Superheroes continue to dominate the summer box office, but bestseller lists are another story. Hey, it’s not for a lack of trying, with the latest being Austin Grossman’s semi-serious and tantalizingly titled SOON I WILL BE INVINCIBLE.
Set in a world where superpowers are very much real – but only for exactly 1,686 people – the book begins from the perspective of Doctor Impossible, a mad scientist-type villain who sits behind bars but anxiously awaits his 13th consecutive escape so he can embark on his latest plan to control – quite literally, it turns out – the world.
Intent on not letting that happen without a fight are The Champions, a team of costumed do-gooders of which a shapely cyborg named Fatale has just joined. Alternating chapters demonstrate her uneasy transition as the new kid on the block, especially as the dysfunctional heroes mourn the unexplained disappearance and subsequent death of their leader, CoreFire; Impossible is wrongly suspected of having something to do with his expiration.
Fatale’s teammates include the Champions’ leader, Damsel, a tough broad who battles evil alongside her ex-husband, the Batman-esque Blackwolf. Others include a fairy, an aging magician, a feral fighter and a woman from the future who has the unfortunate history of being Doctor Impossible’s former girlfriend.
The story doesn’t sport as much muscle as its Day-Glo Chip Kidd cover. For a long while, it’s staid and seems content to be just that. All its heat is generated from Doctor Impossible’s internal monologues on the ups and downs of having superpowers, with witty observations on the business of wearing costumes and hiding behind aliases and having nemeses. He also dishes dirt on his fellow baddies, particularly those who don’t live up to their reputations.
The good news: These chapters are great. The bad news: They’re only half the book. The other 50 percent comes from Fatale’s POV, and neither her voice nor her story is nearly as engaging. And though she introduces us to a number of other heroes, their personalities blend together rather than standing out. Critics often lambast superhero flicks for making the villain being far more interesting, and that’s true here as well.
While we’re still making movie analogies, I’ll squeeze in one more to describe INVINCIBLE’s somewhat-disappointing story: It’s more of an X-MEN: THE LAST STAND than an X2: X-MEN UNITED. In other words, I’m glad I spent the time and I had a little fun, but I’m not itching for the DVD right away. –Rod Lott
Related posts:
- The Champions Classic: Vol. 2
- The Champions Classic: Vol. 1
- Essential Super-Villain Team-Up: Vol. 1
- Essential Ghost Rider: Vol. 1
- DC Universe: Inheritance
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
If you’re looking for good, strange superhero stories, I have two suggestions:
FROM THE NOTEBOOKS OF DR BRAIN, by Minister Faust. A tremendously fun look at a group of disfunctional heroes, all attending group therapy.
FLYBOY ACTION FIGURE COMES WITH GASMASK, by Jim Munroe. I’ll let the title speak for itself.
I have heard of DR. BRAIN, but there’s something about it that puts me off. I can’t quite pinpoint why. As for FLYBOY, that’s a terrific title.
I guess the question (for me, at least) is, does this give us anything that we don’t get from comics on a regular basis? As a superhero comic fan, I’m always a little wary of new heroes of that kind being created in a different medium, because it nearly always feels derivative and/or like the author doesn’t really know much of what they’re talking about.
That the team is called The Champions seems to argue for the second possibility, since a team with that name already existed over at Marvel awhile back.
Too bad, though, that cover is superb.
My answer would be, with the exception of Doctor Impossible’s little asides, probably not. The dysfunction angle has been played up before in the likes of THE DEFENDERS and is now kinda expected.
INVINCIBLE probably would work better as a comic book, because it wants to be colorful and vibrant, but has to accept being black and white.
The best superhero book I ever read is still Wild Cards (it’s actually a series, not a single book) by George R R Martin. It somehow managed to inject realism into the superhero genre. The first few books are a little shaky since they are actually anthologies from multiple authors, but the series kept me interested throughout.
By the way, unlike many other superhero books, Wild Cards is definitely not appropriate for kids.
Gal