By Ana on January 20, 2010
Filed under: 9 Rated Books, Book ReviewsTags: Comics, Graphic Novel, Mark Vaid, Superheroes
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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
Title: Dull Boy
Author: Sarah Cross
Genre: Speculative Fiction, Superheroes, Young Adult
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Publication Date: May 2009
Hardcover:308 pages
Why did I read this book: I’d had my eye on Dull Boy since last year, and kept hearing wonderful things about it on the author blogs of Karen Mahoney, Carrie Ryan, and . I finally got my copy from Amazon, and was eager to dive right in.
Summary: (from SarahCross.com)
Sometimes I wish I didn’t care what would happen if anyone knew the truth about me. But I do care. I have to keep this – super strength, flying – a secret. No one can know – not my parents, not my friends… It’s just that it’s getting harder to hide it.
Superpowers are awesome – unless you actually have them, like Avery does. There’s only so much he can pass off as “adrenaline” before people start to get suspicious. Probably it’s best to lie low, so guys in white lab coats don’t come to carry him away, to find out what makes his freakish body tick. Who wants to be vivisected? But flying under the radar becomes a whole lot harder when you can actually fly. It’s dangerous to be different, so for now he’ll pretend to be normal, unremarkable Avery – a dull boy – anything to keep his secret safe.
What he doesn’t expect is the horrifying truth about where his powers came from, who else might have them, and the madness of one villain’s plan to turn this superpowered dull boy into something even more powerful and amazing.
Review:
Avery is your average fifteen-year old boy. Average grades, average friends, average looks. Except Avery is hiding a decidedly UN-average secret: he actually possesses superstrength and the ability to fly. The previous year, Avery saved a baby from being crushed by a car in a superhuman feat that others chalked up to adrenaline but in actuality was the unleashing of his Superman-like powers. Since then, he’s been struggling to keep his powers secret (for fear of being relegated to a government laboratory for the rest of his days) and maintaining his average – dull, if you will – image. But it’s hard to keep something so extraordinary under wraps, especially when you’re a teen and want to explore the extent of your strange new talents – and Avery’s friendships and relationships with his parents suffer as a consequence (getting pranked into waiting for a surprise party in a public coffee house while wearing pokemon decorations is no fun; neither is having to deal with the guilt of denting household appliances after dropping the washer and drier while juggling them).
But then, something even more extraordinary happens to Avery, who thinks he’s seen it all…he discovers that he’s not alone.
Under the leadership of a truly bizarre girl genius named Darla, Avery joins a hodgepodge team of heroes – including a pretty artsy gal with gecko-like powers named Sophie, a troubled walking vortex named Nicholas, and the reluctant, but totally awesome and eerily feline Catherine. Together, these five teens decide to put their powers towards the greater good, embarking on rescue missions and thwarting small time crooks. Of course, things are never so simple in the world of superheroes – and where there’s a hero, there’s almost always a villain. Enter the beautiful ice queen Cherchette, her frosty son Jacques, and Cherchette’s shapeshifter sidekick Leilani. Cherchette contacts the teens, asking them to come away with her, promising to teach them how to control their powers – but Avery isn’t sure. Darla’s convinced that she’s up to no good, but for the troubled Nicholas with his significant and destructive powers, Cherchette seems like the only real way he can control his powers.
Then, there’s the question of why Avery and his friends have powers in the first place, and just how they received them. Together, the teens must uncover the mystery of their origins and whether or not to trust the mysterious Cherchette…
Dull Boy is one fantastic little book, and probably one of the best-kept secrets in blogland. It’s a classic superhero origins story with a geeky twist; involving cool superpowers, wicked inventions like killer robots (in my opinion, there’s a shocking dearth of killer robots books these days, and it’s wonderful to see Ms. Cross bringing them back), and most importantly, wonderful characters. While Dull Boy is pretty standard fare so far as plotting is concerned, the characters are all-out fabulous and make this a book easily worth the hardcover price tag.
Narrated entirely in the first person present tense by so-called “dull boy” Avery, the voice is one of the greatest strengths of the novel. As regular readers of this blog know, I’m extremely discriminating when it comes to the dreaded first person present tense – it’s a style that is extremely difficult to pull off, most often resulting in some lame-o Captain Kirk style cheese. But in Dull Boy, Avery’s narration is pretty damn near flawless. As a hero (literally!), Avery is awesome – he’s got this fantastic, hilarious internal monologue with a fun sense of humor that truly delights. For example, of his first encounter with Darla:
Anyway: so the open-mike thing starts, and the first person to bound up there is the geek-goth-punk-circus girl. Seriously, I don’t know what she’s supposed to be. Tack on a pirate patch and it might start to make sense.
No, it wouldn’t. [...]
Hmm. Maybe I judged this girl too harshly. I cross my arms over my chest, nod my tentative approval. This might be awesome. I hope it’s about Optimus Prime.
She reads, complete with dramatic pauses and Shakespearean gestures[...] WTF kind of poem was that? That was horrible! It’s worse than the limericks I wrote for our poetry unit in seventh grade. Plus, the whole time she was reading it, she kept looking at the angry floor-sweeping girl with these “meaningful” glances.
Wait – was that a lesbian crush poem?
LOVE Avery. But even more than Avery with his wonderful inner monologuing, there are the female characters in Dull Boy that steal the freaking show. First, there’s Darla (said geek-goth-punk-circus-pirate girl, above). She’s a RIOT. A genius with an impressive IQ but the social skills of a toddler, Darla is the brains of this Teen Titans style operation. She’s the Xavier to their X-Men, the Oracle to their Birds of Prey, the Morpheus to their Matrix, the Splinter to their Ninja Turtles. Well, she’s all of these things as well as being one brilliant, opinionated, hot-headed and completely hilarious chick. I loved her from first sight – from her brilliance with mad-scientist style inventions (boomerang bombs and awesome robots), contrasted sharply with her own sense of awkwardness and a deep-seated desire to belong.
Then, there’s my favorite character in the whole book – the Selina Kyle-esque Catherine (minus the suavity & gorgeous looks part). With her super sharp claws, her messy brown hair, her feline sense of agility, speed and balance, Catherine is a Catwoman for the younger generation. Like any cat, Avery and Darla have to really work to get her trust and attention as she basically just wants to be left alone. She’s fiesty, standoffish, and totally not interested in a thing Darla has to say to her…but this is part of Catherine’s charm. Catherine too guards a secret and tries to keep people away in a manner resembling a defense mechanism – but when we finally learn her particular story, it’s a moving thing.
The other three main characters are similarly well-drawn. There’s Sophie (whom Avery has a crush on), with her less-spectacular powers of stickiness. Though she’s of no interest to Cherchette (she’s only interested in more impressive powers), Sophie is a strong female character in a way separate from Darla’s brilliance and Catharine’s take-it-or-leave-it attitude; she’s milder mannered, softer, and more understanding of others. It’s Sophie that brings Jacques into the team because of her ability to trust and accept. Her manga-drawing, Hello Kitty loving side just adds to her charm. Then, there’s the tortured Nicholas – whose particular brand of uncontrollable superpowers can mean complete destruction to anyone unfortunate enough to be near him. I really felt for Nicholas reading this book – from his military father’s gruff expectations, to his fear of harming everyone around him. He’s very Rogue (of the X-Men), and I mean this in the best way. Finally, rounding out the team, there’s Jacques – with lesser powers than his mother and completely ambiguous in his initial motivations and intentions to Avery. Jacques is a character that we learn about in layers; initially he seems untrustworthy, but by the conclusion of the novel, we finally know where he stands. It’s expertly written by Ms. Cross, and I enjoyed the uncertainty of the character.
Speaking of uncertainty, what’s a superhero book without a nefarious villain? Well, in Dull Boy, things aren’t quite so dichotic. Cherchette of the questionable intentions and likely villain isn’t so simply “good” or “evil” – like the best comic books, she’s a layered character with her own convictions from a troubled past, and the revelation of her backstory is expertly done. It’s an impressive feat, and Ms. Cross handles her characters with aplomb.
While Dull Boy isn’t particularly groundbreaking or deep, it’s a well written book, and so far as I can tell a hidden gem with massive crossover appeal. Young adults and adults alike can appreciate this superb story, and I’m already eagerly anticipating the sequel. In a world where so many whiney or wishy-washy heroines seem to prevail in teen literature – ahem! Twilight – Dull Boy is an exhilarating breath of fresh air. THIS is a book I want my ten year old sister to read, with complicated but unique heroines that don’t rely on love interests to define them.
Absolutely positively recommended for all readers.
Notable Quotes/Parts: So many to choose from! As I’ve said above, Avery’s narration is really top notch. I’ll pick two – both dealing with the fabulous Darla. First, there’s her dossier (on herself):
I refused to believe I was destined to lead the life of a lonely, eccentric hermit. All I had to do was put my mind to the problem and work out a solution. If I couldn’t attract kids with my genius, I would infiltrate their playdates and bring my genius to them. Surreptitiously, of course.
So, in the pursuit of true friends (who I hoped would one day become kindred spirits), I willingly engaged in inane activities like dressing up Bratz dolls, and pretended that a jolly fat man squeezing down a chimney (with a sack of toys, no less) made logical sense. And all I asked for in exchange was a chance to play music from Wagner’s Ring Cycle so I could teach them something about leitmotifs, which I thought were pretty awesome. Baby steps, right? But that sort of compromise was beyond the seven-year-olds in my neighborhood.
And then, there’s more Avery humor that had me in giggles:
“I’m ready,” I say.
“Fine. But this is a horrible idea,” Darla mutters, hugging me tightly, a little too long. “We’re not leaving you on your own. I’m going to come up with a plan, and I’ll–”
“Please don’t,” Jacques says. “You have no idea what you are dealing with. You’ll only make things worse.”
Darla does something weird then — I mean weird even for her. She throws her arms around Jacques in this intense embrace, hands roaming across his back before she pulls away. I have to blink a few times to make sure I’m not delirious. That was like watching my dad French-kiss a raccoon — I feel violated on so many levels.
Additional Thoughts: Initially, I was planning on doing a Superhero day with a few titles centered on this theme – which there are a growing number of in the Young Adult genre. In addition to Dull Boy, I present two other superhero novels to entice the tastebuds:
Hero by Perry Moore
The last thing in the world Thom Creed wants is to add to his father’s pain, so he keeps secrets. Like that he has special powers. And that he’s been asked to join the League – the very organization of superheroes that spurned his dad. But the most painful secret of all is one Thom can barely face himself: he’s gay.
But becoming a member of the League opens up a new world to Thom. There, he connects with a misfit group of aspiring heroes, including Scarlett, who can control fire but not her anger; Typhoid Larry, who can make anyone sick with his touch; and Ruth, a wise old broad who can see the future. Like Thom, these heroes have things to hide; but they will have to learn to trust one another when they uncover a deadly conspiracy within the League.
To survive, Thom will face challenges he never imagined. To find happiness, he’ll have to come to terms with his father’s past and discover the kind of hero he really wants to be.
Evil Genius by Catherine Jinks
Cadel Piggott has a genius IQ and a fascination with systems of all kinds. At seven, he was illegally hacking into computers. Now he’s fourteen and studying for his World Domination degree, taking classes like embezzlement, forgery, and infiltration at the institute founded by criminal mastermind Dr. Phineas Darkkon. Although Cadel may be advanced beyond his years, at heart he’s a lonely kid. When he falls for the mysterious and brilliant Kay-Lee, he begins to question the moral implications of his studies. But is it too late to stop Dr. Darkkon from carrying out his evil plot?
Because of time constraints, I wasn’t able to review these two (YET), but I recommend checking them out at the very least!
Verdict: With a plot that zips along faster than a speeding bullet, characters more powerful than a locomotive, and a narrative ability to leap tall buildings in a single bound, Dull Boy completely delights from start to finish. Absolutely recommended.
Rating: 8 Excellent
Reading Next: Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan
Title: Black and White
Author: Jackie Kessler and Caitlin Kittredge
Genre: Fantasy – Superheroes
Publisher: Bantam Dell
Publishing Date: June 2, 2009
Paperback: 464 pages
Stand Alone/ Series: book 1 in a new series but can be read as stand alone (i.e. no huge cliffhanger)
Summary: It’s the ultimate battle of good versus good.
They were best friends at an elite academy for superheroes in training, but now Callie Bradford, code name Iridium, and Joannie Greene, code name Jet, are mortal enemies. Jet is a by-the-book hero, using her Shadow power to protect the citizens of New Chicago. Iridium, with her mastery of light, runs the city’s underworld. For the past five years the two have played an elaborate, and frustrating, game of cat and mouse.
But now playtime’s over. Separately Jet and Iridium uncover clues that point to a looming evil, one that is entwined within the Academy. As Jet works with Bruce Hunter—a normal man with an extraordinary ability to make her weak in the knees—she becomes convinced that Iridium is involved in a scheme that will level the power structure of America itself. And Iridium, teaming with the mysterious vigilante called Taser, uncovers an insidious plot that’s been a decade in the making…a plot in which Jet is key.
They’re both right. And they’re both wrong. Because nothing is as simple as Black and White.
Why did I read the book: the Extraordinary Karen Mahoney recommended it to me and let me borrow her ARC.
Review:
When I first heard about Black and White, I thought, what a GREAT idea – there aren’t enough superheroes novels out there, if you ask me. Vampires, Werewolves, Fairies, Demons, yes. Superheroes? No. On the other hand, I thought – what could one possibly add to the superheroes’ lore that hasn’t already been done in comics? I mean – all the cool superpowers have been taken, all the cheesy lines delivered and even all the Dark Side of superheroes has been explored with Batman Graphic Novels and the Watchmen. Could Black and White offer something fresh to the genre?
In one word: yes.
For starters, there is the fact that the two main characters here are women – The Superhero Jet and the SuperVillain Iridium. Former best friends who find themselves at different sides of the Law. Jet is the do-gooder hero, the face of the City, the one that always follows the rules set by the Corps. Iridium is the rabid ™ vigilante who rules the underworld. They have been at odds with each other since their time at the training academy for superheroes and since Iridium has turned her back at the official rules.
But as the book’s tagline says: nothing is black and white in the world that Jackie Kessler and Caitlin Kittredge created. Jet is the strict chick sorely in need of loosing up (think Superman) whereas Iridium, well, Iridium rules, quite frankly and even though I would like to say more on the subject of Iridium, I simply can’t as it would be spoilery.
But their relationship goes way beyond simply good x evil.
The chapters alternate between Iridium and Jet’s POV (Jackie K. writes Jet and Caitlin K. writers Iridium by the way and each has a very distinctive voice) and at every few chapters the story alternates between Now and Then. Now being the current developments of the story in which Jet is trying to get Iridium who is trying to get…something big which I shall not spoil (I am feeling quite restricted in this review!). And Then, following the two in their five years at the Academy where they met and where they received their training until they broke apart .
Then there are the powers themselves – Jet may be the face of the City, may be the superheroine everyone looks up to, but she is far from being stable and that is because of her power of Shadow-wielding. Because this an unique power that few superheroes possess , she is rather alone with the knowledge that all Shadow heroes will eventually go crazy – and that is part of why she follows the rules set by the Corp so closely, it is a way of keeping tight control on herself. Iridium wields Light and is cocky and smart-mouthed and together they are a perfect foil to each other’s strengths and weaknesses and their present-day enmity is all the more interesting to read about by having this insight into their early lives.
The two may well be, the Black and White of the title, not only because of their positioning in the world but also because of their powers. But the Black and White may also refer to the world they live in – the year is 2112 and society is divided between those that like having superheroes around and those that don’t. Then there are the Corps – the Corporation that train and shape the superheroes since they are children. The supes go to the Academy (like a high school) where they mingle with other superheroes, learn to fight and in a more complex and fresh twist, get “branded” – every superhero goes through tests and talks to establish what is the best way to market themselves -from their uniform , to their aliases. They even have to test the lines they will say when fighting villains and before leaving the Academy every superhero needs to get a sponsor. It is all very market- centred and if preludes the motive for Iridium going a different way.
There is a narrow line that both walk (be it sanity or insanity/law or out-law) and as the story progresses with events that bring to the front the fact that not all humans want to be saved by superheroes as evidenced by the actions of the Everyman society and the disappearance of a reporter who have found a connection between the mythical Icarus Project and the Corps. More interesting events occur, and the line between Jet and Iridium and others blur and more engaging the book becomes till the final blow-out with the Villain, like all Cool Villains, revealing all to the hero.
But I think the Black and White ALSO refers to the book itself: this is a story and a world that both pay tribute (the opening pages are so clearly a declaration of admiration to the Watchmen!) and make a parody of Superheroes. It works and it is cool.
Notable quotes/ Parts: The entire book is actually wicked cool. The fighting sequences, the on and off relationship between the girls, sometimes even the poignancy of it all. Iridium’s lines were awesome.
Additional Thoughts: The authors have created a website for the series called Icarus Project (yay, there is another book coming called Shades of Gray!) with a list of characters, details of the world and a gallery with for example the Corp-Co’s Extrahuman Division Logo and a wanted poster for Iridium.
Clearly, these two authors are having fun with these books, and it shows.
Verdict: Superheroes in the future with different powers and a very interesting-to-read relationship between the two protagonists: what’s not to like? Good fun and definitely recommended for YA as well.
Rating: 7 – very good.
Reading next: Frederica by Georgette Heyer
Our wonderful, pimptastic, official Honorary Smuggler Karen Mahoney strikes again! When we decided to have this Watchmen Weekend, Karen mentioned that two of her fellow writers, fellow Deadline Dame Jackie Kessler and way-popular Urban Fantasy author Caitlin Kittredge, have an upcoming book about superheroes called Black and White and that they would most likely be down with doing a guest blog.
Naturally, we jumped at the opportunity and were ecstatic when both Jackie and Caitlin agreed! Since the book is written from two different characters’ points of view (with Jackie writing the superhero character and Caitlin writing the supervillain), for their guest post we Smugglers decided to ask the two main characters of Black and White a few questions.
What’s more is, Jackie and Caitlin have graciously offered to give away an ARC for Black and White! Details follow at the end of the post.
Ladies and gents, we proudly give you…
She Said/She Said, Superhero-Style
By Jackie Kessler and Caitlin Kittredge
In June 2009, a new book hits the shelves: BLACK AND WHITE. Once best friends at an elite superhero training academy, Iridium and Jet are now mortal enemies. Jet is a by-the-book hero, using her Shadow power to protect the citizens of New Chicago. Iridium, with her mastery of Light, runs the city’s underworld. For years the two have played a dangerous game of cat and mouse. But now playtime’s over. A looming evil threatens both them and the world they share. As Jet works with a “normal” man who has an extraordinary ability to make her weak in the knees, Iridium teams with a mysterious vigilante called Taser. Both Jet and Iridium are convinced that the other woman is the key to a catastrophe of apocalyptic proportions. And one of them is right.
Forget the old formula of hero versus villain, because in a world where both the bad guys and the good guys are cloaked in shades of gray, nothing is as simple as…BLACK AND WHITE.
Jackie Kessler writes in the POV of Jet; Caitlin Kittredge writes in the POV of Iridium. Yes, Jackie is the tortured hero, and Caitlin is the evil genius. Guess who gets all the great lines?
And now, Jet and Iridium answer your burning questions.
THE BOOK SMUGGLERS: What makes a Villain or a Hero – Why do you do the things you do?
JET: All extrahumans train diligently at the Academy from the time they are twelve. And that’s after receiving an excellent Corp-sponsored education that provides the basics on heroing, right and wrong, the ethics of power, and branding. Not everyone is cut out to become a Squadron soldier, of course. But all extrahumans give their best to protect the citizens of New Chicago and the world. Duty first. Always.
IRIDIUM: Yes, she really speaks like that in public. Sad, isn’t it?
JET: [SNIFFS] Instead of criticizing me, why don’t you answer the question? Why are you a villain, Iri?
IRIDIUM: Listen, the world isn’t going to do you any favors. People don’t want heroes, not really. They only have extrahumans to look up to so that they have someone to tear down later on. My father taught me that.
JET: Along with how to pick locks.
IRIDIUM: And he also taught me that sometimes the world doesn’t need heroes at all. It needs villains.
JET: [SIGHS] I wouldn’t expect anything else from someone who cheated in the ethics classes.
IRIDIUM: [GRINS] The ones I didn’t ditch, anyway. Advanced Weaponry was my class.
THE BOOK SMUGGLERS: Vigilantes – Use ‘em or lose ‘em?
JET: Lose them. Any extrahuman who doesn’t follow the strict codes of Corp-Co doesn’t deserve the mask she wears. Operating outside of the law means breaking the law. And that’s inexcusable.
IRIDIUM: Some people don’t sleep with a code of conduct under their pillow, Jetster.
JET: The law is the law for a reason, Iri. Without it, we’d have anarchy.
IRIDIUM: A little anarchy is healthy. And fun!
THE BOOK SMUGGLERS: Values – The Greater Good vs. Moral Righteousness: which prevails?
JET: I don’t understand the question.
IRIDIUM: [ROLLS EYES] That’s because you’re a hard-wired do-gooder. The question is, do you kill a few, even innocents, to make the world a better place?
JET: Of course not! You can’t kill people — innocent or guilty! What sort of question is that?
IRIDIUM: One that a puppet like you couldn’t begin to understand. Sometimes, the ends justifies the means.
JET: Don’t go quoting Machiavelli at me. It’s not about ends and means. It’s about right and wrong. Killing is wrong.
IRIDIUM: You never could see the big picture. But then considering you’re not trained to think for yourself, I’m not surprised.
JET: You should hear what I’m thinking right now.
THE BOOK SMUGGLERS: Costumes – Who has the better wardrobe? Villains or Heroes?
JET: In terms of style? Villains. In terms of practicality? Heroes.
IRIDIUM: I’ve got a one-word answer for this one: me. I mean, look at me.
THE BOOK SMUGGLERS: The Love Life – Who gets more action? Villains or Heroes?
JET: [SIGHS] Who has time for a love life?
IRIDIUM: [SIGHS] Who has time for a love life?
THE BOOK SMUGGLERS: What do super villains and heroes do when they’re not destroying/saving the world?
JET: When I have down time, I like to curl up in my favorite rocking chair and read romance novels. It’s nice to read stories where love conquers all and there’s always a happily ever after. Real life so rarely ends well.
IRIDIUM: I catch up on my favorite cryptozoology reality show, Mysterious Chicago. Sewer mutants and monsters in Lake Michigan. Can you stand it?
JET: Sewer mutants? Really, Iri.
IRIDIUM: Hey, you never know.
THE BOOK SMUGGLERS: Jet, would you date a villain? Iridium, would you date a hero?
JET: Light, no. The whole “attracted to the bad boys” thing? Ludicrous.
IRIDIUM: Would, and did. Been there, done that.
JET: Seriously? Who?
IRIDIUM: [GRINS] I don’t kiss and tell.
JET: Not unless there’s a profit in it…
Jackie Kessler is the paranormal author of the Hell on Earth series. You can visit Jackie online at the Deadline Dames or at her website and blog.
Caitlin Kittredge is the dark fantasy author of the Nocturne City series and the upcoming Black London Adventures. You can visit Caitlin online at Fangs, Fur and Fey, The League of Reluctant Adults, or at her website.
A big THANK YOU again to Jet and Iri (and Jackie and Caitlin)! We cannot wait for Black and White, out this June.
Giveaway Details
Jackie and Caitlin have generously offered ONE ARC – Advanced Reading Copy – of their upcoming book, Black and White! In order to enter, all you need do is leave a comment here answering this question: Superhero or Supervillain — which would YOU rather be?
The contest will run until Sunday March 8 at 12 noon PST. We will randomly select and announce the lucky winner then. Good luck!
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