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It's been way too long since I posted a review. I fell out of the habit for a while, mostly due to my usual "Must Craft The Perfect Blogging UI For Reviews" stuff. But, talk is silver and content is gold. I've been reading more and stumbled across this one on a random cruise through Borders, so it's time for a review!

Books about superheros are tricky. The pulpy ones tend to be terribly serious and way too immersed in the genre-conventions to recognize when they turn silly. The few well-written ones tend to stake out a smirky, pomo wink-at-the-audience style that turns the whole genre into a joke. They're more concerned with deconstructing the superhero genre than working within it. It's fun sometimes, but not terribly satisfying for someone who really does enjoy the traditions. Is it too much to ask that someone take the genre seriously, but recognize how... well... cliche the cliches are?

Apparently not. Soon I Will Be Invincible is well-written and fun. When the supervillain mutters about the difficulties of building his first underground base (in the carefully shielded basement of a suburban bungalow), it's funny but not a punchline. Doctor Impossible is a real guy, a genius, an outsider who wouldn't mind being on The Winning Team once in a while, but who's trapped in the no-escape rut of attempted world conquest. Why keep trying when the super-teams keep beating him? It's just what you do.

The story itself is pretty standard genre material -- the most powerful superhero alive has gone missing, and a new recruit is asked to join The Champions, just in time to stop Doctor Impossible's latest scheme, etc. etc. Rather than bending over backwards to reinvent the genre, author Austin Grossman treats those cliches as the everyday background noise of the superhero trade. The real story is inside the heads of the heroes and villains, in the way they see the world and the way they see each other.