dinsdag 23 januari 2018

The White Ribbon Runs the Red Lights (Signal City) by Blake Michael Nelson

I don't like superhero novel that read too much like Young Adult novels or seem like just an excuse for a fantasy writer to sell books on the back of recent superhero blockbusters. This one doesn't fall in those categories, even if the protagonist is a young guy.
What is evident here is that the writer really loves superheroes and comics. Main heroes Skirmish and The White Ribbon may owe just a bit to Robin and Marvel's Cloak but mainly they are pretty original heroes and not the carbon copies of Batman or Superman we often encounter in these books.
Set in Signal City we read how Skirmish, martial arts expert and sidekick to hero Quarterstaff gets involved with the theft of magical weapons and meets the young female mystical hero The White Ribbon. In his investigations he has to face his darker past at an assassin school.
I really loved how fast-paced this novel was. It's not too long and the scenes move along quickly with very well written action scenes.

woensdag 10 januari 2018

The Ultimate Agent (Ultimate Agency) by Derek Borne

With this series of novels  I was expecting more or less a book about SHIELD, what I got was way more T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents...
Devon Bertrand is recruited to join the Ultimate Agency, a secret spy organization. There he is gifted with amazing superpowers and assisted by Brett who outfits himself with all kinds of gadgets. Together they fight some superpowered and evil Russians. Along the way they gather some female, superpowered allies. There's also some love stories as subplots.
I thought at times the character development scenes took a bit too long but the action scenes are splash page amazing. The superpowers are impressive and no holds are barred there. The universe is pretty original but absolutely a superhero one even though a bit more realistic than the usual comic book ones. Don't however mistake this for a dark and gritty deconstruction story. It's just plain fun, superheroic spies fighting all over the world.

woensdag 3 januari 2018

Like Father, Like Daughter # 1-4 (Short Fuse Media)

These days a lot of my favorite comic book writers are female: Margaret Stohl, Becky Cloonan, etc.
With this series I can add Kathryn Calamia to that list.
Casey is a young girl whose father has left her when she was young. The reason he did was that he preferred his life as the world's only superhero to that of a devoting father. When she gets superpowers herself she enlists the aid of some friends to learn more about her powers. When her dad returns in her life and they try to understand where his powers came from things get dramatic and dangerous.
This is a superhero comic with only a few action scenes and no real supervillains. In this world being a superhero is still unique and Casey's dad, Invulnerable is the only costumed hero out there.There is a suspenseful story, some real emotions and some laughs.
The whole realistic feel, the combination of high school setting and female protagonist, the mysterious plot... These elements would make this a great Netflix series! So I recommend this for people who love the CW shows and stuff like that.