in my opinion.
The Wild Bucks are a team of strongmen who royally fucked up and have to come to terms that, through direct or indirect action, people died. The scene where Owen meets all 3 of them shows this best. Each person is a parallel to what Owen is going through on a larger scale. Again a literary comparison.
Juiced is the argumentative one; trying to down play her guilt and involvement. Distancing herself from what happened, like how Owen ran off to run a gay bar. Putting distance between those that got hurt and themselves. Juiced is the side of Owen that tries to hide. Owen brings up bigotry often through this book and once in Year 3. Claiming that his orientation is the reason a lot of people hate him. Though it is usually told to the reader by other characters. Lenny talks about it in the beginning, his old Dean brings it up, the question about being a gay hero that Jeremiah answers. Owen brings up the gay bar/life in Year 3 as the reason why his sons hate him. (Though Roy calls bullshit on it immediately. Love you Roy.) It's a familiar crutch to lean on instead of facing the real issue of his abandonment and false image.
Kaijou is the parallel to emotional burden. It is Kaijou saying he thought it was 8 people, not 9. Kaijou is the parallel to Owen's list of tangible victims, but also his sons and ex wife. Owen's actions hurting his sons who had idolized him, and who were abandoned by him. Kaijou is the allegory for empathy and pain that Owen also went through/is going through.
Deadlift is the parallel to ignoring the past/heavily focusing on the future. Trying to ignore the mistake by overly emphasizing the future and trying to wipe the slate clean. He even brings up wanting a 'fresh start' the same way that Owen tried to re-enter the Hero world and join a new team. Owen faces his own past in accepting that the past is a part of who he is, and how the Wild Bucks are always going to have their past on their records. This is also why Deadlift gets the most screen time imo. Because the heart of the story really comes to Titan/Owen truly making peace with his own past.
Zone represents another aspect of Owen's guilt. The kind that no matter what Owen does going forward, he will still have a level of guilt on his conscience. A part of his life that he can never get back. The guilt of not being there for his family, the guilt of letting others fight/die when he could have stepped in, and the guilt of doing nothing. Zone is not mad at any action that Titan/Owen did. Zone's pain is one of absence and abandonment. The same pain that Owen's sons felt. That by inaction, Titan's decision to leave the Hero life hurt other Super's and LGBT people.
I love how Hayes used these characters and scenes to truly show a story of overcoming mistakes and personal growth. Owen is a flawed, and earnest character. He is arrogant, he is a coward, he is hurt, and he gets back up again. It makes for a much better story than a flawless 1 dimensional hero.
5. The Antagonists. This is mostly Gale tbh. I... I don't like Gale. I know she is necessary because... they needed a way to show off Titan's powers before the end battle. But idk man. She just seemed like a really boring cartoon to me. Part of it was because I thought she was a few years out of HCP. Like mid 20s for most of the book until a friend told me she was way older than that. But she just felt... blah. Like I know she loves her city and that she wants to keep out glory-hungry Heroes. But she just felt forced most of the time. I loved her scene with the Powered girl and thought she would be a neutral Hero since she didn't actively hate Titan. But the pissing contest felt just like that.
And the author telling me that the match was a pissing contest, did not help. I did, however, like that none of her team felt the same way as she did. Because they thought it was stupid, and that's how I felt. But now that I know she is older, it feels even more stupid. She should know how strong and resourceful Titan is. The ambush was better, but still... you should have footage and stories that demonstrate that Titan is not just a meat head. He was out of the game for 10 years, not 40. They had cameras/reporters in the 90s. And that is me being generous, this was published in 2016, which means that 10 years ago would've been mid 2000s.
The other antagonist I did not like was the... last battle one. Mostly because it feels like there is no way that a game left plugged in for half a year would be the escalation for the final battle. I kept waiting for it to somehow tie in to the events at the end of Year 3. Or to a villain that was introduced into the series before. Or even an old rival or something. Maybe even Tower (though I am glad it was not Tower). This villain just seemed so random and uninvolved in the ongoing of the world at large. It very much felt like a super hero comic book. That the bad guy is just a Scooby-Doo villain with no plot relevance outside of the comic it is in. I just wanted a better tie in to the world.
6. The world building. Now I said at the start of this review that I feel this is a great addition and almost required reading for the Super Powereds series. And that is because this book finally answered a lot of the questions I have about how the world works outside of one hero college program in California. A major negative in Year 3 for me was that I had no stakes in the world at large that all the HCP kids are supposed to be saving. This book answers a lot of that.
We learn about PEERs response teams and how civis are evacuated. We learn about clean up services and how cities allocate funds for it. We learn how hero teams rotate patrols. Things like marketing events, communications through Dispatch (who is wonderful! I love her!!! I fan theory that she is Abridail's mom. No evidence but I love the idea). We learn about charity events and the Powered charity that was mentioned in Year 3. I finally feel like I know how the world works now.
This book did a great job of grounding the world in a way that now I care about what goes on after graduation. I wish it was done in the series proper, but I do like that it exists here at least. And while I did love it, I wanted more mentions of events from the other books. I think a reporter asking Titan about it would have been nice. Connecting the civis and media. I don't know exactly how old Titan is, but I think he'd have been around when Globe was still active. But Dean Jackson at least brings it up. Another side comment about the disappearing Wildfire from book 1 would have been fun. Maybe Jeremiah mentioning it as a potential fuel source or something.
The reason I give this 3/5 stars is because I felt a lot of potential was there and not explored. Both with the Titan Scandal and with romance through Jeremiah. The characters are fleshed out and vivid, acting as allegories to the larger story. The world is defined and grounds the reader in clear stakes that make the actions of the characters matter.
Much like my other reviews, I am gonna try to list off what I like and dislike. But I still think this is a great book and one that most people can enjoy.
1. The Titan Scandal. One thing I feel readers should know going into this book is that there might be expectations/questions you as a reader want to see/know, and they will not be addressed. The main thing that falls into this category for me is the Titan Scandal. If you read Super Powereds before reading Corpies, you will know about this event from the perspective of a different character. If you find out about it in this book, you learn about it from Owen/Lenny.
Regardless, you find out that Titan was a family man who was caught by the media/paparazzi cheating on his wife with another hero named Tower, who is a man. And really, that is all the information you are going to get on this topic. So if you go into this book expecting any information or backstory or clue to the what exactly happened with the scandal, you will be disappointed. The book does not care about solving the mystery of the Titan Scandal. Which is disappointing. It feels like a giant plot point of information that the entire world knows about, but the author is refusing to elaborate on for the readers.
You never learn about who Titan's partner was, save for a name you've never heard before. You don't know if it was a slow burn or a first encounter, or if they were even on the same hero team. You don't know how or why they were together. And I find that frustrating because I wanted to know what happened. If Titan was even still in a relationship with the guy or not. It would have established more weight into the actions of what happened. Would have made me care a little bit more about Owen's side of the story in the event, or at least make his story more empathetic.
I kept waiting for information to come up about it, since the Titan Scandal was what pushed Titan out of the Hero business and what started the falling out with his family. When we had the encounter with Zone I was on edge waiting to get more pieces to the puzzle. Then surely when Bubble Bubble's own scandal dropped I was confident that we'd get more details. But nope. Just words saying "you didn't do anything wrong" coming from Titan. (I want to clarify that I agree that Bubble Bubble didn't do anything wrong. She didn't.) This was clearly a literary device to see comparisons between Titan and Bubble Bubble, and yet I know more about her scandal than the one that impacted the main character.
We don't even get any flashbacks or insight into Owen when he ran a gay bar. Which? Why are you running a gay bar if you are supposedly celibate for the last 10 years. Why a gay bar? Why not a regular bar? Why not a bookstore, or gym, or pet store, or whatever. Until a friend reminded me, I had forgotten entirely that he even ran a gay bar. Because it never comes up. It just feels like yet another aspect of his character is MIA for me.
So this was both an unsolved mystery for me as a reader, since we never learn about the circumstances of how Titan fell from grace, and it feels like a failed opportunity to explore a superhero who is gay. You can read this entire book, and save for a few lines of dialogue, completely ignore the fact that Owen is supposed to be gay. It feels... really disingenuous to say that Owen is a gay superhero, because it literally never comes up within the story. Because that isn't what this story is really about.
This is not a story about coming out, not about being gay, and not a romance. This is a story about owning mistakes, and learning how to be a father/parental figure. And this is a good story to tell, don't get me wrong. I love a lot of the character growth that Owen has in this book. I think Hayes handles these themes really well. But if you are going to throw a world changing scandal event about a closeted gay character, then I wanted to see more information about that and how it impacts/impacted the main character. So this is a big plot point of the book that I feel was not well done for a book centered entirely around Owen. I didn't mind it being glossed over in Super Powereds because the Titan Scandal is not an important story beat in those books. It was never about Titan, but how Owen's absence affected Roy/Hershel.
2. Jeremiah. I love his character. I just feel bad because I think he was pretty wasted in this book as a potential romantic interest. This circles back to my previous point a little bit. This is not a book centered on romance. It is not trying to push any boundaries with showing gay heroes or couples. Canonically, the only gay couple in the Super Powereds world building are L-Ray and Steve. Titan and Jeremiah are the only other named gay characters. And zero of these characters have an on screen, on purpose, displays of affection relationship. L-Ray and Steve are side characters, and Owen and Jeremiah aren't even dating.
And this is because I feel like this series doesn't want to shake the boat. I suffered through all the blushy, heart racing, sex focused and relationship nonsense in Super Powereds. Julia and Roy, Mary and Hershel, Vince with Sasha and later Camille, etc. Each one has scenes with blushing and internal monologues about liking the other person and thinking about them. Heck we even see Dean Blaine pinning over Chad's mom, Alice's dad obsessing over her mom, and Clarissa mourning her unrequited love. So characters across the board all smitten with each other. We get the estranged relationship between Nick and Alice even. For all those characters, they get to explore their emotions and feelings. But Owen and Jeremiah? No. It feels like a business relationship - because it is one. And the finale feels flat because there's no buildup to it at all.
Jeremiah initiates a relationship with Owen, but it doesn't go anywhere. After that literally nothing except platonic nonsense happens. Owen doesn't even get lost in thought about it. So it just feels flat. And this is another area that I wish the author would have done more of. If I am supposed to care and be excited about Owen dating again, then I want to see it happen. I want to see the dinner, or see Owen wanting to do it. At the end, having listened to it a couple times, it sounds like he's going just because he thinks he should. Not because he actually even likes the guy.
He lists off things like: Jeremiah doesn't age (just like Titan), he doesn't need to be protected, he has interesting superpowers. It feels like a freaking checklist. Then Owen literally says, "I just decided to try something new. We can always call it off if you get too annoying." And it is played as banter, but it's actually completely accurate. Owen doesn't care about Jeremiah. He really is just trying something new like dating again. So the finale feels really out of place. It doesn't feel like a high note to end on. I think it should have been flipped with the scene with Hexcellent. Which leads me to:
3. Owen learning to be a father/parental figure. One of the best aspects about the book. Now that I have vented my frustrations out, I can focus on this gem. Starting from the beginning of the book, we meet Owen and see that he has renewed dedication in joining the hero game. He knows he messed up and feels a sense of guilt for having run away from the life after his scandal. And his first opportunity back in the game is with the bench-warmers that are Corpies/PEERs. Right off the bat he sees them as weak imitations and children pretending to be Heroes.
He even refers to them as kids throughout the book. After a lot of insight and counseling with his old teammates and agent, he begins to see them as people. Getting to know how skilled a leader Galvanize is. How repressed and driven Bubble Bubbles is. How confident and unapologetic Hexcellent is. And how jealous and hurt Zone is. Each one is a new person and they all wiggle their way into Owen's heart by the end of the book. He even comments on having wanted a daughter when he is with Hexcellent near the end. (Which would've been a stronger ending than the Jeremiah scene.)
In a lot of ways, Owen is learning and experiencing what having kids is like. He missed out on that with Roy and Hershel. But here you can see him learning about trying to understand them on a personal, deep level. Each one's struggles are unique and they teach him how to open up again and how to be himself. No doubt as a way for Owen to get up enough courage and skill to approach his sons. He learns how to comfort and support Bubble Bubble. He learns to respect the intellect and leadership of Galvanize. He learns to accept and apologize with Zone. And he learns to love (parentally) openly with Hexcellent.
Let me clarify the last one a little bit. I am not saying Owen stopped loving Roy/Hershel. He does, and always has. But he stopped loving them openly and keeps them at a distance. He sees them as the children in the photos in his mind. I am sure that had he asked for them, He could have up to date and current pictures of both boys. But he keeps the ones with them together. And he reminisces on how they had been when he was there. Through Hexcellent as an allegory, Owen begins to see the boys as they are now. Hexcellent's summons being based on fear/loneliness and of a childhood fear, is comparable to Roy/Hershel's own fear and loneliness after Owen left.
Each one of the PEERs team is there to help Owen overcome the aftermath of the scandal and is a test to Owen coming back. Had Owen gone solo, or hung up the cape again, he would not have had the willpower or courage to show up in Year 3. And that is why this is such a great book. It is an opportunity to see this character redeem himself through actions and self growth. It also shows the story of a man learning how to be a father. And I love it for that.
4. This is also a book about overcoming mistakes. A book about redemption and owning one's guilt. One of the major reasons this book thrives is because it focuses on one aspect of Hero life that none of the others in the series has: guilt. The pain of not being there, and because of that people died/got hurt. This is seen most vividly with the Wild Bucks/Zone in my opinion.
The Wild Bucks are a team of strongmen who royally fucked up and have to come to terms that, through direct or indirect action, people died. The scene where Owen meets all 3 of them shows this best. Each person is a parallel to what Owen is going through on a larger scale. Again a literary comparison.
Juiced is the argumentative one; trying to down play her guilt and involvement. Distancing herself from what happened, like how Owen ran off to run a gay bar. Putting distance between those that got hurt and themselves. Juiced is the side of Owen that tries to hide. Owen brings up bigotry often through this book and once in Year 3. Claiming that his orientation is the reason a lot of people hate him. Though it is usually told to the reader by other characters. Lenny talks about it in the beginning, his old Dean brings it up, the question about being a gay hero that Jeremiah answers. Owen brings up the gay bar/life in Year 3 as the reason why his sons hate him. (Though Roy calls bullshit on it immediately. Love you Roy.) It's a familiar crutch to lean on instead of facing the real issue of his abandonment and false image.
Kaijou is the parallel to emotional burden. It is Kaijou saying he thought it was 8 people, not 9. Kaijou is the parallel to Owen's list of tangible victims, but also his sons and ex wife. Owen's actions hurting his sons who had idolized him, and who were abandoned by him. Kaijou is the allegory for empathy and pain that Owen also went through/is going through.
Deadlift is the parallel to ignoring the past/heavily focusing on the future. Trying to ignore the mistake by overly emphasizing the future and trying to wipe the slate clean. He even brings up wanting a 'fresh start' the same way that Owen tried to re-enter the Hero world and join a new team. Owen faces his own past in accepting that the past is a part of who he is, and how the Wild Bucks are always going to have their past on their records. This is also why Deadlift gets the most screen time imo. Because the heart of the story really comes to Titan/Owen truly making peace with his own past.
Zone represents another aspect of Owen's guilt. The kind that no matter what Owen does going forward, he will still have a level of guilt on his conscience. A part of his life that he can never get back. The guilt of not being there for his family, the guilt of letting others fight/die when he could have stepped in, and the guilt of doing nothing. Zone is not mad at any action that Titan/Owen did. Zone's pain is one of absence and abandonment. The same pain that Owen's sons felt. That by inaction, Titan's decision to leave the Hero life hurt other Super's and LGBT people.
I love how Hayes used these characters and scenes to truly show a story of overcoming mistakes and personal growth. Owen is a flawed, and earnest character. He is arrogant, he is a coward, he is hurt, and he gets back up again. It makes for a much better story than a flawless 1 dimensional hero.
5. The Antagonists. This is mostly Gale tbh. I... I don't like Gale. I know she is necessary because... they needed a way to show off Titan's powers before the end battle. But idk man. She just seemed like a really boring cartoon to me. Part of it was because I thought she was a few years out of HCP. Like mid 20s for most of the book until a friend told me she was way older than that. But she just felt... blah. Like I know she loves her city and that she wants to keep out glory-hungry Heroes. But she just felt forced most of the time. I loved her scene with the Powered girl and thought she would be a neutral Hero since she didn't actively hate Titan. But the pissing contest felt just like that.
And the author telling me that the match was a pissing contest, did not help. I did, however, like that none of her team felt the same way as she did. Because they thought it was stupid, and that's how I felt. But now that I know she is older, it feels even more stupid. She should know how strong and resourceful Titan is. The ambush was better, but still... you should have footage and stories that demonstrate that Titan is not just a meat head. He was out of the game for 10 years, not 40. They had cameras/reporters in the 90s. And that is me being generous, this was published in 2016, which means that 10 years ago would've been mid 2000s.
The other antagonist I did not like was the... last battle one. Mostly because it feels like there is no way that a game left plugged in for half a year would be the escalation for the final battle. I kept waiting for it to somehow tie in to the events at the end of Year 3. Or to a villain that was introduced into the series before. Or even an old rival or something. Maybe even Tower (though I am glad it was not Tower). This villain just seemed so random and uninvolved in the ongoing of the world at large. It very much felt like a super hero comic book. That the bad guy is just a Scooby-Doo villain with no plot relevance outside of the comic it is in. I just wanted a better tie in to the world.
6. The world building. Now I said at the start of this review that I feel this is a great addition and almost required reading for the Super Powereds series. And that is because this book finally answered a lot of the questions I have about how the world works outside of one hero college program in California. A major negative in Year 3 for me was that I had no stakes in the world at large that all the HCP kids are supposed to be saving. This book answers a lot of that.
We learn about PEERs response teams and how civis are evacuated. We learn about clean up services and how cities allocate funds for it. We learn how hero teams rotate patrols. Things like marketing events, communications through Dispatch (who is wonderful! I love her!!! I fan theory that she is Abridail's mom. No evidence but I love the idea). We learn about charity events and the Powered charity that was mentioned in Year 3. I finally feel like I know how the world works now.
This book did a great job of grounding the world in a way that now I care about what goes on after graduation. I wish it was done in the series proper, but I do like that it exists here at least. And while I did love it, I wanted more mentions of events from the other books. I think a reporter asking Titan about it would have been nice. Connecting the civis and media. I don't know exactly how old Titan is, but I think he'd have been around when Globe was still active. But Dean Jackson at least brings it up. Another side comment about the disappearing Wildfire from book 1 would have been fun. Maybe Jeremiah mentioning it as a potential fuel source or something.
The reason I give this 3/5 stars is because I felt a lot of potential was there and not explored. Both with the Titan Scandal and with romance through Jeremiah. The characters are fleshed out and vivid, acting as allegories to the larger story. The world is defined and grounds the reader in clear stakes that make the actions of the characters matter.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 2, 2023
Corpies
Super Powereds Spin-off, Book 1
By Drew Hayes
Summary:
Corpies is what you get when you take a straight author who has written many books on an amazing super hero universe but has otherwise left out the LGBT movement in his characters. He’s still a heterosexual but because of civil rights pressures or his publisher or what color the sky is today, he’s pressed to write a book about a gay main character with a heterosexual’s perspective. Ergo a book that doesn’t feel like it necessarily has an agenda and is still a kick-ass contribution to his superhero universe.
“Corpies” was a nice interlude between my reading of the Super Powereds series (between books 2 and 3, like reviewers recommended). It shows the other side of the coin for Supers who don’t get into the HCP: the corporate-sponsored heroes who can still help with emergency services but aren’t permitted to fight bad guys.
The novel again takes bigotry head on. Yes, Titan, the super who was caught having homosexual relations and ostracized by the media, is the focus. Titan must reconcile with his past but also deal with the backlash that his leaving the hero life caused of letting all his fans down and what he needs to do to reconcile with it.
Another aspect of bigotry comes from the corporate team he signs on with, who are part of a group of Supers colloquially known as “Corpies”. (Their technical name is Peers: Privately Employed Emergency Response Supers.) The term has just as much scathing bitterness around it in the eyes of the “real heroes” as “Powereds” did with the heroes in training at Lander.
Other minority groups are peppered in as well, rounding things off, such as the super convict given a second chance to help.
Thus “Corpies” is a growth story with such minority groups learning that they can embrace social taboo, reconcile with or overcome the socio-economic pressures, help change the image where possible, but ultimately fight for equal rights.
The Good:
1. I really liked how the author continues his world-building of his hero novels in each subsequent iteration. In Corpies, he adds hero classification based on destruction potential: standard, demolition class, Armageddon class Supers (the latter a probable nod to Nexus from Villain’s Code series).
2. While I’m not into the LGBT movement, I can appreciate the pursuit of romance and love that people inherently need, and was glad to see a semblance of that aspect at least with Owen.
3. Watching Owen grow in his perspective throughout the novel, as he came out of retirement, to joining a “less than” team of Supers, to making peace with his past, to fully embracing his new team (and them him) was very inspiring and heart warming.
4. The Bebop reference that Owen makes towards the anthropomorphic warthog, and the subsequent gender gap comment, made me feel really old for knowing the reference, but satisfying too.
5. I like how the author addressed the need for constant costume replacements.
6. Hopcules was amazing.
7. Bubble Bubble’s rebranding was pretty satisfying from a #metoo perspective.
8. Owen’s gifts for the PEERS team at the end was very touching and his final decision regarding hero work felt right.
The Meh:
1. The whole story felt a lot like “The Incredibles”: killer robots, strong man saves the day, evil genius who’s sulky because his hero let him down, costumes, the need for family and friends.
2. The superhero entity known as Dispatch seems to have omniscient and omnipresent type powers, so when a team of robots slips the Super teams’ notices after she herself dispatches them, it felt like a huge writing flaw.
3. As with all the alcoholic author’s books, he always incorporates heavy amounts of boozing with his characters. It’s not so much that everyone’s a noticeable alcoholic themselves, but that booze is written into nearly every social and economic construct among the plot elements. It’s mildly depressing.
4. The robot attacks went on and on. The tedium of it all went on and on as well.
5. The final bad guy was a pretty big let down and the fight was over way too quickly. The decision at the end about the enemy’s final disposition felt really lame too, imho.
6. I know, I know, I need to get used to this whole LGBT rights thing like whites got used to the black civil rights movement in the 1960’s, but Owen playing hard to get while being chased by another man, as the parting image of the book, was waaaaay out of my comfort zone. There, I said it.
Conclusion:
This was for the most part a very welcome addition to Hayes’ superhero canon. The bulk of the novel was 5 stars for me. It got a bit repetitious and mundane with the robot attacks, one fight felt like all the rest: Titan demolishing everything without any challenge whatsoever. There were multiple wrap ups at the end: some were very satisfying, a couple were lame, and one I didn’t really have the stomach for it.
A solid 4 ⭐️
Super Powereds Spin-off, Book 1
By Drew Hayes
Summary:
Corpies is what you get when you take a straight author who has written many books on an amazing super hero universe but has otherwise left out the LGBT movement in his characters. He’s still a heterosexual but because of civil rights pressures or his publisher or what color the sky is today, he’s pressed to write a book about a gay main character with a heterosexual’s perspective. Ergo a book that doesn’t feel like it necessarily has an agenda and is still a kick-ass contribution to his superhero universe.
“Corpies” was a nice interlude between my reading of the Super Powereds series (between books 2 and 3, like reviewers recommended). It shows the other side of the coin for Supers who don’t get into the HCP: the corporate-sponsored heroes who can still help with emergency services but aren’t permitted to fight bad guys.
The novel again takes bigotry head on. Yes, Titan, the super who was caught having homosexual relations and ostracized by the media, is the focus. Titan must reconcile with his past but also deal with the backlash that his leaving the hero life caused of letting all his fans down and what he needs to do to reconcile with it.
Another aspect of bigotry comes from the corporate team he signs on with, who are part of a group of Supers colloquially known as “Corpies”. (Their technical name is Peers: Privately Employed Emergency Response Supers.) The term has just as much scathing bitterness around it in the eyes of the “real heroes” as “Powereds” did with the heroes in training at Lander.
Other minority groups are peppered in as well, rounding things off, such as the super convict given a second chance to help.
Thus “Corpies” is a growth story with such minority groups learning that they can embrace social taboo, reconcile with or overcome the socio-economic pressures, help change the image where possible, but ultimately fight for equal rights.
The Good:
1. I really liked how the author continues his world-building of his hero novels in each subsequent iteration. In Corpies, he adds hero classification based on destruction potential: standard, demolition class, Armageddon class Supers (the latter a probable nod to Nexus from Villain’s Code series).
2. While I’m not into the LGBT movement, I can appreciate the pursuit of romance and love that people inherently need, and was glad to see a semblance of that aspect at least with Owen.
3. Watching Owen grow in his perspective throughout the novel, as he came out of retirement, to joining a “less than” team of Supers, to making peace with his past, to fully embracing his new team (and them him) was very inspiring and heart warming.
4. The Bebop reference that Owen makes towards the anthropomorphic warthog, and the subsequent gender gap comment, made me feel really old for knowing the reference, but satisfying too.
5. I like how the author addressed the need for constant costume replacements.
6. Hopcules was amazing.
7. Bubble Bubble’s rebranding was pretty satisfying from a #metoo perspective.
8. Owen’s gifts for the PEERS team at the end was very touching and his final decision regarding hero work felt right.
The Meh:
1. The whole story felt a lot like “The Incredibles”: killer robots, strong man saves the day, evil genius who’s sulky because his hero let him down, costumes, the need for family and friends.
2. The superhero entity known as Dispatch seems to have omniscient and omnipresent type powers, so when a team of robots slips the Super teams’ notices after she herself dispatches them, it felt like a huge writing flaw.
3. As with all the alcoholic author’s books, he always incorporates heavy amounts of boozing with his characters. It’s not so much that everyone’s a noticeable alcoholic themselves, but that booze is written into nearly every social and economic construct among the plot elements. It’s mildly depressing.
4. The robot attacks went on and on. The tedium of it all went on and on as well.
5. The final bad guy was a pretty big let down and the fight was over way too quickly. The decision at the end about the enemy’s final disposition felt really lame too, imho.
6. I know, I know, I need to get used to this whole LGBT rights thing like whites got used to the black civil rights movement in the 1960’s, but Owen playing hard to get while being chased by another man, as the parting image of the book, was waaaaay out of my comfort zone. There, I said it.
Conclusion:
This was for the most part a very welcome addition to Hayes’ superhero canon. The bulk of the novel was 5 stars for me. It got a bit repetitious and mundane with the robot attacks, one fight felt like all the rest: Titan demolishing everything without any challenge whatsoever. There were multiple wrap ups at the end: some were very satisfying, a couple were lame, and one I didn’t really have the stomach for it.
A solid 4 ⭐️
May 12, 2019
Once upon a time, Owen Daniels was a hero of legend who went be the name Titan. He walked away when he betrayed his wife and family and the public at large with his personal lies. He left his mask, his wife and his sons. Ten years later, his sons came to him for help so they could become heroes, but they made it plain that he was not forgiven. They also reminded Owen what being a hero means. They made him face his guilt and sense of failure.
Now he's decided to come back. It's not going to be easy but he didn't expect it to be. No hero team is willing to take a chance on him, but his brilliant agent, and good friend, Lenny finds a PEERs team that needs a liaison. PEERS are privately employed supers who provide back-up to regular human emergency response. They rescue people and help clean up the mess made when Heroes run into problems.
Titan's young team isn't sure of him and he is not happy at working at something he thinks is beneath him. Then he goes on his first rescue.
Owen learns about heroism. He learns about forgiveness. He learns about love. And so much more. I love what Drew Hayes does with this world. I laugh. I cry. Most important, I think.
Now he's decided to come back. It's not going to be easy but he didn't expect it to be. No hero team is willing to take a chance on him, but his brilliant agent, and good friend, Lenny finds a PEERs team that needs a liaison. PEERS are privately employed supers who provide back-up to regular human emergency response. They rescue people and help clean up the mess made when Heroes run into problems.
Titan's young team isn't sure of him and he is not happy at working at something he thinks is beneath him. Then he goes on his first rescue.
Owen learns about heroism. He learns about forgiveness. He learns about love. And so much more. I love what Drew Hayes does with this world. I laugh. I cry. Most important, I think.
November 25, 2024
This was an awesome addition to the universe that gave a much better view to the actual superhero side of this world. The only thing I think Drew Hayes could definitely use some work on is naming superhero characters and teams. Some of them sound like they came out of a name generator with the cheesiest names. Bubble Bubble? Really... But still i love these books.
September 15, 2024
Read after the 4 SP books. I wasn’t (am still not) ready to leave the Super Powereds world! The audiobook narrator does reuse some of the voices from SP for other characters which was a little annoying, but I still loved this book too.
December 19, 2017
Very good spin off from the main series. Great background on a non main character. This is a very well written superhero series. Different and interesting. Very recommended
October 24, 2019
Titan is great. I guess I just really love the whole Daniels family at this point.
More spin-offs please!
More spin-offs please!
May 7, 2020
A brilliant spin off story to the Super Powered series. Fans of Drew Hayes' epic super hero books will not want to miss this.
I really hope there's more to come from this world.
I really hope there's more to come from this world.
April 25, 2021
Great offshoot to the Super Powereds series. In some ways I liked this more than the regular series. It was great to hear how Owen gets back on his feet.
November 13, 2024
5⭐️0 🫑
Enjoyable standalone story to go along the Super Powerered Series. Following Titan (Roy and Hershal’s) Dad as he returns to hero work after a scandal many years earlier. Titan finds that the only work he can find is on a corpies team (think corporate run search and rescue.
After initially thinking he is to good for them, Titan begins to fully understand the value of these teams and a heroes place on it. After robots start attacking the town he is living in Titan ends up playing a larger role in the hero community as a whole and learning about himself and the mistakes he has made.
Enjoyable standalone story to go along the Super Powerered Series. Following Titan (Roy and Hershal’s) Dad as he returns to hero work after a scandal many years earlier. Titan finds that the only work he can find is on a corpies team (think corporate run search and rescue.
After initially thinking he is to good for them, Titan begins to fully understand the value of these teams and a heroes place on it. After robots start attacking the town he is living in Titan ends up playing a larger role in the hero community as a whole and learning about himself and the mistakes he has made.
November 13, 2024
A great little spin off that shows so much more of the universe that we didn't get in the first 3 books.
June 3, 2025
titon
September 29, 2024
This is a great side story to the super powereds series. I like how Titan's story was more developed.
April 23, 2016
I love Drew Hayes's writing in general, and I love his Super Powereds series in particular.
This is a spin-off of that series; it takes a minor character — the extremely powerful former Hero father of Hershel and Roy — and tells his story. The timeline overlaps with Super Powereds: Year 3, and I think you'll want to have read at least the first two SP books before diving into this one, but there's very little plot overlap. (This book ends before the SP3 finale, BTW, so there won't be spoilers for that one's epic ending.)
One of the things I love about the SP books is how long and dense they are, and I have to say, this one is more like an appetizer than a main course. It's definitely not a short story, but it's not nearly as gargantuan as the SP books, and instead of weaving a half dozen main characters and plot threads, Corpies just sticks to one. That's not a bad thing, but it feels pretty light in comparison. The plot of Corpies is far more linear and one-dimensional than what we've seen so far in this universe.
I personally didn't think it had the same level of suspense, either. Titan is an interesting character, but he's virtually undefeatable (even if he'd protest he isn't). There just isn't that same edge-of-your-seat feeling.
I remember being disappointed when I got into the SP series because it didn't really have any gay characters. Or rather, there were a couple, but they were extremely minor, like off-hand mentions. While homosexuality was more of a non-issue than an undesirable thing, I still thought it was a bit unrealistic for pretty much everyone in the enormous cast of Lander HCP students to be straight, you know? Especially since college-kid romance was speckled all over SP. That this one (finally!) featured a gay character had me extra excited to read it...but it still didn't really tackle the idea of romance. Don't get me wrong: I certainly don't need romance to enjoy a book. It's just that had Titan's past not been so directly linked to his sexuality, you'd never have known he wasn't straight. While I certainly have no trouble reading books featuring straight characters, I do like them when they have people like me...and in that sense, it was a bit of a let-down.
I think I've said this in all my Drew Hayes reviews so far, but it needs to be said again: the one thing that leaves me unimpressed is how so many of his characters speak with the same voice. It's like he only has so many character templates in his imagination, so whenever he needs to introduce someone new, he recycles one and slaps a new name on it. In addition, the speaking styles and senses of humor he's given a lot of his people are distinct and unusual and very well-drawn...but the fact that he's given them to a lot of his people feels more and more unrealistic the more I read. I like his characters, I really do, but the more of Hayes's stuff I read, the more canned they feel.
The Amazon listing for this book dubs it "Super Powereds Spinoff Book 1." Nevertheless, I don't get the impression that this is part of a series so much as it's intended to be part of a collection. The ending of Corpies is solid and final. Not to say that he couldn't keep going, I just don't think he intends to. Not only is there no cliffhanger, but the ending really doesn't even contain any of the suspenseful "what's next"-iness of the main SP books. (This is not a complaint. I like series, but I like stand-alones, too.)
Corpies isn't perfectly edited. The mistakes aren't so numerous that they start to detract from the story (and if I'm being honest, it doesn't take much for me to start getting irritated), but perfect, it's not.
This review has a fair amount of criticism, but you'll notice I'm still giving the book four stars. It's not perfect, and I definitely didn't like it as much as Super Powereds...but I still liked it. I might have lowered my rating a bit if this were a full-priced novel like the main SP books, but I picked it up for $4...and imperfect or not, it was entertaining and I certainly feel like I got my money's worth!
This is a spin-off of that series; it takes a minor character — the extremely powerful former Hero father of Hershel and Roy — and tells his story. The timeline overlaps with Super Powereds: Year 3, and I think you'll want to have read at least the first two SP books before diving into this one, but there's very little plot overlap. (This book ends before the SP3 finale, BTW, so there won't be spoilers for that one's epic ending.)
One of the things I love about the SP books is how long and dense they are, and I have to say, this one is more like an appetizer than a main course. It's definitely not a short story, but it's not nearly as gargantuan as the SP books, and instead of weaving a half dozen main characters and plot threads, Corpies just sticks to one. That's not a bad thing, but it feels pretty light in comparison. The plot of Corpies is far more linear and one-dimensional than what we've seen so far in this universe.
I personally didn't think it had the same level of suspense, either. Titan is an interesting character, but he's virtually undefeatable (even if he'd protest he isn't). There just isn't that same edge-of-your-seat feeling.
I remember being disappointed when I got into the SP series because it didn't really have any gay characters. Or rather, there were a couple, but they were extremely minor, like off-hand mentions. While homosexuality was more of a non-issue than an undesirable thing, I still thought it was a bit unrealistic for pretty much everyone in the enormous cast of Lander HCP students to be straight, you know? Especially since college-kid romance was speckled all over SP. That this one (finally!) featured a gay character had me extra excited to read it...but it still didn't really tackle the idea of romance. Don't get me wrong: I certainly don't need romance to enjoy a book. It's just that had Titan's past not been so directly linked to his sexuality, you'd never have known he wasn't straight. While I certainly have no trouble reading books featuring straight characters, I do like them when they have people like me...and in that sense, it was a bit of a let-down.
I think I've said this in all my Drew Hayes reviews so far, but it needs to be said again: the one thing that leaves me unimpressed is how so many of his characters speak with the same voice. It's like he only has so many character templates in his imagination, so whenever he needs to introduce someone new, he recycles one and slaps a new name on it. In addition, the speaking styles and senses of humor he's given a lot of his people are distinct and unusual and very well-drawn...but the fact that he's given them to a lot of his people feels more and more unrealistic the more I read. I like his characters, I really do, but the more of Hayes's stuff I read, the more canned they feel.
The Amazon listing for this book dubs it "Super Powereds Spinoff Book 1." Nevertheless, I don't get the impression that this is part of a series so much as it's intended to be part of a collection. The ending of Corpies is solid and final. Not to say that he couldn't keep going, I just don't think he intends to. Not only is there no cliffhanger, but the ending really doesn't even contain any of the suspenseful "what's next"-iness of the main SP books. (This is not a complaint. I like series, but I like stand-alones, too.)
Corpies isn't perfectly edited. The mistakes aren't so numerous that they start to detract from the story (and if I'm being honest, it doesn't take much for me to start getting irritated), but perfect, it's not.
This review has a fair amount of criticism, but you'll notice I'm still giving the book four stars. It's not perfect, and I definitely didn't like it as much as Super Powereds...but I still liked it. I might have lowered my rating a bit if this were a full-priced novel like the main SP books, but I picked it up for $4...and imperfect or not, it was entertaining and I certainly feel like I got my money's worth!
March 5, 2019
This was a "Hexellent" book to read. (Yea I went there.. bad humor is my super power)
A great book in my favorite world setting. I read it after the Powered series, and the events in this book happen earlier in the timeline.
A great book in my favorite world setting. I read it after the Powered series, and the events in this book happen earlier in the timeline.
May 23, 2021
I am loving the Super Powered world that Drew Hayes has created & really enjoyed reading more of this world with a different point of view. I loved Titan, despite his flaws.
June 11, 2017
Date Started: 6/7/17 | Date Finished: 6/11/2017
The existence of superheroes are just the way things are, as well as super villains. In this world however not everyone gets the opportunity to be a superhero, but if not, all is not lost. If for some reason you do not make it to superhero status you can always join the ranks of corporate branded super powereds called Corpies. But something happens in the town of Brewster that will require superhero and Corpies alike to band together and face a formidable foe who turns out to be nothing what they expect it to be.
Story: Grade | A
Like:
I did like the moral undertones peppered throughout the book. I like the fact that this story is not completely filled with broken people and dark histories, although the main character does have this, the whole story is a bit brighter than a lot of the DC superhero stories that are out there. The corporate rules and world laws surrounding people with superpowers is also really interesting.
Dislike:
The only downside is that it felt like an adult version of The Incredible's. Seemed a little bit like they were taking elements of that story and just including adult content. Like mysterious learning robots, and the corporate nature of hero operations. It's not too bad so it didn't warrant a downgrade in my opinion, But I was waiting for a short redhead villain with a chip on his shoulder to be the ultimate bad guy trying to rid the world of special people. As I have mentioned in other reviews, I also do not like agendas – progressive or conservative – being pushed on me, and this book had a little bit of it.
Narration: Grade | B
I am not sure how to describe the narration of this book, the way the voice talent read the book was very unique. I thought he would be better suited for a documentary. It really didn't bother me or ruin the story, but it was still so unique that I really couldn’t help but notice it throughout the entire book. I will have to listen to another story that this person narrates to see if it is just unique to this book or if it is how this person reads every story. He did a good job of creating a variety between characters, for either gender as well.
Overall Grade | B
I did enjoy it, but I will be honest, I am a little concerned that I jumped into an already developed storyline and I should have probably started off with Super Powereds book 1 first. I like reading series's in order. This was my first superhero book and I enjoyed it for the most part. I do not care for language or sexual content that comes along with adult books, but apart from any television style rating system I guess it just comes with the territory. It did contain a few lines that kids would use when they are playing superheros but overall this was a great read.
The existence of superheroes are just the way things are, as well as super villains. In this world however not everyone gets the opportunity to be a superhero, but if not, all is not lost. If for some reason you do not make it to superhero status you can always join the ranks of corporate branded super powereds called Corpies. But something happens in the town of Brewster that will require superhero and Corpies alike to band together and face a formidable foe who turns out to be nothing what they expect it to be.
Story: Grade | A
Like:
I did like the moral undertones peppered throughout the book. I like the fact that this story is not completely filled with broken people and dark histories, although the main character does have this, the whole story is a bit brighter than a lot of the DC superhero stories that are out there. The corporate rules and world laws surrounding people with superpowers is also really interesting.
Dislike:
The only downside is that it felt like an adult version of The Incredible's. Seemed a little bit like they were taking elements of that story and just including adult content. Like mysterious learning robots, and the corporate nature of hero operations. It's not too bad so it didn't warrant a downgrade in my opinion, But I was waiting for a short redhead villain with a chip on his shoulder to be the ultimate bad guy trying to rid the world of special people. As I have mentioned in other reviews, I also do not like agendas – progressive or conservative – being pushed on me, and this book had a little bit of it.
Narration: Grade | B
I am not sure how to describe the narration of this book, the way the voice talent read the book was very unique. I thought he would be better suited for a documentary. It really didn't bother me or ruin the story, but it was still so unique that I really couldn’t help but notice it throughout the entire book. I will have to listen to another story that this person narrates to see if it is just unique to this book or if it is how this person reads every story. He did a good job of creating a variety between characters, for either gender as well.
Overall Grade | B
I did enjoy it, but I will be honest, I am a little concerned that I jumped into an already developed storyline and I should have probably started off with Super Powereds book 1 first. I like reading series's in order. This was my first superhero book and I enjoyed it for the most part. I do not care for language or sexual content that comes along with adult books, but apart from any television style rating system I guess it just comes with the territory. It did contain a few lines that kids would use when they are playing superheros but overall this was a great read.
October 1, 2024
If you could sum up this book in three words, what would they be?
Incredible, action-packed, hilarious
What other book might you compare this book to and why?
Seeing as how this is a spin-off, it can easily be compared to Super Powereds.
Who was your overall favorite character and why?
Aside from Owen, the main character, I think my favorite supporting character was Galvanize
Which character – as performed by the narrator – was your favorite?
I'm not really sure. The narrator does such a great job with all of them!
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Yes, but unfortunately I actually have to do my job!
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Absolutely! This book is fantastic for anyone who likes superheroes! This, and Super Powereds, is like reading a comic book in novel form!
Who was your favorite character and why?
I really enjoyed seeing Owen develop as a character. Aside from him, though, I think it's a toss-up between Galvanize and Hexcellent!
Have you listened to any of this narrator's other performances before? How does this one compare?
I have only heard him narrating the main series, and since this book is tied to that, it's not really fair to compare.
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
I had a lot of extreme reactions in this book. But, if I listed most of them, I would spoil it for you!
What did you love best about the book?
I really loved watching Owen develop as a character, and I loved seeing the other side of hero work! Drew Hayes has, so far, done a great job exploring all the different aspects that comes in a world of people with powers that makes the story far more believable. While Super Powereds focuses on the training of future Heroes, it's nice to see what it's like on the other side, out in the field!
If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?
We're not in Lander anymore!
Would you listen to this book again? Why?
I would! I'd probably give it a few years, because I like to leave time between rereads, but I really enjoyed this book!
Which scene was your favorite?
When you first see Titan in action! No spoilers! You'll get there!
What was one of the most memorable moments of this book?
We get to see a certain character develop in a way that neither we nor they expected!
Incredible, action-packed, hilarious
What other book might you compare this book to and why?
Seeing as how this is a spin-off, it can easily be compared to Super Powereds.
Who was your overall favorite character and why?
Aside from Owen, the main character, I think my favorite supporting character was Galvanize
Which character – as performed by the narrator – was your favorite?
I'm not really sure. The narrator does such a great job with all of them!
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Yes, but unfortunately I actually have to do my job!
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Absolutely! This book is fantastic for anyone who likes superheroes! This, and Super Powereds, is like reading a comic book in novel form!
Who was your favorite character and why?
I really enjoyed seeing Owen develop as a character. Aside from him, though, I think it's a toss-up between Galvanize and Hexcellent!
Have you listened to any of this narrator's other performances before? How does this one compare?
I have only heard him narrating the main series, and since this book is tied to that, it's not really fair to compare.
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
I had a lot of extreme reactions in this book. But, if I listed most of them, I would spoil it for you!
What did you love best about the book?
I really loved watching Owen develop as a character, and I loved seeing the other side of hero work! Drew Hayes has, so far, done a great job exploring all the different aspects that comes in a world of people with powers that makes the story far more believable. While Super Powereds focuses on the training of future Heroes, it's nice to see what it's like on the other side, out in the field!
If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?
We're not in Lander anymore!
Would you listen to this book again? Why?
I would! I'd probably give it a few years, because I like to leave time between rereads, but I really enjoyed this book!
Which scene was your favorite?
When you first see Titan in action! No spoilers! You'll get there!
What was one of the most memorable moments of this book?
We get to see a certain character develop in a way that neither we nor they expected!
August 14, 2018
I wasn't enthusiastic about reading this one, since it's "just" a spinoff from Super Powereds, but I was pleasantly surprised. I actually like this book more than I do the core books in the series. For one thing, Owen is just so darned likeable! For another, this book has a laser focus on one character's journey, the core books are a bit fractured. This one reminded me of The Utterly Uninteresting and Unadventurous Tales of Fred, the Vampire Accountant with its strong cast of quirky characters and unending surprises. Now I'm torn... do I want to get book four of Super Powereds next, or a sequel to Corpies, or the next Fred book, or the next book in the NPCs series. One series or another, Drew Hayes is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors.
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