Today we bring you the latest installment in our feature, “What She Said…” in which we both review books that the other has already read and reviewed. The idea arose because of the dilemma that if one of us reads and reviews a book, the other can’t really post again about it, right? WRONG! Hence, “What She Said…” was born. For those books that we REALLY want to read after the other has reviewed – and gushed – about it.

For today’s post, we take on Hero by Perry Moore, and Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves.

Hero by Perry Moore
Disney, August 2007, Paperback, 432 pages

Original Review: May 2010
Original Rating GASP! Thea gave it a 10!

What Thea Said:

I am in love. I am in love with Hero

Hero is, in this reader’s opinion, a perfect book in every way. Rousing, heartening and inspiring, Thom’s journey is one that is applicable to everyone. I cannot recommend this book enough – and it’s easily at the top of my list of favorite books read in 2010.

What Ana Says I HAD to read this book. Not only because of Thea’s awesome review but also because of her emails to me when she was reading it. I don’t think I ever received emails from her before with such an emotional response to a book – at least just not like that. It is a running joke in our headquarters that I am the emotional smuggler and it is a fairly regular event to have me emailing her with me being extremely enthusiastic about a book to the point of dramatic TEARS!DESPAIR!JOY! I often envy Thea for being able to be very enthusiastic about a book without the added drama like yours truly; but when she DOES, then I know she has found something special. She is like that when reading Juliet Marillier for example and that was what prompted me to pick her books up and guess what, she was totally right. So, going back to the start: I HAD to read this book.

And yes, Thea was right and I too, am in love with Thom and Hal Creed and their difficult relationship. THAT is what made the book to me. More than the world-building (which I think is fine, but wasn’t particularly impressed by it), more than the fighting sequences and all the action (which were cool), it was the relationships, between Thom and his father, between Thom and his absent mother, between Thom and his friends (especially Scarlett and Goran).

Thom is the teen narrator and his father Hal used to be a hero but without superpowers and it’s been a while since a law has banned non-powered superheroes from the league. Hal is a bitter yet proud man dealing with both very public failures and very personal ones. Thom both admires and fears his dad and that fear comes from being a budding superhero with real superpowers and from being gay.

And here is what I think is the genius of this coming of age novel: that inasmuch as Thom has a very real uphill struggle with the public side of being gay (his father is homophobic, his friends in school are bullies), he is actually very much secure about who he is. There is no discovery or realisation because the book starts with Thom being well aware of being gay and being fine, about it on a personal level. I love how he dreams of finding someone to love and how he has this mad crush on one of the big league super-heroes. He is much more insecure about being a superhero for example, how to use his powers, how to address his peers, etc which I think is a fine, brilliant way of addressing his story.

There are moments of despair (and I so despaired with Thom) and there are moments of utter joy and I fist pumped all alone in my living room in triumphant, compassionate happiness every time Thom got over one of the obstacles in his way. And OMG the romance is awesome!

Although I don’t think I loved every single aspect of it as Thea did, I did love Hero very much and highly recommend it.

Rating: 8 – Excellent

Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves
Simon Pulse, January 2010, Hardcover, 464 pages

Original Review: January 2010
Original Rating: 10 – Perfect!

What Ana Said:

Bleeding Violet is one of the best Young Adult novels I have ever read. The writing is lovely, the story is hands down amazing and the characters are everything I could have hoped for. Every time I open a book, I wish for the sort of all-encompassing experience that this book provided me.

and also:

I think it is testament to this writer’s ability (and perhaps fondness for her characters) that in spite of all the aforementioned violence and darkness, Bleeding Violent ends on a definite, unmistakable and believable high note. And as of now, this book has a secure spot on my top reads of 2010.

What Thea Says: Well, how could I resist an endorsement like THAT? Yes, Ana tends to be a little more…exuberant and generous with her affections for books (when it comes down to top 10 of the year time, there’s something like 50 books on her list! How awesome is that?!), and I am in awe of the emotional rollercoaster she goes on every time she reads. More often than not, Ana finds a new author/book/character to passionately love/despise/etc – I have the emails to back it up. I kind of feel like this month’s “What She Said” is bizarre – because Hero seems like much more of an Ana book, and Bleeding Violet more of a Thea book, and yet we had them flipflopped the first time around. But I digress. Because of Ana’s emphatic endorsement, because of the irresistible blurb (and that gorgeous cover may have had something to do with it, too), I eagerly scooped up this book. Hell yes.

And you know what?

Bleeding Violet is pretty G.D. awesome.

It features a truly messed up cast of characters – bipolar, hallucination-embracing, affection-starved Hanna; the coldly beautiful Rosalee; the irritating (if intriguingly different and handsome) Wyatt. From the get-go I fell in love with Ms. Reeves’ prose and characterizations – Hanna, in particular is delightfully manic. Her surreal brand of psychosis (when we first meet her she is speaking to her dead father, mentally) may be a bit strange or hard to get into for some readers, but for me? I loved the dream-like quality her perspective-filtered, unreliable narrative provided. I also loved that she is biracial and comes across as genuine (as a biracial mutt myself, I am all to familiar with the ubiquitous “What ARE you?” question), her emotional issues and psychosis are also well-handled and ring as true. Her desperation for her beautiful mother’s attention and love is also particularly moving. Of course, the other characters are similarly textured and believable – Rosalee in her fragile frigidity, wanting nothing to do with the daughter she had the mistake of having, Wyatt in his tangled emotions and obligations. I loved them all – and Ana is absolutely right in her review, because stripped of the glamour and bizarreness of the plot, this is at its heart a character-centric novel.

That’s not to say that the plot is deficient – because it’s not. Portero is a town full of worldly portals and bizarre monsters – creatures that live in glass, that lurk, tentacled and monstrous in the shadows. And you know what? I LOVED IT ALL. Ms. Reeves’ writing style is beautiful, freeflowing and irresistible.

I have to chalk this one up to a truly successful What She Said – I am one happy camper! While I don’t think Bleeding Violet is perfect, I do think it’s damn awesome and one of my favorite reads for the year, absolutely.

Rating: 8 – Excellent

Today we give you a double shot of Graphic Novel goodness with two reviews of Mark Waid’s 2 great ongoing series.

Irredeemable Vol.3

Publisher: Boom Studios
Publication Date: July 2010
Paperback:112 pages

Stand alone or series: Volume 3 of ongoing series, which collect issues 9-12

The hunt for Modeus may be over but ultimate chaos is still at hand. With the Plutonian still on the loose, The Paradigm find themselves with little time and less options. Have the Paradigm unleashed something they cannot control? Collects issues #9-12 of Mark Waid’s superhero epic.

How did I get this book: Bought

Why did I read this book: I LOVE this series since discovering it early this year.

Art: Peter Krause

Review:

I fell head over heels in love with Irredeemable after reading Volume 1, a feeling that only grew considerably with the incredible second volume. The premise of this series is one that appeals to me as a reader and reading about the fear felt, the terror spread when the world’s greatest superhero turns its greatest villain has been a great journey. Especially because the premise is based on the idea that a super being is necessarily equipped with the right psyche to be a super hero.

Needless to say, I had been waiting anxiously for this third volume to finally arrive in the UK. Weeks I have waited with bated breath for this and when it finally landed on my doorstep two days ago, I whooped. Having finally read it, I can say now:

damn, baby, the honeymoon is over.

In this volume, we learn more about Tony/The Plutonian’s childhood and about how The Paradigm, the group of superheroes led by him only recently came to be together. We get to learn more about the other supes, as well as being introduced to a new character, brought forth by the Government in an attempt to stop the Plutonian, since the Paradigm doesn’t seem to be doing that much. And then, there is Cary, the guy who beat the Plutonian to a pulp and who seems to be getting way creepy. But not as creepy as finally figuring out exactly where Modeus – his arch-enemy – has been hiding.

In other words: same old, same old. The feeling that I had after reading this volume was: is that all? Nothing REALLY happens. It is still pretty much set up for something. Don’t get me wrong, it is great set up, and all the small cliff-hangers at the end of each issue were awesome. But there is nothing very new anymore and I really need this series to get moving.

Furthermore, a few things downright bothered me. 1) This new guy who the government has brought forth to capture Tony: he is an alien demon hunter. An alien. All of a sudden, I am no longer reading a super-hero exclusive club. I need to take into consideration other dimensions, and planets too . This is not a problem per se, if done well but it threw me off a bit as it was unexpected (although perhaps it shouldn’t have been) and I will wait and see further developments.

2) Bette Noir. I hate having to be this kind of reviewer/reader who always brings this up, but what is up with the only female member of the group being all about the men of the group? She is married to Gilgamos and at one point her entire arc is about how bad she feels for loving him but cheating on him with the Plutonian. It doesn’t help that there is a super build up to reveal how she has the power to destroy the Plutonian and her Super!Big!Sekrit! turned out to be lame and contrived and all about sexy times with the guy. Seriously now.

Bette Noir: Don’t mind me. Despite my cool name, power and outfit I am only really here so that the male characters can fight about who is better in bed

And finally 3) I am underwhelmed by how Cary is turning out to be another….Plutonian. We find out that he is extremely powerful after his twin dies, and he is able to almost defeat The Plutonian. But the power is going to his head and it only serves to demonstrate in a very aggressive way that absolute power corrupts absolutely. But the thing is, when you make it so every single time, you make it about power and not about people. That maxim is about a tendency not a certainty and by making Cary follow basically the same path and The Plutonian, it makes it less personal, less about the characters and it sort of diminishes the impact of any revelation about the characters’ past.

So yeah, the honeymoon is over but that is not necessarily a bad thing. Now the real thing starts, past the infatuation towards a stable relationship. In spite the aforementioned issues, I still very much enjoyed this volume and I have high hopes that the story will pick up. I mean, as far as I can see, maybe the Plutonian was NEVER EVER superhero material.

Rating:7 – Very Good

Incorruptible Vol.1

Publisher: Boom Studios
Publication Date: June 2010
Paperback:128 pages

Stand alone or series: Volume 1 of ongoing series, which collect issues 1-4

Super villain Max Damage had an epiphany the day The Plutonian destroyed Sky City. When The Plutonian turned his back on humanity, Max Damage decided to step up. Now Max Damage has changed his name to Max Daring and turned from his formerly selfish ways to become… INCORRUPTIBLE.

How did I get this book: Bought

Why did I read this book: After discovering Irredeemable, I just had to give Incorruptible a go since they are both set in the same world and happen at the same time.

Art: Jean Diaz

Review:

As soon as I finished reading Irredeemable Vol.3, I picked up Incorruptible Vol 1 and I think I liked it a bit more that I liked the former Incorruptible is a spin-off , set in the same world and timeline as Irredeemable, in which Max Damage, one of the world’s greatest villains has an epiphany after seeing The Plutonian going on a rampage and decides to become a hero.

Max is super strong and invulnerable, nothing can piece his skin. There is a cool twist: his power or ability increases the long he is awake – he is the most vulnerable as he awakes and in that one hour window he can touch, smell, and taste but these three senses disappear as the hours go by. He used to hang with his gang of criminals and his partner (and lover) is a 16 year old girl aptly named Jailbait. After witnessing the horrible things that The Plutonian has done, Max turns a new leaf, gets clean, decides he can’t have sex with Jailbait until she is legal and proceeds to become what he feels the world needs right now.

What has possessed him to believe he can do it, I do not know. Basically, Max is like, the anti-Plutonian. But no, not really. He may be Incorruptible now but he has done some pretty shitty things in his time. In that sense, if we think that The Plutonian is irredeemable surely Max should be too. Because if Max can have a second chance, then well, so can The Plutonian right? Say one day he decides he no longer feels like being a supervillain and see the errors of his ways, wouldn’t he be worthy of redemption too?

Redemption: is it merely by making decision that we get it? Yes, Max is acting like a hero (more of a vigilante variety) but are these actions enough? Furthermore, who gets to decide what the general populace needs? That sounds pretty patronising to me. But it also points to a certain humanisation of a villain. Perhaps who needs to be saved is Max himself and the change he undergoes is his and his alone. This is a man who is damaged but who also shows little remorse about the things he did in the past – at least for now. In any case, inasmuch as I felt that Tony was never meant to be a hero in the first place, perhaps Max Damage was never meant to be a villain. Only time will tell.

What I love about both these series are these questions that I get to ask when reading them. I believe they both work together really well too and I love the artwork by both Peter Krause and Jean Diaz. Recommended.

Rating:7 – Very Good

Reading Next: Forget You by Jennifer Echols

Title: The End League – Volume 1: The Ballad of Big Nothing

Written by Rick Remender, pencils and covers by Mat Broome, inks by Sean Parsons, colors by Wendy Broome and James Rochelle

Genre: Graphic Novel, Superheroes

Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Publication Date: December 2008
Trade Paperback: 104 pages

Stand alone or series: Collects issues #1-4; first of a two-volume collection

A thematic merging of The Lord of the Rings and Watchmen, The End League follows a cast of the last remaining super men and women as they embark on a desperate and perilous journey through a world dominated by evil, in hopes of locating the one remaining artifact that can save humanity – the Hammer of Thor.

How did I get these books: Review copies (of Vol. 1 & Vol. 2) from the publisher

Why did I read these books: Did you read the blurb? Touted as a merging of Tolkien and Moore, I was intrigued…and also more than a little skeptical. Those be big words, son. It was with nervous excitement that I headed into The End League…

Review:

It’s the end of the world as we know it, and it’s all Astonishman’s fault. After following the instructions of the dread Lexington, Astonishman has unwittingly unleashed the apocalypse – hurling a nuclear warhead at what he believed to be murderous alien creatures, the blast off alien engines and causing an unprecedented explosion that altered the earth’s axis, killed the majority of the population, and mutated 1 in 10,000 in the ensuing radiation. Now, years after the Green Event, Earth is a ravaged wasteland, where refugees fight for food and live under the tyrannical fist of Dead Lexington – yes, he who tricked Astonishman into destroying the world. To set things right and to vanquish Lex once and for all, Astonishman and his ragtag team of superheroes can only hope for god-alien Thor’s help – with Mjöllnir, Thor’s Hammer, Earth and humanity might be saved.

Ok, so The End League is not exactly Watchmen or Lord of the Rings. (Not even remotely – I have no idea how LotR even draws a comparison here. At least I can kinda-sorta see how one might say there’s an itty-bitty drop of Watchmen in this book. If you squint real hard and look at the story from a few hundred feet away. In the dark. Maybe.) From a storytelling standpoint, The End League has promise, but is somewhat underwhelming. I loved the idea of the world’s most beloved superhero unwittingly unleashing the apocalypse on the planet – borne of the best intentions and all that jazz – and I like where I think Remender was heading with a group of superheroes fighting an impossible battle after the world has ended. And yet…the story lacks a certain cohesiveness. There are clever ideas throughout – the origin of the Norse “Gods,” the relative/popular nature of what defines evil, demons from Hell running amok, etc – but they never really work together. Instead, these disparate threads clamor for attention, making for a cacophonous, disjointed reading experience. There’s also a lot of jumping back and forth in time, from character to character (half the time, we don’t even know who these characters are – names or otherwise) which is distracting and gives the book an uneven feel.

But the story isn’t the worst part.

No, the reason why The End League suffers so badly (and the reason why ultimately the series is a DNF for me) is because of the incredibly stilted flatness of its characters. And in a book like The End League, the characters have to reverberate with readers in order to truly work. I’m all for new realms of superheroes/villains; there are no rules already in place, no stifling continuity or character presets to restrain a writer. Take Mark Waid’s Irredeemable (and Incorruptible), for example – his take on superheroes works because he makes the characters work. Waid focuses on the fragile superhero psyche, giving insights to the Plutonian’s past and what made him the unstoppable force of death that he is at present. In contrast, Rick Remender just doesn’t quite pull it together. His characters simply fall flat, the writing clunky and dry. For the first two issues, all readers hear about is how guilty (and shockingly – if subconsciously – narcissistic, I might add) Astonishman feels about destroying the planet whilst marinading in his dour melancholy soup, his hubris the downfall of the entire planet. And good GOD, he’s boring. Instead of illustrating Astonishman’s horror at what he’s done, Remender has him internally monologue about it – and that’s never, ever good.

The real problem with Astonishman, and the rest of the marginalized league characters, is how simplistic and two-dimensional they are. There’s no movement, no true development of these characters – rather, they all feel like pontificating talking heads to advance the wafer-thin story. Writing like this, for example:

“Your machines ripped the information from my mind. You always feared Brian. Feared he would inspire the people to rise against you. Soon you’ll see that in your craven assassination you’ve only made him a martyr.”

or this:

“This place reeks of your impotent values. This citadel of seclusion – a museum of the ineffectual. A trembling last finger gripping the edge of a bottomless cliff. A prison to wait for an inevitable failed conclusion.”

Yeesh. I’m not even going to get into an incredibly awkward proclamation of luuuuurve at one point in the second issue…suffice to say, I was not thrilled.

To add insult to injury, the characters are all incredibly similar (in name, appearance, and powers) to their DC big brothers and sisters – Astonishman:Superman, Lexington:Lex Luthor, Divinity:Wonder Woman, and so on and so forth. Perhaps it would have been better if these were not such transparent analogues for DC’s JLA – but I doubt it.

On the bright side, however, there is no denying that the art in The End League is simply gorgeous. Mat Broome, in his return to the world of comics, does a phenomenal job with his strong, clean art – as do the colorists with the vibrant hues and textures they give to each frame of the book. Halfway through the fourth issue, Eric Canete (of Iron Man fame) takes over with his own distinct, very different sketchy style, which is equally gorgeous if in a different way.

Notable Quotes/Parts: The most notable part of The End League is Mat Broome’s art. Check it out:

You can check out the first three pages of The End League Vol. 1 at Dark Horse’s website, HERE.

Additional Thoughts: Lots of goodies on the Dark Horse site – check out the official trailer for the series HERE.

You can also read interviews HERE.

Verdict: While the art was superb and The End League held a wonderfully promising premise, I just couldn’t care enough by the end of the trade to continue with volume 2. Hence, the reason this is a single review today instead of a double feature. Thems be the breaks. (Although, I will say, I did enjoy the ending of issue 4)

Rating: 5 – Meh, Take it or leave it (Actually, it should be a 4, but the art brings it up a notch)

Reading Next: The Passage by Justin Cronin

“Inspirations and Influences” is a series of articles in which we invite authors to write guest posts talking about their…well, Inspirations and Influences. The cool thing is that the writers are given free reign so they can go wild and write about anything they want. It can be about their new book, series or about their career as a whole.”

Today’s guest is awesome author Jackie Kessler, writer of Urban Fantasy, Comics (she is part of the Buffyverse CANON) and Young Adult books (her YA debut Hunger will be coming out in a few months). She also pens the Icarus Project Series, a superhero series written in collaboration with Caitlin Kittredge. The new book in the series Shades of Gray (Shades of Night in the UK), comes out tomorrow in the US. Ana is a huge fan of the series and has reviewed both books.

To celebrate the release of Shades of Gray we invited Jackie to talk about some of her Inspirations and Influences:

I Blame Neil Gaiman
By Jackie Kessler

Back in the early 1990s, I thought I was done with comic books. Seriously. Firstly, they were expensive, and without my dad to bankroll my sequential-art habit, all of my cash had to go to textbooks and Ramen noodles. Secondly, I was getting a little fed up with many of the storylines and some of the art. I thought I’d had enough of Good versus Evil in illustrated form. If I really wanted, I could watch Michael Keaton as the Batman again and call it a day.

And then, something happened that changed my life. Multiple choice time! What was the event that changed my life?

A) Lightning hit a row of chemicals in beakers, and all those electrified chemicals spilled on me, giving me super speed and the uncanny ability to wear a skintight red outfit and manage to look slender.
B) I was bitten by a radioactive spider, giving me the proportional strength, etc., of a spider (yuck).
C) I discovered, when I took off my glasses, that I had super strength, was able to fly, and had a weird allergic reaction to kryptonite.
D) My roommate plunked down a copy of SANDMAN #23 on my bed and told me I had to read it.

If you guessed A, B, or C, bless your geeky heart. Sadly, no, I still have no super powers (unless you count selective hearing, but I consider that an art form more than a super power).

When my roommate gave me SANDMAN #23, he* insisted that I stop everything and read it. I told him, rather wistfully, that I didn’t read comic books anymore. And he said, “This isn’t just a comic book. It’s amazing. You have to read it.” So partially to shut him up, I read it.

And then I went out and immediately bought A DOLL’S HOUSE graphic novel collection.

And then I got my hands on every back copy of SANDMAN that I could find. (And afford.)

That one story — from its dynamic writing to the incredible art to the way Morpheus spoke in dialogue balloons made of awesomesauce**— was enough to rekindle my love of all things comic book. I still limited myself in terms of what to buy (see the above about me being insanely poor), but man, there was nothing like looking forward to hitting the comic book shop and seeing what the new week would bring in terms of spandex, capes, and anthropomorphic personifications.

It also paved the way for my professional crush*** on Neil Gaiman. I devoured his work. I read GOOD OMENS (coauthored with Terry Pratchett, and still one of my favorite books of all time, right up there with Christopher Moore’s LAMB), eagerly sought out rare chapbooks, found the occasional HELLBLAZER, and so on. When I was in the hospital with my first child, I had AMERICAN GODS to read during those rare minutes when I wasn’t nursing or sleeping. I waited on a looooooooooong line to have Neil sign my ENDLESS poster (framed, hanging in my home office). I registered for the Fantasy Matters convention when I heard he was one of the keynote speakers and was second on line for autographing (I actually gave him signed copies of HELL’S BELLES and THE ROAD TO HELL. He gave me a kiss on the cheek.**** I definitely got the better end of the deal.)

Why am I a writer? I blame Neil Gaiman. On that framed ENDLESS poster, he’d written: To Jackie: Dream On! And my dream was to be a novelist. He gave me permission, you see. He made the dream not some ephemeral thing, not this fleeting notion, but rather an actual goal. There’s a reason why Neil is one of the people I acknowledge in BLACK AND WHITE: he got me to stop thinking about writing as something lofty. Thanks to Neil, writing for me became a passion…one that I’ve been fortunate enough to also make one of my professions.

So even though Morpheus doesn’t wear spandex (thank God) and the notions of Good versus Evil in SANDMAN are like nothing I’d previously read about in the Justice League or the Avengers (and didn’t see with superheroes until Moore and Gibbons’ WATCHMEN and Miller’s THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS), Neil Gaiman got me to love comic books again. And I’m forever grateful.

* Yes, my roommate was a guy. Okay, technically, he was a suitemate. There were five of us. But really, “suitemate” doesn’t flow as well as “roommate,” and if this is the part of the story that’s concerning you, then you’re missing the point.

**** I still haven’t washed that cheek.

From Gaiman-fangirls to another: thank you, Jackie!

And now, for the giveaway:

GIVEAWAY DETAILS

Courtesy of the author, we are giving away 1 signed copy of Shades of Gray.The contest is open to ALL and will run until Saturday June 26 at 11:59 PM (PST). To enter, leave a comment here answering who is your favourite Superheroine or Supervillainess. Only one entry per person please! Good luck!

Title: Shades of Gray (US)/ Shades of Night (UK)

Author:Jackie Kessler & Caitlin Kittredge

Genre: Fantasy (Superheroes)

When Jet and Iridium – best friends turned enemies – came together to bring down a supervillain, they inadvertently destroyed the secret Corp-Co transmitter, whose frequency kept the New Chicago’s heroes of in-line – and sane. Now the city is plunged into chaos as these heroes are suddenly the biggest threat. Corp-Co brings in a new Squadron from India – but when heroes are tied into a system of sponsorship, only money, and not a sense of duty, can persuade them to save the day.

As they haggle, Everyman sets out to destroy the powers with a group of enhanced super-soldiers, and the mysterious villain Doctor Hypnotic is lulling heroes and supervillains alike into his seductive web – a dream-world where everything is perfect, but nothing is real. Once again Jet and Iridium are forced to set aside their hatred of each other to do what they were born to do: save the world.

Publisher: Spectra (US) / Piatkus (UK)
Publication Date: Jun 22 2010/ Jul 1 2010
Paperback: 432 pages

Stand alone or series Book 2 in the Icarus Project series

Why did I read the book: I read Black and White the first in the series last year, and loved it.

How did I get the book: ARC from Spectra

Review:

“ Dear Diary:

Today I start reading Shades of Gray. I really loved Black and White, please let the sequel be at least as good. I am supposed to review this in three days, hope I can make it (I blame it on the World Cup).”
Excerpt from Ana’s Journal, June 18th 8am.

Shades of Gray is the sequel to Black and White and part of the Icarus Project series. I read the first book last year as soon as it came out and I loved it. I thought the book was fun and clever by both paying homage to previous books and comics and giving the superhero lore a new spin. With alternating chapters from each of the main characters’ – Jet and Iridium – PoV and then chunks of chapters alternating between Now and Then, the authors created a world full of possibilities, based on an intriguing Origins premise and wonderful characters.

Shades of Gray starts with the aftermath of what happened in the end of book 1. After Iridium helped bring down the Corp and their commlinks system that kept the superheroes under control, all hell broke loose with Superheroes rebelling and turning villains and/or rabid, attacking citizens, creating havoc, etc or simply quitting. Only a handful of Heroes remains, led by Jet, trying to re-organise the Squadrom and bring order to the city. If things weren’t already chaotic, difficult and tiring, shit really hits the fan when supervillains escape from Blackbird prison, including the most dangerous of them all, Doctor Hypnotic, a former superhero turned rabid who starts turning people into mindless zombies.

“ Dear Diary:

I barely only started reading Shades of Gray and already love it, although the beginning is a bit slow. Why is my lunch break so short? I wonder if I can smuggle the book into this afternoon’s meeting.”
Excerpt from Ana’s Journal, June 18th 2pm.

On the other side of town, Iridium is dealing with things her own way, which as we know, is not less heroic than Jet’s, only slightly less orderly. Like for example, she was the one who helped some of the villains, including her father, Archlight, escaping prison.

The thing is, in this world, villainy and heroism is officially determined by the Corp and since book 1, we all know how THAT works. On top of that, other threads continue to be explored: like the relationship between Corp and the Icarus Project and we learn what it all means.

The plotting is very, very complex. The ideas, the clues are spread out in small journal snippets at the beginning of each chapter. Plus, once more the book alternates between NOW and THEN. The NOW chapters alternate between Jet and Iridium and deals with the chaos resulting from book 1 . But there is a big difference this time because the THEN goes back in time to tell the story of the first generation of superheroes, the one with the heroines’ parents with alternating point of views between those characters.

It sounds confusing but it really is not – in fact, I am delighted, surprised by how awesome and complex it was. I do admit that at first, I thought the pacing to be super slow and with less action sequences than a superhero novel ought to have. But folks, it works. Because this is less of a book about fighting (although there are some really good fighting sequences) and more about the characters and what it means to be a superhero. In the same vein of the comics Irredeemable or the novel The Rise of Renegade X (both recent releases) it investigates the psyche of the superhero and how not everyone who is a superbeing is necessarily equipped for the task – this is both sad and terrifying. I mentioned an Origins story and in the end all the pieces of the puzzle come together to form an astonishing story.

“ Dear Diary:

Couldn’t read last night. But just read a few chapters on the train from London and HOLY SHIT.
Excerpt from Ana’s Journal, June 19th 7pm.

As astonishing and complex as the plotting was, nothing matters more to me than the characters. Both Jet and Iridium whom I already loved from book 1 and whose arcs are further developed: these two have to deal with their parents’ reputations and fall from grace and create their own path. It is not easy; especially when it comes to Jet whose Shadow power basically dooms her to mental illness as it has doomed every single Shadow hero before her.

But this time around what really made the book to me was the THEN parts. I can’t begin to describe how good the chapters about the first wave of superheroes were: Vixen, Luster (before coming Archlight), Blackout, Angelica and Night. By showing how Corp first started using the comms links, how they used and controlled most of them and how of course, there was a sense of impending doom throughout because we knew already how tragic their lives were. We just didn’t know how much: love, paranoia, betrayal, madness, death, everything was there and this was by far my favourite part of the novel because it all has repercussions in the worldbuilding and in the current lives of the protagonists.

“Dear Diary:

Today a book made me cry. I love when that happens. Also: Luster and Vixen FOREVER.”
Excerpt from Ana’s Journal, June 20th 3:30pm.

I have to give kudos to the authors for this collaborative work – it can’t be easy to create such a polished, smooth read. In the end, I laughed, I cried, I rooted for the heroes and against the villains and when I closed the novel, I knew I was going to miss the characters. That makes it for a great read, in my books.

Notable quotes/Parts: I loved all the scenes with Vixen and Luster, the Angelica/Hal/Blackout love triangle. They were powerful and so, so sad.

Additional Thoughts:Come back later today for a guest post with one of the co-authors, Jackie Kessler, who talks about how comics and Neil Gaiman’s kiss inspired her as a writer and for a chance to win a signed copy of Shades of Gray.

Verdict: Picking up where the first book left off and further developing the themes of heroism and the hero’s psyche, Shades of Gray is an even better book than its predecessor. It is also an extremely fun book to read and with awesome characters to boot.

Rating:8 – Excellent

Reading Next:Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding

Title: The Rise of Renegade X

Author: Chelsea M. Campbell

Genre: YA/ UF (Superheroes)

Publisher: Egmont USA
Publication Date: May 11 2010
Hardcover: 352 pages

Stand alone or series: As far as I know, stand alone but please, please let it be the first in a series!

Sixteen-year-old Damien Locke has a plan: major in messing with people at the local supervillain university and become a professional evil genius, just like his supervillain mom. But when he discovers the shameful secret she’s been hiding all these years, that the one-night stand that spawned him was actually with a superhero, everything gets messed up. His father’s too moral for his own good, so when he finds out Damien exists, he actually wants him to come live with him and his goody-goody superhero family. Damien gets shipped off to stay with them in their suburban hellhole, and he has only six weeks to prove he’s not a hero in any way, or else he’s stuck living with them for the rest of his life, or until he turns eighteen, whichever comes first.

To get out of this mess, Damien has to survive his dad’s “flying lessons” that involve throwing him off the tallest building in the city–despite his nearly debilitating fear of heights–thwarting the eccentric teen scientist who insists she’s his sidekick, and keeping his supervillain girlfriend from finding out the truth. But when Damien uncovers a dastardly plot to turn all the superheroes into mindless zombie slaves, a plan hatched by his own mom, he discovers he cares about his new family more than he thought. Now he has to choose: go back to his life of villainy and let his family become zombies, or stand up to his mom and become a real hero.

Why did I read this book: Dudes, look at the cover and title and the blurb: it has “Ana” spelt all over it.

How did I get this book: Review copy from the publisher

Review:

I have been dying to read The Rise of Renegade X ever since I first hear about it, months ago. I am a sucker for superheroes stories and “Renegade X” has a deliciously camp-sounding name that just appeals to me. On the other hand, the premise did have the potential to be problematic, depending on the execution. I braced myself and the result is: minor hiccups aside, I really enjoyed the book and I absolutely LOVED the protagonist.

Damien Locke is about to turn 16. This is a very important day for those who live in Golden City – where Supervillains and Superheroes coexist with each other and with regular folks – because on their 16th birthday, those who have the “Super” gene, get their thumbprints : a “v” for villain or a “h” for hero. Damien is the son of a Supervilainess and as such he expects to get his “v” and join Vilmore, the college for aspiring villains where he fully anticipates becoming a legend in the arts of villainy. But on the night of his birthday, as his friends and mother watch, his thumbprint forms….an “X”. Everybody talks about the infamous, rare “X” thumbprint but hardly anybody has actually seen one because the “X” signifies the unthinkable. For Damien, it means that his father can only be..GASP…a Superhero!

What could possibly bring his mother to stoop so slow and how and when? Determined to find out, Damien reads his mother’s diary (hey, he IS a villain wanna-be) and finds out that his parents had a one night-stand in a bathroom whilst fighting each other and that’s it. Using the date of the diary, Damien to identify three possible dads and to his utter disdain, his father turns out to be the Crimson Flash, one of the best, most wholesome superheroes out there, who even stars his own TV show for kids. Upon discovering that he has a son, the Crimson Flash convinces Damien’s mother to let him stay with him and his family (wife, three kids) for six weeks for a taste of the good side of the force and Damien is horrified at how easily his mother let him go (but you see, she is working on a evil plan right now). The point is, having an “X” means that Damien has a choice and his actions will determine whether he becomes a superhero or a supervilain in the end; and the funny thing is, no matter how much he wants to be a supervillain, his actions always end up being good, heroic actions, almost against his will.

Speaking of “will” or “actions”, this is ultimately the centre theme of the novel – how much do your actions count when it comes to being a supervilain or a superhero? I have to say, I am pretty happy with the way this was handled, not in a heavy way, not with a “in your face” message. Yes, good prevails in the end (despite me sort of wanting Damien to chose to be a villain but that is only because I am demented) but that does not mean that the world is black and white here. Because it isn’t. I like how for example, one of the reasons that Damien was determined to be a villain was due to his perception of fairness – from his point of view, villains are better at judging people on their own merits rather than making an assumption based on an “H” or a “V”. There is one particular sequence where this is very clear where he talks with his father about this hero who was arrested for beating up his own wife – said hero had the power of healing so he would heal his wife after each beating and so no one knew for a long time what was going on behind the scenes until he was finally arrested but even then, even with witnesses and proof, the public still had a hard time accepting and believing it because of the “H” in the guy’s thumb. Damien is very vocal about how having a “H” does not mean that you are inherently good and or having a “V” does not mean that you are evil. Unfortunately, I felt that this was somewhat downplayed by the author, I would have loved to see for example someone with a “V” who was a superhero or vice-versa because then it really meant that a person has a choice because if you REALLY think about, why only the people with an “X” have the choice? That does not make a lot of sense from where I stand. Maybe this can be further explored in the next book.

Since we are on the subject I am not too sure about the specifics of the genetic mark-ups and inheritance of power, etc. BUT, in all honestly, as fuzzy as the details of the world building are, and yes, some contrivance in the plotting did show its ugly face, in the end, I did not mind. Because I loved the main character, his voice and his arc SO very much.

The book is filled with humour and sarcasm all dished out by its protagonist and narrator. There are some really funny monologues here, like when Damien muses about which super power he will get. Like, what if he has the lame power to communicate with worms? What will he do with THAT?

(An aside: in this world, the kids’ powers start showing right before their 16th birthday. Damien is a little bit late – which reminded me quite a lot of the movie Sky High).

When he finds out that his father can fly he completely freaks out for two reasons. 1) he is afraid of heights and 2) flying is exclusively a super-hero power and if he inherits it, no way, no how, will he ever be respected amongst the villains.

But it is in dealing with his world, friends, family and being a typical teenager (with two potential love interests, getting hard-ons when in close contact with them) with atypical problems that Damien’s voice shine, baby shine. Damien is a very self-aware and attuned character who teases, pull at people’s strings and rile them up often by playing with their own preconceptions, prejudices and actions like in this quote when talking to his father:

“As I was saying before the interruption, I like villainy, and I like things how they were before you dragged me here. I want to be accepted by other supervillains. I want to go to Vilmore. I want a supervillain girlfriend. You know what they say: supervillains have more fun.” I lean in close and stage whisper, “It’s true, isn’t it? You’ve had both–you can tell me.”

As a villain wanna-be he pulls pranks and execute revenge on those who bully him but he is never cruel or entirely corrupted. Quite the contrary – his actions are very frequently less hurtful than those around him be them superheroes or supervillains. Like his father, who plays by the rules even when these rules mean being unfair. His narrative serves as a mirror to the world around him and sometimes it is an ugly world, even painful, and in this one scene when he collapses and cries, I cried too. I LOVED Damien, he is cunning, crass, sarcastic and yes, even if he doesn’t really want to, heroic (but never losing his edge).

I had loads of fun reading The Rise of Renegade X and Damien is now a favourite YA character. Here is hoping for a sequel (or two).

Notable Quotes/Parts: I love, LOVE the sequence when Sarah, Damien’s sidekick shows him his Renegade X costume. Awesome. OR when his dad takes him flying for the first time even though they don’t even KNOW if that is his power. Or the ending.

You can also read the first chapter here.

Additional Thoughts: check out the fun book trailer, made by the author:

Verdict: The Rise of Renegade X is a great superhero book. Fun, funny, full of action sequences, with a loveable protagonist with an edge. The details of the world building are slightly fuzzy but they never marred the overall enjoyment I had with this novel. More, please!

Rating: 7 Very Good, leaning towards a 8.

Reading Next: A Blue So Dark by Holly Schindler

Title: Hero

Author: Perry Moore

Genre: Speculative Fiction, Superhero, Young Adult, LGBT literature

Publisher: Disney (Hyperion)
Publication Date: August 2007
Paperback: 432 pages

Thom Creed is used to being on his own. Even as a highschool basketball star, he has to keep his distance because of his father. Hal Creed had once been one of the greatest and most beloved superheroes of The League–until the Wilson Towers incident. After that Thom’s mother disappeared and his proud father became an outcast.

The last thing in the world Thom would ever want is to disappoint his father. So Thom keeps two secrets from him: First is that he’s gay. The second is that he has the power to heal people. Initially, Thom had trouble controlling his powers. But with trail and error he improves, until he gets so good that he catches the attention of the League and is asked to join. Even though he knows it would kill his dad, Thom can’t resist. When he joins the League, he meets a motely crew of other heroes, including tough-talking Scarlett, who has the power of fire from growing up near a nuclear power plant; Typhoid Larry, who makes everyone sick by touching them, but is actually a really sweet guy; and wise Ruth, who has the power to see the future. Together these unlikely heroes become friends and begin to uncover a plot to kill the superheroes.

Along the way, Thom falls in love, and discovers the difficult truth about his parents’ past. This is a moving, funny, and wonderfully original novel that shows that things are not always what they seem, and love can be found in the unlikeliest of places.

How did I get this book: Bought

Why did I read this book: I have had Hero on my TBR for aaaaaaaaages. Originally, I planned on reading and reviewing it last year for YAAM (Young Adult Appreciation Month) as part of a YA superhero novel day – but just couldn’t squeeze it in the schedule. So, this week, when I found that I had a break in my reading schedule and could read ANYTHING I WANTED (OMG! This hardly ever happens!), Hero was the book I immediately picked up.

Review:

I am in love.

I am in love with Hero – with the brave, forthright narrator that is Thom Creed. With his physically and emotionally strong father, the downtrodden but ever-unbroken Hal Creed. With the mysterious Goran. With the moments of triumph, heartbreak, embarrassment, pain and pure joy. I am in love with this remarkable, rousing book.

Hero is truly heroic.

Thom Creed is a driven young man: avolunteer, a hard worker, a star basketball center, and a loyal son. During one heated basketball game, however, Thom develops a unique ability – he can heal things with his hands, as he does to Goran, the star player on the opposing team after he is flagrantly fouled by one of Thom’s teammates. Thom’s powers come at a cost, both physically and emotionally – physically, he goes into convulsions after straining his powers. Emotionally, his abilities weigh on Thom because he must hide his powers from his father – the formerly beloved (but fallen so far from grace) superhero Hall “Major Might” Creed. Years earlier, Hal’s failure at the WIlson Towers killed thousands and ended in Hal’s public disgrace and disbandment from the League (an official syndicate of superheroes), culminating in the law that non-superpowered heroes, like Thom’s father, could never again don a cowl and call themselves heroes. Ever since, Thom’s father has borne his public shunning with calm restraint and has tried to raise his son, even after his wife left Hal and Thom behind. Thom knows there’s one line that he cannot cross – no talk of superheroes, or of the League. Ever.

So when the League invites Thom to try out for the team and he actually makes it as a probationary member, he must guard that secret from his father. But that’s not the only secret Thom keeps from Hal – there’s one truth that he cannot bear to have revealed: Thom is gay. To Thom’s traditional, old-fashioned and opinionated father, an admission of Thom’s sexual orientation can only end in disappointment, revulsion, and pain.

But when Thom is the only one that can exonerate a wrongly accused person by declaring the truth to the world, he must decide what it truly means to be a superhero.

I don’t think I can sufficiently explain how much I loved this book. From the first page to its bittersweet ending, I found myself enthralled by Perry Moore’s breathtaking coming-of-age novel. The brunt of the story rests on Thom’s tried shoulders – self-aware, emotional, honest, flawed Thom. As our protagonist, Thom is a beautiful character that rouses and inspires as he struggles with self-perception, with his relationship with his family, with his standing as a hero, and his attempts to find a place in a world that seems to despise and revile him for being “different.” Hero broke my heart when I read along with Thom as he was ostracized and ridiculed for being gay – it’s a running joke here at TBS that Ana is the “emotional Smuggler” – but let me tell you, dear readers, I was emotional as hell reading this book. Hero runs the entire gamut of emotion through the father/son dynamic, struggling with truth and identity, finding and losing love, and living with regrets and making peace with the past. That’s not to say Hero is preachy or emotionally exploitative – because nothing could be farther from the truth. Hero hits all the right notes, painting Thom as a sympethic protagonist without patronizing or condescending, and the hardships Thom faces as a gay teen never feel contrived or melodramatic; Thom’s struggles range from humorous (one scene involving internet porn, for example) to touching (Thom’s first hookup), painful (Thom’s public declaration and his father’s reactions) to triumphant (well, I’ll leave that unspoiled for now). Mr. Moore writes a truly heroic character in Thom, and I found myself moved to the point of tears following this inspiring young protagonist.

While Mr. Moore captures Thom’s struggles within and with the outside world perfectly, he also creates a compelling, complicated relationship between a father and his son. Just as Thom is an inspired protagonist, Hal “Major Might” Creed is also one hell of a character. He’s not a perfect dad by any stretch of the imagination as he’s deeply hurt by his public failure and his wife leaving him. His relationship with his only son, the only family he has left in the world with Thom is a complicated one, filled with its soaring highs and crushing lows. And yet, despite Hal’s old fashioned beliefs, he’s first and foremost Thom’s dad. I loved that Mr. Moore does not write simplistic two-dimensional characters – he includes the good, the bad, and the ugly in this father-son relationship especially, creating an almost unfathomably awesome reading experience.

And these are just two characters that I’ve touched on! Suffice to say that every character in Hero is brilliant in his or her own way, just as every scene written into this book is necessary and integral to the story. There is no wasted space, no repetitive filler in Hero, and I could probably go on forever about each of these characters, so I’ll just mention my favorites: the mysterious Goran and his role in Thom’s life. Justice’s calm understanding of Thom’s outsider-status and his own tangled past with the Creed family. The League’s members – Uberman (object of Thom’s fantasies) and Warrior Woman, in particular. Thom’s teammates – the lovably crass, clairvoyant Ruth, the curmudgeonly Scarlett and her own dark secret, the snidely condescending Golden Boy, the sadly isolated Typhoid Larry.

In terms of writing, the plotting for Hero is similarly superb. Hero is very much a coming-of-age story, but it’s also filled with dark secrets, revelations about his past and his family, and – of course – a central conflict culminating in a battle sequence on an epic scale. Deftly plotted, cinematic in its execution, Hero’s story rocks, plain and simple. And the action! While the draw to the book is the emotional and character driven story, the action sequences don’t hurt any. Mr. Moore’s writing is never lengthy nor awkward, zipping this story along and tying everything together in a cohesive, tight package.

Finally, how can I review a superhero book without addressing the world-building element? Mr. Moore creates an entirely new universe with Hero, taking a world similar to our own but injecting superheroes into every day life. It’s worth pointing out that Thom’s world is not one that is versed with our own DC/Marvel heroes (i.e. there are no awkward “Captain Victory was just like Clark Kent with his disguises!” sort of drops), and I dig that. That said, the superheroes in Hero are familiar (in an homage/poking fun kind of wa) – for example, Warrior Woman bears the obvious resemblance to a certain Amazon Princess from Themyscira, Justice is an intriguing blend between Superman and Martian Manhunter, the League of superheroes itself is very much a new version of the JLA. It’s clear that Mr. Moore is an avid comic book fan, and Hero encompasses themes from some of the great work out there – a bit X-Men, a bit Watchmen (especially in the case of Thom’s father), and even a bit of Mark Waid’s Kingdom Come (and Irredeemable). But that’s not to say that Hero is a poor copy-cat or rip-off (as was my impression with The Iron King recently). Rather, Hero uses these foundations and builds something completely new, beautiful, strange and unforgettable. It has earned its place in the comic book canon.

I cannot think of a thing wrong with this book. It is brilliant, beautiful, from beginning to end. I laughed, I cringed, I cried. Hero made me fall in love with reading all over again – but more than that, it inspired me, as I’m sure it will inspire countless teens and readers. Recommended for everyone.

Notable Quotes/Parts: From Chapter 1:

I NEVER THOUGHT I’d have a story worth telling, at least not one about me. I always knew I was different, but until I discovered I had my own story, I never thought I was anything special. My destiny began to unfurl during my very last game at school. What started with an accident on the court ended with the single most devastating look I ever got from my father. And it made me want to die.

At the game, I’d scored twenty-two points, which already topped my personal best by a basket, and I showed no signs of slowing down. Every time I sank the ball, I could hear a lone deep voice begin to cheer a full second before the rest of the bleachers chimed in. Dad’s voice was hoarse from screaming, but I could still tell it was him, because no one else there would bother to remind me to follow my shot or get my hands up for defense.

I ran down to the other end of the court and posted up under the basket, and I caught him out of the corner of my eye. He was sitting in the remote upper lip of the bleachers, in his usual spot, away from everyone else. The crowd was sparse up there, which he said gave more room for a man of his considerable size to spread out, stand every few minutes, and stretch his back. The truth was that the extra room also made it harder to tell that people were uncomfortable sitting close to him.

I was surprised to see a young couple sitting near him that night. The husband would occasionally turn around to agree with my dad on a call or congratulate him when I made a shot. They were probably parents of one of the freshmen on the team. Didn’t recognize my father yet.

But I got the feeling they found something about him familiar. Like someone they’d seen on TV, in a movie, a local politician, or someone vaguely famous. They would have recognized him right away if he’d been wearing his mask. My guess is he’d probably saved their lives at some point. Dad always ran into people whose lives he’d saved. I could tell because his left jaw would clench, just a smidge, a bicuspid ground
into a molar—a telltale sign that he was either going to be ignored, maligned, or dismissed by someone who was only still breathing by the good graces of my father’s actions. He never wanted me to see it, but kids aren’t stupid. Even if Dad had ever possessed superpowers, invulnerability wouldn’t have protected him from the shame of having people look down on him in front of his own son.

You can read the full excerpt online HERE.

Additional Thoughts: A few things. Firstly, in addition to being an amazing novelist, Perry Moore also is a hotshot Hollywood type – best known for his involvement in the Chronicles of Narnia films. As an openly gay man producing one a staunchly Christian series of books to film, I cannot express how freaking awesome I think this is. You can read more about Perry Moore, including a great interview with the author, on his website.

Also of interest on Mr. Moore’s website is a list – a primer, if you will – of gay characters in comics, and how they have been treated over the years. From “WHO CARES ABOUT THE DEATH OF A GAY SUPERHERO ANYWAY?:
A HISTORY OF GAYS IN COMIC BOOKS”:

In 1999, comic book writer Gail Simone compiled a notable list of female comic book characters who had been injured, killed, or de-powered in various superhero comics. The article, “Head In A Refrigerator,” made waves, and fans encouraged the comic book industry to change their treatment of women in the medium. The result has been positive, as the ever-increasingly popular world of comic books and graphic novels have yielded some of the most powerful and respected female heroes in literature since the list’s publication.

The following list is a similar catalogue of the treatment of gays in the medium. The goal is to facilitate discussion and awareness, that fans expect and deserve better treatment of lesbian, gay, and transgendered characters. The very fabric of our society is defined by whom we choose to venerate as our heroes. Things are beginning to change, but for every step forward – and there are some very good ones — the comic book world has taken some giant leaps back. Most gay characters, even in their small numbers, still remain primarily as villains, minor characters, and victims who are tortured, maimed and killed. Is this a fair representation of LGBT characters in the medium? That is left for you to decide. Yes, bad things do happen to all people, gay people included. But are there positive representations of gay characters to counterbalance these negative ones? Who cares about the death of a gay superhero anyway?

It’s an eye-opening piece, and I wholeheartedly recommend everyone go forth and check it out.

(After you read that, if you can stomach it, go forth and read about the kerfluffle in which Mark Millar responds rather disingeniously to Perry Moore’s outrage at the death of Northstar at Wolverine’s hands in 2005)

Verdict: Hero is, in this reader’s opinion, a perfect book in every way. Rousing, heartening and inspiring, Thom’s journey is one that is applicable to everyone. I cannot recommend this book enough – and it’s easily at the top of my list of favorite books read in 2010.

Rating: 10 – Perfection

Reading Next: Silver Phoenix by Cindy Pon

As you may have heard, this past weekend the LA Times Festival of Books took place at my alma mater, UCLA.

Over the weekend of April 24th – 25th, thousands of book lovers, authors, book sellers, publishers and other industry folks made their way to Westwood. And I’m happy to report that I was one of the throng, thoroughly enjoying the (basically) free panels, stages, author signings, book tents, and other assorted bibliophile paraphernalia. I’ve been going to the LA Times Festival of Books since I was a wee baby froshling, but this is the first time I’ve gone with the intent and capacity to blog about it – so it’s kinda cool. And new. And different.

Here are my adventures in the wild hills of Westwood (the 2010 edition):

Day 1: Saturday, April 24, 2010

After dragging the poor, reluctant boyfriend (who is soooooo not a reader) with me to the festival (hereafter LATFOB), finding a place to park, and hiking our sorry asses to campus (we’re both UCLA grads, so it was something of an eerie experience), we finally got situated and mapped out what areas we needed to hit immediately. First on the list was…

Mark Waid in conversation with Jonah Weiland – Saturday 1PM, Etc. stage

It’s no surprise that we Smugglers are a fan of Mark Waid’s – Ana’s recently given rave reviews for his Boom! Studios original “superhero” comic, Irredeemable (Vol 1 & 2), and of course we are both fans of his multiple Eisner Award-winning Kingdom Come, of his 52, and other remarkable works. The fact that Jonah Weiland, executive producer of the always excellent Comic Book Resources was the interviewer? Well, that just added icing to the cake. As a relatively newbie to the comic scene and someone that hasn’t been to many author events in the past, it was quite a treat to see these two in conversation!

Amongst the topics Mr. Weiland and Mr. Waid covered were the idea of comic books and their rise to fame, especially on the Hollywood front. Comics adapted to movies are increasingly popular, as major studios in film and television push out multiple adaptations a year, when there used to be only one every few years. Both men remarked that they do not think the bubble is going to burst any time soon, and that it will take more than a few box office duds (hello The Spirit, Ghostrider, Superman Returns) to staunch the flow. I found it kinda funny and really cool that Mark Waid admitted that when he heard that Iron Man was going to be adapted to the big screen, he (and other industry pros) kind of laughed and did a, “good luck with that.” If it weren’t for Robert Downey Jr.’s perfection as Tony Stark, Iron Man would not be the phenomenon that it now is – and I tend to side with Mr. Waid on that front. On the movie note as well, both men have high hopes for Green Lantern…

Also discussed were the digital application of comics in the form of Motion Comics, which neither Jonah nor Mark seemed to be very enthusiastic about (if you’ve seen the Watchmen motion comic with its weirdo voiceovers, you’d totally get why). But both were supportive of the move to digital media for actual comics themselves, via the iPad, and other webcomics.

Unfortunately, not a single mention, not even a passing throwout of female superheroes was made during the full hour.

Other observations and musings:

- Apparently, though Batman is the fan favorite (according to a good majority of the audience, myself included), Mark Waid says we are ALL wrong and Supe’ is where it’s at.

- Mark Waid thinks of himself as an incurable optimist – with the overarching theme of “hope” running through all his books. Which is pretty uplifting, given that a lot of books (comic and prose alike) tend to take the more jaded, cynical approach.

- Of all his work, Waid’s favorite, most notable accomplishment is his first issue of Fantastic Four.

- WIll Waid do 52 again in the future? Only if the dream team reunites.

In terms of future projects, Mark Waid talked about Boom! – he hopes that his Irredeemable universe will continue to grow over the next few years (also, Waid wearing a sweet Irredeemable hat). In the pipeline is a Stan Lee collaborative project which sounds really gorram cool – Stan is starting a line with Boom to create an ENTIRELY NEW universe of superheroes. How freakin’ awesome is that?

Overall, I was really, super impressed by both Jonah and Mark. They seemed like nice, sharp, funny guys – and I got my own copies of Irredeemable (volumes 1 & 2) signed by Mark Waid after the panel, after only a few name misspelling issues.

Then, it was on to…

Blood, Fangs, and Temptation: Everything Vampire with Richelle Mead, Rachel Caine, Heather Brewer, & Melissa de la Cruz
Moderated by Aaron Hartzier

I only stopped by this stage pretty quickly to listen to Rachel Caine (one of my favorite contemporary UF authors) and Richelle Mead – and both ladies were undeniably cool. Everyone read an excerpt from their latest book, talked a bit about vampires in fiction and their own particular series’. I tried to stick around to get books signed at the end of the event, but holy CRAP was the line long. The stage itself was super crowded, and considering this was the first year the LATFOB had a YA stage, it was pretty impressive – and indicative of the popularity of YA fiction overall. For while there were many eager, fangirl teens at the event, there were also some equally eager mothers and older readers (like myself), eating up what each of these talented authors had to say.

The Bloggers…

After a long, sun-drenched day of squirming my way through crowds (SERIOUSLY, the crowds were so thick and muggy that it was like how I imagine being born feels), I made my back to Westwood to meet with a delightful group of bloggers. Even though we don’t necessarily read the same books, these were some sweet ladies (and gentleman) – so a huge thank you to Lisa (Books on the Brain), Florinda (3R’s Blog), Ti (Book Chatter), Amy (My Friend Amy), Danielle Smith (There’s a Book), Trish (Hey, Lady!), Jen (Jen’s Book Thoughts), Jill (Fizzy Thoughts), Leah Hasenoehrl (Amused by Books), and Ashley (Ashley’s Library).

Day 2: Sunday, April 25, 2010

Day 2 of the LATFOB proved even more action packed than the first – this was the day I explored every tent on campus (multiple times for some), and ended up buying a few books (gaaaaaaaaaah).

Books Purchased include Feed by Mira Grant (YESSSS!!!! Love Seanan McGuire!) and Boy Proof by the remarkable Cecil Castelucci (every geek girl’s hero). Also walking around I stumbled upon VMK Fewings, author of A Stone Master’s Reckoning, which I reviewed last year. Vanessa had her very own (very coolly decorated!) booth, and even remembered who I was and gave me a free copy of her new book. SQUEE!

As for the day’s panels…

Comic Books: Indie and Beyond with Ed Brubaker, Simon Oliver & Mike Mignola
Moderator: Geoff Boucher

When I saw that Mike Mignola was on a panel, it was an autobuy for me. You may have noticed that we Smugglers love Hellboy. And with another big name in Ed Brubaker (Captain America writer, at the moment) and Simon Oliver, I was sold. This panel was interesting, especially in comparison to Mark Waid’s interview the day before – while Waid was funny and more softspoken, this crew was more boisterous. Less interested in superheroes, and moregenerally chatty. After seeing how hopeful/non-cynical Mark Waid was, it was funny to hear Ed Brubaker, who is a wryly cynical as they come (but not necessarily in a bad way). Ed Brubaker was late to the panel.

Mike Mignola is awesome, incredibly humble and wonderful, and he kinda looks like a friendly Tom Colicchio. He talked a bit about what he’s working on – he just came back from a 10 day stint in New Zealand helping with a segment of Guillermo del Toro’s The Hobbit, and hopefully his work will make the final cut. SImon Oliver (of The Exterminators fame) was kind of marginalized, but funny and interesting when he did speak.

On new projects – Brubaker talked about how he lost a pilot he wrote specifically and originally for TV; but has Secret Avengers out later this year (and a follow up to Incognito – which is awesome – later too). I’m super stoked for Mignola’s new chapter in Hellboy/BPRD (as Hellboy has quit, and apparently we can expect LOTS of changes). Simon Oliver has a new crime noir book out at somepoint soon, but can’t remember the artist’s name (a huge LOL moment).

Following the panel, I got to meet up with Kris, awesome book blogger behind Voracious YAppetite – who shares a LOT of the same YA interests as Ana and I. We met briefly at the YA Stage (after I mistakenly harassed a girl that fit Kris’s clothes description – whoops), and talked about our book plans before bullying an innocent bystander into taking a picture of us. All in all, a fun time!

After that, it was time for my last panel of the event – and the most entertaining one, at that.

Book: New Media Meets Publishing with Pablo Defendini, Dana Goodyear & Wil Wheaton
Moderated by Carolyn Kellogg

For pretty obvious reasons, I was most looking forward to this panel addressing New Media and publishing, especially since I (kind of) know one of the panelists. Pablo Defendini is someone Ana and I knew from Tor.com. Recently (as in, one month ago) he left the MacMillan imprint to join Open Road Integrated Media (the new, e-book company brainchild of Jane Friedman, former CEO of HarperCollins). And, in person, (well, from my audience seat) Pablo is freakin’ AWESOME. He even used headdesking in a sentence. Come on now. (And, I might mention, in a festival FULL of mystery/crime/thrillers and literary fiction, it was cool to hear from a fellow SF/F geek – name droppin’ Scalzi, Gaiman, Elliot and others!)

Wil Wheaton, actor, blogger, self-published author is adorable and really, *really* goddamn funny. Like, integrating LOLCAT speech funny. Poking fun at stuck-in-the-1900s-publishers funny. He had a lot to say about self publishing that doubtless helped many aspiring authors in the audience.

Dana Goodyear had a lot to say too about her work – she’s a regular contributor to the New Yorker and founder of Figment, a new mobile platform for readers and writers of young-adult fiction, based on the bestselling Japanese form of cell-phone novels. Figment sounds pretty cool – although I’m not sure how well it will work out in its early days here in the United States (especially considering Japan’s very…different culture of cellphones), but it’s an intriguing, forward thinking concept. And we’ll be keeping our eye on Figment, which launches this summer.

Of all the panelists, Pablo was the most enlightening. One of the most interesting things he talked about was how when they launched Tor.com (which I remember like it was yesterday!), the site offered free e-books – the first book in assorted SF/F series’ (i.e. Scalzi’s Old Man’s War, Kate Elliot’s Spirit Gate) – which panelist Carolyn Kellogg likened to the pusher mentality of “the first hit’s free” (hilarious). Pablo then talked about how after that first hit DID the job, at Tor he started getting desperate requests from readers that WANTED to pay money for the ebook version of the rest of the books in the series – but were for, whatever reason *cough*MacMillan*cough* unavailable in e-book format. Pablo described this as the most headdesking moment evah.

Other tidbits of note:

- PDFs suck for e-books (duh). Mobi should be taken out back and shot, placed in a shallow grave. EPUB is sooooo where it’s at.

- Thieves will always be thieves; but people WILL buy e-books and print copies too. Whether it is a print “souvenir” (as Dana Goodman says of Japanese readers that purchased the prose versions of the cellphone novels they participated in) or to just have a concrete copy of a book, or if it’s a Scott Sigler type of deal (who changes his story with each iteration of a book – and his books are awesome by the way. Start out with Earthcore).

- A lot of people are driven to illegal downloads because they have no other alternative! This especially applies to international readers…which is something, as an international blog, we can relate to.

- They touched on pricing of ebooks – how people do not want to pay these expensive dollar amounts for books. Inherently, people know that spending the same amount of money on a print book as an e-book just doesn’t make any sense. (And on that note, the moderator kind of misses the point by suggesting that people who have already spent hundreds on a reader should be able to afford to give authors a few more bucks…yeaaaaah, that’s not quite the issue at hand. If I’ve paid hundreds of dollars for an e-reader, you damn well better bet that I want MORE bang for my buck, and I am not going to be complacent paying ridiculously inflated costs for an electronic version of a book that should by virtue of common sense be cheaper than its printed counterpart.)

The coolest thing about this panel? I saw Trish of Hey Lady! walking in, and we grabbed a seat together. Which made for a fun panel, especially with some of the…colorful characters in attendance.

Gripes about the Festival:

This was a great, fun weekend, no doubt about it. I was SO stoked to see a YA stage and YA section this year 0 and holy crap it was crowded all weekend long!

My only gripe, however, was that there was shockingly ZERO representation for Speculative Fiction (that is SF/F/H). I love that comics are becoming a bigger part of the festival, even earning their own graphic novel award this year, but….come on dudes. SF/F/H is a HUGE market too, with tons of die hard fans. Don’t we deserve a little reppin’ too?

On that note, there was ZERO Romance either! As Ana is a romance reader, and as I have many blogging buds that are dedicated romance readers and reviewers, and considering that romance is the best selling genre of fiction, period, this strikes me as a bit bizarre. There’s something wrong with this picture.

Hopefully next year, we’ll see some better representation. And who knows? Maybe even a panel about blogging or something of the like!

Overall, a successful, lovely weekend. Next stop – BEA!

Title: Irredeemable vol.#2

Author: Mark Waid/ Artist: Peter Krause

Genre: Graphic Novels/ Comics

Publisher: Boom! Studios
Publishing Date: March, 2010
Paperback: 128 pages

Stand Alone or series: This volume collects issues 5-8 of the ongoing series.

What if the world’s greatest hero decided to become the world’s greatest villain? The Plutonian’s deadly rampage continues. His former comrades-turned-victims are beaten, tired, and searching for hope. A “twilight of the superheroes”-style story that examines super-villains from Mark Waid, the writer of KINGDOM COME and EMPIRE!

Why did I read the book: I read and reviewed the first volume a few months ago and absolutely loved it.

How did I get the book: Bought

Review

Whoa. WHOA. A few months ago, I read, reviewed and LOVED Irredeemable volume 1, which collects issues #1-4 of this ongoing comic series. In that review I said I wished I had better words to convey how awesome this series is. I am still looking for them because things just got better – I honestly am head over heels in love with this series.

To recap: Irredeemable is about how the world’s greatest, most powerful superhero snaps overnight (or so it seems) and becomes the world’s greatest villain. In the first volume we see The Plutonian, committing despicable acts which include killing former allies and destroying entire cities such as Sky City, the one he was sworn to protect. The volume ends with The Plotunian sinking Singapore, effectively causing the death of millions. The story basically follows his former teammates trying to piece together the puzzle that is the Plutonian’s breakdown whilst trying to remain alive and out of his way until they can figure out how to stop him. Their last and only hope is to find The Plutonian’s nemesis, a super villain called Modeus who has disappeared from the face of the earth.

In this second volume Irredeemabl ( collecting issues #5-8) , The Plutonian’s motivations are fully explored and even sort of, revealed; further developments occur: we get to have a closer, in depth, complex look at the group of superheroes who are trying to bring him down; including a big reveal and plot twist regarding the twins Scylla (who was killed in the previous volume) and Charybdis that made me literally pump my fist in the air only to follow the action with a “Wait. Holy guacamole. That may have serious consequences yet” .

When I read the first volume, I mused about The Plutonian’s motivations. I wondered what could have possibly happened to steer such a great superhero out of his path. Part of me wished for a grandiose explanation that made sense and maybe even made him a little bit redeemable even after what he did. Part of me wished for the opposite. The latter is what happened:

The Plutonian’s motivations for going from an omnipotent superhero out to protect the whole world to being an omnipotent God of destruction are completely, utterly, supremely ….lame. And that actually makes it all better to me. Because it shows that he is only human as powerful as he might be.

Here you have a guy with absolute power and absolute responsibility. There is not a single minute of the day in which the Plutonian doesn’t hear and know everything about everybody. He is always, always connected with the people, and the slightest mistake can hurt millions. When that eventually happened because of his need for a break (a need that is completely understandable) , the consequences are dire, horrible and in the end, very personal.

But as understandable as it might be, the bottom line perhaps is this: does a superhero like that, with a power like that get to crumble under pressure? Does he get to have “personal” issues? And what about power? Does absolute power corrupt absolutely? The answer seems to point to a “yes” given what happens at the end of this volume with another character. Although one can argue that it wasn’t absolute power that corrupted The Plutonian, it was the difference between “public” and “private” and the weight of his responsibilities.

This story, this tale, is absolutely superb. The storyline is awesome: presenting great conflict both external and internal. The group of super heroes have a bunch of issues to work through before they can even think of stopping The Plutonian. And Peter Krause continues to impress me with his artwork. It suits the story perfectly:

This volume ends with another cliff-hanger and I am trying to decide: do I wait for volume 3 to come out in July or do I go in search of the individual issues RIGHT NOW?

Notable Quotes/Parts: The entire freaking volume is worthy of quote but the Twist was AWESOME. I did not see it coming. Ha.Neither did the Plutonian.

Additional Thoughts:At the end of this volume, there is the usual collection of covers (amazing) plus a preview of another upcoming story by Mark Waid, Potter’s Field.

Also, look what I found over the weekend browsing my local comic book store and devoured promptly: a stand -alone single special issue of Irredeemable:

The first year of IRREDEEMABLE came to a cataclysmic resolution, and before the jaw-dropping second year starts, Mark Waid is delivering an original stand-alone issue! Join the AMAZING SPIDER-MAN team of Mark Waid and Paul Azaceta, along with legendary comics creator Howard Chaykin, and BOOM! Favorite Emma Rios for the IRREDEEMABLE SPECIAL! Showcasing a never-before-seen glimpse into the Plutonian’s heroic beginnings and insights into his former teammates, the once-great Paradigm. Secrets will be revealed! Clues will be given! Threads will be tied up! This is a not-to-be-missed chapter in Mark Waid’s twilight of the superheroes masterpiece!

This issue has three mini-stories around three important – not spoiling – people that will be essential to stop The Plutonian. One of them is dead. One of them has a unique power and heritage and one of them used to be a villain. The latter is the guy from Incorruptible another series connected to the world of Irredeemable and points to a possible convergence of storylines!

Verdict:Irredeemable vol.2 is every bit as good as the previous volume and I would not be surprised if this series became one of my favourite ever.

Rating: 9 Damn Near Perfection

Reading Next: The King of Crags by Stephen Deas

Title: Irredeemable vol.#1

Author: Mark Vaid/ Artist: Peter Krause

Genre: Graphic Novels/ Comics

Publisher: Boom! Studios
Publishing Date: October 6, 2009
Paperback: 128 pages

Stand Alone or series: This volumes collects the first fours issues in a brand new and ongoing comic series.

Why did I read the book: Author Kate Noble, in her Smugglivus entry listed this as one of her top reads of 2009. I bought it as soon as I read her post.

How did I get the book: Bought

Summary: IRREDEEMABLE dares to ask the question: what if the world’s greatest hero decided to become the world’s greatest villain?

Review:

Sometimes I really wish I could create new words, because I don’t think there is a word in the dictionary that can convey the awesomeness that is Irredeemable. And ok, let’s acknowledge the known fact that I have a tendency to exaggerate a little bit but this is really, really damn good.

Irredeemable is about how the world’s greatest, most powerful superhero becomes its greatest villain. This first volume #1 collects the first four issues and it opens with some of the most shocking pages I ever read: with an attack by the aforementioned former superhero, the Plutonian, on the house of another superhero and one-time ally. He proceeds to annihilate the Hornet’s entire family (including children) but for one child whom he ironically asks after murdering her father right in front of her eyes:

Do you know who I am, Sarah?
I am a superhero

After this intense introduction, the story focuses around his former teammates trying to find out what the hell happened to make such a good, heroic person turn into such an evil maniac out to get everybody and how in the world will they stop him. On the other side of the spectrum, the supervillains are also trying to figure out what to do. They don’t know whether Plutonian is now their ally or still their enemy. What everybody, heroes, villains, innocent bystanders agree on is that Plutonian is dangerous, to the entire world.

The first and most important point about Irredeemable is the author’s intense, deep study of what is like to be a hero and the cost of superheroics; about failure and villainy and what the path to both is. What is the emotional aspect and what is the burden of being a superhero? How can a person be prepared for all the adulation, responsibility that comes with their powers? How does one deal with family, close relatives, lovers and friends and foes? Although these four issues have not yet fully explored all of those they do open the possibility for those questions to be asked.

The second is fear. The Plutonian is the most powerful being in the world. It is as though Superman decided that he has had enough and decided to blow the Earth to smithereens. The thing that has always sort of frustrated me is how in the comics no matter how powerful the supervillain they are never as powerful as the superhero. In Irredeemable, the fear is absolute. There is not a question, that the Plutonian is unstoppable. Although, there is a shadow of hope which lies in the hands of a villain called Modeus, his arch-nemesis, still it says a lot , that humanity’s last chance may be in the hands of a supervillain. That’s supernovelty right there. But yes, fear. Irrevocable, irreducible, inescapable fear.

I also quite liked the format, the investigate tone of the story with the other superheroes investigating Plutonian’s past unveiling his journey from heroism to villainy to the reader.

And finally, there is the art, the absolute superb art. Beautiful and clean, it also sets the mood perfectly between past (bright, light colours) and (dark, shadowy colours) present. Consider:

The forth issue ends with a bang that left me with my mouth hanging open. No doubt that the Plutonian is indeed irredeemable regardless of who he used to be or what has led him down this path. All I know is that volume #2 cannot come soon enough. I shall devour it.

Notable Quotes/ Parts: The first 8 pages which you can read here, in the publisher’s website.

Additional Thoughts: Volume #2 collecting Issues 5-8 will be released in March and Volume #3 (issues 9-12) in July (although the individual issues are out and about up to issue 10).

This link will take you to see all the different covers of the different issues, I think this one is my favourite:

Also by the same author out last December following up on Irredeemable:

Super villain Max Damage had an epiphany the day The Plutonian destroyed Sky City. When The Plutonian turned his back on humanity, Max Damage decided to step up. Now Max Damage has changed his name to Max Daring and turned from his formerly selfish ways to become… INCORRUPTIBLE.

Verdict: Incredibly ballsy, interesting and gripping. Irredeemable is a read I highly recommend to those who love to read about a different side to superheroes.

Rating: 9 Damn Near Perfection

Reading next: Nice Girls Don’t Have Fangs by Molly Harper