Good superhero fiction is hard to come by. Last year, two anthologies of do-gooder short stories both underwhelmed, as did full novels by the likes of Austin Grossman the year before. Like an underdog — or perhaps Underdog — A THOUSAND FACES: THE QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF SUPERHUMAN FICTION is better than all of them, coming out of nowhere.
Edited by Frank Byrns, the ninth issue contains 13 stories and, like many indie-fiction “magazines” these days, comes packaged as a trade paperback, rather than stapled paper. Among the highlights is the first tale, “Mister Brass and the Red Horror of Frankenstein,” by Joshua M. Reynolds. It reminded me of the TALES OF THE SHADOWMEN anthologies, where established characters of others’ creations intermingle — in this case, Victor Frankenstein, Dr. Moreau and groups from the pen of H.P. Lovecraft and Sax Rohmer.
Jason Stout’s “To Sleep … Perchance” examines the romantic element of sacrifice, between a man who never sleeps and a woman who does little else, because her dreams are packed with prescient visions. Meanwhile, Chad Boudreau wonders what would happen if a convenience store was robbed while its super-powered employee was on duty, in “Friday, 3 a.m.”
Other pieces alternate between straightforward caped adventures right out of the comics and more introspective works in which that which makes the subjects special is used only as a diving board. More often than not, the contents soar. —Rod Lott
Buy it at Amazon or A Thousand Faces.
Related posts:
- The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy: Sixteen Original Works by Speculative Fiction’s Finest Voices
- The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume One
- The Many Faces of Van Helsing
- Eclipse One: New Fantasy and Science Fiction
- Faces of Fear
