Two years ago I stopped uploading new content to SuperheroNovels.com. Instead, I maintained my blog as simply an archival site. Now that my contract with WordPress is coming to an end, I’ve decided to focus my energies elsewhere. In other words, SuperheroNovels.com will go offline in May 2020.

I invite everyone to check out SuperMonsterNovels.com. It’s my new site focusing on monster and superhero books. If you enjoy daikaiju action, bigfoot encounters, and mummy mayhem, I think you’ll dig what I’m doing. Thanks for everyone’s goodwill over the years and feel free to contact me (here). You can also follow me on Twitter @esearleman.

The Clown Princess

The indomitable Harley Quinn is experiencing a little bit of anxiety in Lisa Yee’s latest Super Hero High novel. “Some people think I’m just a class clown,” she laments. “But I’m more than that, aren’t I?”

Usually Harley Quinn is an irrepressible force of nature. She’s the frosting on the cake, the zzazz in pizzazz, the ribbon on the present, and the duper that follows super. But it’s a lot of work making people happy, and she’s starting to feel the pressure.

Because she’s so busy joking around she’s having trouble juggling schoolwork, friends, and everything else. Her main priority is promoting Harley’s Quinntessentials, an internet video channel boasting “a million-ish viewers.” The clown princess is working 24/7 to become the biggest media star in the DCU.

Many of Harley’s classmates don’t exactly respect her, however. Cheetah, for one, dismisses her with a roll of her eyes. “It’s so pathetic,” she says. “She’ll do anything for a laugh.”

But is making people laugh so terrible? Harley doesn’t think so. “Kids call me a class clown, like that’s a bad thing,” she complains. “People underestimate the benefit of being happy.”

That, in a nutshell, is what Harley Quinn is all about. She wants everybody to be happy all the time. “Whenever I see someone looking stressed, I want to cheer them up,” she says. “So I’ll tell a joke, or do a super-duper gymnastics move, or whatevs, even if I’m not feeling so great myself.”

Unfortunately, Harley’s sunny attitude gets her in big trouble. When the Krazy Karnival comes to Metropolis she is instantly attracted to the “chills, thrills, and delights of the world’s greatest and grandest amusement park.” To her, the carnival represents her madcap philosophy to a T.

Much to Harley’s chagrin, the Krazy Karnival turns out to be a shady enterprise helmed by two carny criminals. The double reveal at the end of the novel won’t surprise anyone with a passing grade in DC Supervillains 101, but it nevertheless throws Harley for a loop. Eventually, the Metropolis City Sirens (including Harley, Miss Martian, and Bumblebee) find a way to burst the carnival’s balloon.

In the end, the Krazy Karnival Kaper helped Harley find a little solace. Who was she? A class clown, an internet personality, a B-minus student, an entertainment impresario, a superhero? She was all that and more. “You’re fun and funny, and a super friend,” says Batgirl. Everyone agrees: Harley Quinn was one of a kind.

[Harley Quinn at Super Hero High / By Lisa Yee / First Printing: January 2018 / ISBN: 9781524769239]

Neon Angelinos on the Road to Ruin

Even though they possessed a multitude of weird powers, the Runaways didn’t consider themselves superheroes. Even the term “superhero” made them a tad uneasy. They weren’t guarding the galaxy, or fighting Thanos, or anything crazy like that. Their mission was simply to save kids in danger and get them off the streets.

But as long-time comic book readers know, Gert, Chase, Nico, Molly, and Karolina were an unlucky bunch. Even in the best of times, things had a habit of going horribly wrong for them. They often found themselves in knotty situations that needed to be untangled by superpowers. Having a genetically engineered nine-foot-tall dinosaur from the future was a big help too.

It all started back in 2003 when the kids discovered their parents were an evil consortium of magicians, scientists, time-travelers, and aliens called the Pride. In cahoots with the Gibborim (a trio of Elder Gods of the Earth), the Pride sought immortality, power, and wealth in exchange for one ritual human sacrifice a year.

In Christopher Golden’s novel, the Pride was gone (dispatched by their children), but L.A. was being threatened by two disparate criminal contingents: the Masters of Evil, a bunch of B-list supervillains trying to fill the power vacuum left by the Pride, and the Nightwatch, a group of metahumans from San Francisco with a shady agenda. It was up to the Runaways to stop both of them.

Unfortunately, teenagers were a distracted bunch, and the Runaways were no exception. Nico spent her days navel-gazing, Gert and Chase were busy working on their night moves, and Karolina was getting frisky with a new lover. On top of everything else, their hideout had recently been compromised and they desperately needed to secure a new HQ.

Thankfully, the Runaways were able to rally before mad villains and ancient elemental gods smashed L.A. Their novel-ending clash with the Masters of Evil and the Nightwatch resembled a “Michael Bay wet dream,” wrote the author. We’re pretty sure he meant that in the best possible way.

Capturing the spirit of the original comic book series, author Golden does a good job of breaking down superhero clichés with snark and self-conscious humor. Nico, the lonely but clever goth witch, and Molly, the chibi She-Hulk, consistently deliver the best zingers, but all of the Super Angelinos are funny in their own particular way.

Be forewarned, however: If your only exposure to the Runaways is via the Hulu video-on-demand series, there are some spoiler-y moments sprinkled throughout this novel. Similarly, if your only exposure to the Runaways is via the music of Joan Jett and Lita Ford, then you’ve just wasted your time reading this review.

[Runaways: An Original Novel / By Christopher Golden / First Printing: January 2018 / ISBN: 9781484782019]

The Chicago Cub

As a superhero, you never forget the first time you put on your costume. And certainly T’Challa was cognizant of that moment in Ronald L. Smith’s novel, Black Panther: The Young Prince.

“T’Challa stood in front of the mirror, the Panther suit in his hands,” wrote Smith. “He felt as if the suit wanted to be worn. His fingers tingled as he touched the fabric. His heartbeat sped up, and his chest rose and fell with each breath he took. He slipped into the suit for the first time. He felt powerful. Royal.”

Putting on the suit marked the beginning of T’Challa’s hero’s journey. He was only a 12-year-old kid at the time, but he clearly saw his future on the horizon. He knew that he would eventually grow up to be King of Wakanda and assume the ceremonial title of Black Panther. Unbeknownst to him, a stint with the Avengers, a marriage to Ororo Munroe, and a blockbuster movie franchise were also in his future.

There would be growing pains too. And that’s what’s at the heart of this middle-grade Black Panther book. T’Challa and his best friend M’Baku were attending a Chicago middle school, and their inner city experience in the U.S. would change their relationship forever (btw: don’t ask why the Wakanda pre-teens were going to school in Chicago. It’s a contrived plot point not worth talking about).

The boys had grown up together and enjoyed getting into all sorts of harmless mischief. But honestly we don’t know why they were friends. Instead of being a loyal sidekick and boon companion, M’Baku was a nudnik whose teasing, fake sincerity, and mockery often belittled the young prince. Deep down, M’Baku thought T’Challa was a spoiled brat who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth.

Things only got worse in Chicago. M’Baku quickly made friends with the jocks and bullies at school, while T’Challa sat at the nerd table playing chess during lunch period. The two had very different temperaments and social agendas.

To the surprise of no one, M’Baku eventually gets in deep shit trouble with a bunch of teenage boneheads and a scary African vampire. It was up to the young panther prince to save his frenemy from getting sucked into an interdimensional portal. “I’d say your first mission was a success,” said Nick Fury to T’Challa at the end of the novel.

The Black Panther’s debut was indeed a success, but the friendship between M’Baku and T’Challa was over forever. M’Baku would grow up to become a supervillain named Man-Ape, and T’Challa would (of course) ascend to the Wakanda throne and embrace his royal legacy. Once friends, now rivals, the two Wakanda warriors would clash for the rest of their lives.

[Black Panther: The Young Prince / By Ronald L. Smith / First Printing: January 2018 / ISBN: 9781484787649]

“I Am Catwoman. Hear Me Roar!”

Author Tim Hanley is back with another discombobulated history of an iconic comic book heroine (previous books examined the messy backgrounds of Wonder Woman and Lois Lane). This time he takes aim at Catwoman, arguably the most iconic character of them all.

For more than 75 years, Catwoman has been a mercurial presence in the DC universe. She’s survived numerous incarnations as a burglar, a romantic interest, a murderer, a vigilante, a dominatrix, a mob boss, and more. In comics, movies, and cartoons she’s always been cunning, fierce, and a perpetual outsider. “In the black-and-white world of superheroes,” writes Hanley, “she exists in shades of gray.”

From the very beginning she was a clever thief, almost impossible to pin down. Debuting in the pages of Batman #1 (1940), she quickly established herself as a perennial headache for the Caped Crusader. “We knew we needed a female nemesis to give the strip sex appeal,” wrote Bob Kane in his 1990 autobiography, Batman and Me. “Bill (Finger) and I decided to create a female version of Batman, except that she was a villainess and Batman was a hero.”

Unfortunately, a guy named Dr. Fredric Wertham came along in the ’50s to declaw Catwoman. Because of Wertham’s pointed attacks on Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman, DC Comics voluntarily sanitized its books. Catwoman didn’t survive the newly formed Comics Code of Authority and disappeared without a trace for 12 years, from 1954 to 1966. Writes Hanley: “Catwoman’s absence was so glaring in this era that it had to be intentional, and her connection to Seduction of the Innocent is the only obvious explanation.”

Catwoman bounced back in a big way when she appeared semi-regularly on the kitschy and beloved Batman TV show (1966 to 1968). When she popped up in Batman Returns and Batman: The Animated Series (both 1992), she became an iconic figure that transcended comic books. These days, she has a broader fan base than the vast majority of female heroes.

Despite Catwoman’s eventual rise to iconic superstardom, she never truly found her groove in comics. DC’s interpretation of the character was haphazard (at best). But that’s the problem with being out of circulation for more than a decade, says Hanley. “She had no established characterization. She was just a generic villain with a fondness for cat-related crimes.”

Over the years there have been some great Catwoman comics (kudos to Ed Brubaker and Genevieve Valentine), but there have also been some head-scratching editorial missteps along the way. For example, a Catwoman series in the ’90s became infamous for its va-voom artwork. And who could forget the disastrous “New 52” reboot where Catwoman and Batman came together in a kinky sexual clutch? The axiom that sex sells didn’t prove true for Catwoman.

In conclusion, says Hanley, Catwoman’s faced the best and worst that the superhero industry has to offer. She’s been a marquee star and blatantly objectified – sometimes at the same time. As an independent provocateur, she’s embraced both villainy and heroism. And her up-and-down history showcases a compelling alternate viewpoint in the world of superheroes.

[The Many Lives of Catwoman: The Felonious History of a Feline Fatale / By Tim Hanley / First Printing: July 2017 / ISBN: 9781613738450]