Alright, this will be filled with series that meet my wheelhouse expectations for Superhero Prose. They will be more reconstructionist or hopeful in nature with likable characters! Onward!
Has that Xena and Gabby vibe I found fun: Some drama and a whole heaping of Campy.
If I were to compare it to a movie: Megamind.
Subversive in a way that appeals to my wheelhouses. I love Megamind. Because, in the end, he was just an street level hero that wanted to do good. Even got the girl.
Heroes Unleashed: Silver Empire Publishing Here //// Amazon Here
From my Amazon Review:
That's what most of these series have for me. They have characters I want to follow! Plus it doesn't just appeal to my personalize wheelhouses but will bring in other readers as well.
Has Astro City level appeal.
Reconstructionist in nature.
Has genuine trappings of Superhero themes and ideas.
That term can come in many different forms to readers. For me?
When someone says relatable I think: "This protag has to be just like me."
Which turns me off immediately. It has to be someone with flaws as the focus. Because one can't have a "boring" superhero like superman. Relatable says to me: Navel gazing, street level character, who's more selfish. To reflect "current year."
What are your expectations when you hear "relatable?"
I want likable: Which indicates protagonists that overcome their flaws and choose to be better people. To inspire their world to be better. Who aren't down in the dumps miserable all the time. (Its always why I do that contrast with Hilary Brookes/The Villains vs the Heroes. The Heroes know how to have genuine fun and companionship. The villains are hollowed out beings who don't remember how to be human.
When most superhero prose takes the X-men bent, many tend to focus on the "x group is persecuted bent." That doesn't interest me:
Because in most hands it turns into current year commentary. Yawn.
Relatable = Id Politics
Hero vs Hero BS like Civil War. Instead of reading that, I went with DnA's GOTG. Cause that was genuine space opera to me. It wasn't as uplifting as I would have wanted nowadays but it was better than what mainline Marvel was doing. (Cause while I was in college in the early 2000s I did get back into some comic reading. But much of it wasn't the "Big Two." Most of it was Star Wars by DH.)
Also because most don't write Superman well. Because they want to "relate" to him instead of really use the character how he was intended, "Inspire people gosh darn it!"
Again, if people enjoy that, good for you. I am still starving. So I eat up stuff like:
Because it focuses on reconstruction elements, heroes being heroic, family themes, characters that actually watch out for each other. And its not forced or false. Like many navel gazing modern "Heroes" in Name Only. We will be teammates for a price. Stuff like Handcock shouldn't be the norm but it is as far as "relatable factor" goes in modern comics and "heroes."
(I will link more Superhero Prose series as I finish reading them or getting through a majority.)
Other links: AKA Why thematic advice shouldn't matter to writers. Technical stuff, sure. But that happens with time and practice.
We need more aspirational stuff. Its why I will continue to write Uplift Protocol. Only part of people's wheelhouses are getting catered to.
Aspirational is also compelling. Readers and writers need to get on the horn and really get out there and promote things they enjoy. No matter if it gets 1 click or 1000s. If all people see is the "Villian as POV/Main Character setup" then thats all they will find. We have to engage more readers looking for the aspirational.
While one side is gorging on the vast array of material catering to them, we have to counter balance it with our own stories and priorities. If you love aspirational heroes, find things promoting it, or make it, or buy it. When you can.
Its on the page here. Many creatives that embrace the villain find it just as hard to write for the aspirational. Even in my own twitter feed. So lets help each other. Find more of a balance.
If villain primary writers have a harder time with aspirational, lets give them more examples to work with. Its easy for me to see examples of "digging into the villain". So lets flood the market with aspirational.
For those who don't understand the appeal of old style superman, look to this vid. Its an eye opener of what I get on a personal level.
BlackJack: I didn't know existed. Its a Small Time Villain to Anti-hero setup, from what I can see. So if that's in your wheelhouse. Have fun! Superhero Prose is a small enough niche that Ill help out themes I don't really find on my level if only to put a spotlight on the whole sub genre.
I do wish that Superversive re-constructionist Superhero Prose was the normal though. Or even more prevalent. Its even more motivation to keep writing Uplift Protocol.
I don't mind humorous/campy superhero prose books like NightTerror ( Here ) or CT's Supervillainy stuff ( Here ) b/c its much more tongue and cheek Megamind setups.
There is some other space opera superhero mashups but this one does focus quite a bit on the harem aspect.
Again, when I do find most stuff on youtube, its usually about Sanderson's Reckoners series. The content isn't what I am looking for though. Since almost all with superpowers in that series is a bad guy.
This is the reason why we don't have a proper Superman Movie:
So many "its gotta be more realistic and gritty" type of mindset really makes for a bad superman movie. In my very biased, "please keep political and gray morality misery out of my superman" opinion.
Putting our shitty world into things ruins the aspirational or inspirational heroes. By throwing them into the muck with us, it makes them into a fictional ripoff of us and our stupid issues.
Why does JL Unlimited and all the animated stuff from before works for me vs Justice League Apokolips War.
HOPE.
The underlining theme of Hope and Optimism was always there. It wasn't deconstructed bs. It still had the heart of what made DC heroes more popular with me then Marvels. Its an over abundance of:
Everything Sucks.
The Universe Sucks
Humanity sucks
The Future is doomed.
We are all narcissistic ass holes.
Evil was Right Stories
X Y Or Z is Oppressed.
Fuck that shit. So many things in this world revel in the "we must be realistic side". Even in comics? Space Operas? Fantastical fiction? No. If this means I just regress further into what media I read and view, then that's what it means. The Overall Optimism Level needs to be championed. Even in Dark City: The Sun eventually Rises in that movie. That's saying something. That ending was worth it. The Darkness Fading away to a Brighter Future. Literally. I think most modern movies forget this. There has to be light shining at the end of the tunnel.
Most of our entertainment has forgotten this. All the shows or other things I've enjoyed always have that same Light at the End element, that the battle or whatever else was happening was worth it, to make something better at the end. If that means I'll mostly be reading things from the 1850s til 1980s, then that's what it means. Not all modes of progress bring true happiness or fulfillment.
I know I sound like a broken record by now. But you know what they say about women and us fixating on things.
First, don't put their sexuality in the actual summary. As a reader all this tells me is:
OH LOOK! SHES A LESBO! THAT'S THE MOST IMPORTANT THING EVERS! NOT THE STORY OR ANYTHING ELSE! JUST HER SLEEPING WITH OTHER WOMEN!
Oh god, the kindle edition summary is even worse:
At least the cover tells me its a superhero prose book. So points for that. 10 dollars to be preached at instead of having an interesting character who happens to be gay. Way to go!
I put these reviews up side by side to showcase that even those interested in these stories are getting tired of the misery side of anything involving a alternate superhero.
From one of this series taglines:
A gripping, sexy, lesbian superhero novel that will leave your heart
pounding at its powerful conclusion. This sequel to The Power of Mercy
can also be read as a standalone story.
Lets change that to this:
A gripping, sexy, straight superhero novel that will leave your heart
pounding at its powerful conclusion. This sequel to The Power of Mercy
can also be read as a standalone story.
See why its stupid to put the direct sexuality of characters in taglines? Imho. Its also why I avoid the harem and reverse harem books. Its retarded. So your book is all about sex and sensuality. Ok, promote it better. Otherwise it sounds like IKEA.
Even a more humorous series I though was fun: also did this.
A villain that falls in love with the superhero. But even here, the summary basically tried its best to sell it as, "SEE? LESBIANS!" But at least it described some of the story too. Make sure the IDentity isn't the sole selling point of any series.
That gets to be hold hat really quick. Because like anything else it feels more like "SEE? My book has this! MEGAPHONE! IT HAS THIS! What story? ALL THAT MATTERS IS THE ID!"
These books arent superhero stuff but they get an interesting story across without being in your face with my characters aren't strait!
From that summary you'd never know that one of the main character's is gay. This book doesnt wear that on its sleeve. The Tamir stuff is the prequel series. Its filled with interesting characters and a really really creepy ghost story.
Silver lining, I am learning what not to do when promoting books.
My advice:
Have all sorts of characters in your books but don't billboard them. That's a one trick pony most readers dont really care about.
A CYOA story series did that. Hero's Fall. THe first trilogy was good. But then after that it got very alphabet soup preachy.
They want stories.
Most don't care about the sexuality of the character unless you tie it to our world's politics about it. People read to escape.
Make sure to market the series to an older audience though. Let kids be kids. I didn't even get into the subject of gay/strait/lesbian things until senior year of high school. Yes, I am that much of a relic. That's fine by me. Or politics for that matter. Because it didnt concern me until I was of legal voting age.
Most times, even in high school, I didnt understand the subtext of a whole lot of things until my mid 20s. That's also including games like Fallout 1 and 2.
Make characters first! Race and everything else should be a distant 2nd. The core of your cast's personalities should be first. Because Woke fiction makes people tune out. I know it does for me.
Even those who actively seek out gay or lesbian stories are getting tired of the "TEH EVIL WHITES" shoved down their throat. Wonder if this is why most in this category want 10+ bucks for their ebook. To rely on fewer customers at greater cost.
For the love of god, stop writing: Gays are hated stories, Coming out Stories where the Parents are evil, We are so Miserable b/c we are Lesbo/Gay Ect. Straits are the Enemy. Basically SJW talking points on fake wokeness.
PEOPLE ARE SICK AND TIRED OF STORIES THAT ARE MISERY INCARNATE.
Most people wont throw a friend to the curb because they are gay ect. Give us other stories that are more uplifting.
While trying to dig up more Superhero Prose, I came across this:
A smart, imaginative, and
evocative novel of love, betrayal, revenge, and redemption, told with
razor-sharp wit and affection, in which a young woman discovers the
greatest superpower—for good or ill—is a properly executed spreadsheet.
Anna
does boring things for terrible people because even criminals need
office help and she needs a job. Working for a monster lurking beneath
the surface of the world isn’t glamorous. But is it really worse than
working for an oil conglomerate or an insurance company? In this
economy? As a temp, she’s just a cog in the machine. But when she
finally gets a promising assignment, everything goes very wrong, and an
encounter with the so-called “hero” leaves her badly injured. And, to
her horror, compared to the other bodies strewn about, she’s the lucky
one. So, of course, then she gets laid off. With no money
and no mobility, with only her anger and internet research acumen, she
discovers her suffering at the hands of a hero is far from unique. When
people start listening to the story that her data tells, she realizes
she might not be as powerless as she thinks. Because the key to
everything is data: knowing how to collate it, how to manipulate it, and
how to weaponize it. By tallying up the human cost these caped forces
of nature wreak upon the world, she discovers that the line between good
and evil is mostly marketing. And with social media and viral videos,
she can control that appearance. It’s not too long before she’s
employed once more, this time by one of the worst villains on earth. As
she becomes an increasingly valuable lieutenant, she might just save the
world. A sharp, witty, modern debut, Hench explores the
individual cost of justice through a fascinating mix of Millennial
office politics, heroism measured through data science, body horror, and
a profound misunderstanding of quantum mechanics.
*****
This screams misery fiction to me. No thanks. A fascinating mix of Millennial office politics....nope. Plus based on that blurb: She works for a super villain and the "hero" breaks her somehow. Then she goes "hear me roar" woman mode with yet another villain boss. Hard pass.
Its no wonder superhero books aren't more popular: If its crappy preachy shit like this, it wont grow the genre but deflate it. Current Year BS is killing various industries, find stuff that is awesome and support that.
It's probably going to take the rest of the year to finish my series but I want it all done before I go into editing then covers.
Been working back and forth on the anthology and the main series.
Again, this series is gonna have:
Family
Adventures
Character Virtues will be on display rather then deconstructed
Basically a massive blend of what I love: Earlier Superman + Buck Rogers +Flash Gordon+Green Lantern+Power Rangers+Babylon 5+Silver Age+Gold Age+Different Kinds of Strength.
I wanted to like this book, but I have to admit, I was
extremely disappointed. In no particular order, these are a few of the
reasons I can't support this book: -For a book that's been praised
for its so-called progressive elements, the author seems to have no
issue with reinforcing sexist stereotypes (the protagonist, Danielle,
claims that she's more emotional after her body's feminizing
transformation, and implies women feel emotions more powerfully than
men; this is one example, but certainly not the only instance of this). -The writing is decent, but the plot is basic and clearly secondary. -This
is a book with no characters. Everyone is either a strawman or a
mouthpiece. The most blatant example of this is the character Graywytch,
which is one of the most disgusting anti-feminist strawman caricatures
I've ever seen. This goes so far at some points that it pushes the
boundaries of realism; I can't imagine anyone speaking the way this
character speaks, especially to a fifteen year old. The author simply
seems to have a massive chip on her shoulder and apparently the editor
never told her to tone it down. -Poor handling of topics such as gender, socialization, and privilege. -The good moments just weren't good enough to outweigh the toxic moments.
We
definitely need more books by, for, and about LGBT people, but
Dreadnought is not a step forward. I hope someday we have so many
diverse books by Own Voices authors that Dreadnought is no longer
uncritically praised as an empowering book. It's really not.
*****
Even left leaning people don't want to see the whole package of IRL political issues. Some of them really do want escapism. They still fall back on the X-ism angle for lots of things but like most people who give money for entertainment, they want the entertainment more then a message. Even if they agree with whatever politics you soapbox in your book, only the "I'm with X" crowd will truly praise this book as some sort of masterpiece. It's not supposed to be some critical thinking book or some literary masterpiece, its supposed to be fun. This is only my POV but I think those who gave this book really good reviews just want to be a part of the crowd saying, "See? I'm not like Y! I have feelings towards this important subject."
Just say what you really feel. But in the Era of Cancel Culture, most don't want to say that, hell even when I was in college I kept my head down. And that was back in the early 2000s.
*****
Let me preface with the necessary invocation when negatively
reviewing a book on such a topic, "I wanted to like this book, but." And
now I have invoked the magical phrase, lets get down to the review
proper.
This book has an interesting premise, that I can't say is
misused, because for it to be misused it would have to in some way
material way appear in this book. Instead this book is rather shallow
& the plot is not so much a plot as much as a pretext for the misery
porn that makes up this collection of interpersonal interactions with
bigots.
Seriously, every other character seems to be just a mouth
piece for silly straw-man oppositions to the idea of transgender
people, a thin character sketch of the assumed stereotypical bigot that
appears in this sub genre of misery porn.
At no point is this
book in any way enjoyable, at no point does the plot get interesting,
nor will you feel yourself sucked in to the narrative, nor is there any
real exploration of the setting either in it's superhero aspect, or it's
civilian aspect, which is honestly just there as the pretext for the
execution of the misery porn.
And lets be clear, both of those
aspects have been done with the concept of "oops I changed gender" in
narrative media before & they've all managed to still be to some
degree, entertaining.
But here's the thing, this book isn't meant
to be entertaining to real people, it does what all misery porn does,
it's message fiction, which exists to preach to the choir of people who
self describe as "Woke." This book exists to tell them that "you don't
believe these strawman arguments I've put in the mouth of the bigoted
people, hence you are morally superior to people who don't agree with
us."
*****
This review is pretty on point, esp from what I saw of the sample. Even Alphabet Soup Needs something Uplifting. Which even this other reviewer points out. Thing is, no one finds this book really engaging unless they are people looking for points for their political POV.
*****
I
wanted to like this book. I'm a trans woman and I wanted to root for
the hometeam here, but I couldn't recommend this book to my friends. The
author spends way too much time detailing the torture Danny is put
through by the cis people around her. Yes it's realistic that cis people
can be that awful but is realism what you want in a superhero book? Is
it realistic that Danny is the one-and-only trans character in the
entire book? The city New Port City is based on has a thriving youthful
trans community which is absent from this book. It just felt like
misery-tourism for the amusement of cis readers. Super heroes are
supposed to inspire but I feel like this book would have sent me deeper
into the closet if I had read it as a teenager.
Also the writing
is bad. It starts off mediocre but after the halfway point it goes
downhill. The climactic battle should have been exciting but it was just
boring. The final chapter left me saying to myself "what did I just
read? Why would that character do that? When was THAT ever mentioned. Is
that an editing mistake?"
TLDR The worst transgender super hero
fiction I have ever read. Only get it if you're really desperate for
novels written by trans women. I did enjoy the first half.
*****
So why even go through some of these reviews: All the Critical reviews vs All the Positive . In case people wanted to see the divide. I personally think the 3 and lower stars are more on point about this book.
No one really likes this stuff. They just pretend to find the Misery Message Fiction "interesting."
When it comes to the Superhero Genre, far too many books concentrate on the Watchmen/The Boys side of things. Misery for Misery's sake. Again, this is all my opinion, make of it what you will. The world and writers in general have lost that optimistic spark. There are still hold outs, here and there, with dreams of a better tomorrow. But its harder to find in indies or trad pub. It's why when I do find some series that go for a more hopeful bent I cling to it like a seagull with a french fry.
Actually, the whole angle of "coming out or getting antagonized by x y or z strawman" in gay or lesbian fiction is the standard for many of these "fantastical" stories. Even if they are sci fi or fantasy based. I can count on one hand how many stories with a Gay, Lesbian or Bi Protagonist is just there to have an adventure without any "current year" baggage. IE: oh the parents disown the protag, or their friends turn on them, or This Character hates them because of who they sleep with. If these writers cant even let fictional characters escape this cesspool then what the hell can throw them out of it?
Oh and if you are wondering which books are what I'd term: Rainbow without the Current Year Misery Baggage/Message Fiction....mostly these books:
Cooper really does have all sorts in Aeon. I am entertained by the characters and the situations they are thrown in. But man oh man, did Katrina get thrown into the deep end. This is one series wherein the writer throws the whole sink at people. But unlike things like GOT, Cooper remembers to bring the Sun in. IE Hope. Tanis and Joe, along with the rest of their motley crew are def. favorites.
Romancing the Inventor *When a Victorian Style Lesbian Romance novella is more or less heartwarming compared to current year misery fiction, you know you done fracked up.
Nightrunners For the most part. There's some lowkey stuff that kinda reminded me of "oh great, please dont use them for that." but then the troubles created by the setting itself was more in the forefront. IE: Magic and Antagonists threatening the whole setting was much more paramount then preaching. Even if her blog and other things indicate otherwise, she really does prioritize story over soapbox. In her books at least. Tamir Triad is pretty good too. Much more interesting story of girl hidden as a boy via magic then the cape story above. Makes you realize just how kids are primed to be influenced to things. Which is why I am not going to give age inappropriate stuff to my niece and nephews. Again, my parents didn't let me start reading more mature stuff til I hit highschool/16+ and even then I didnt understand some things until I re-read it in my 20s.
Seriously, when I was still kinda active on goodreads, so many people were like, "Why doesnt this have more representation?" There's no way you can get someone or someone to represent you to a tee. Find books that prioritize characters. Who just happen to have X Y or Z in their background. I'd rather have a fully realized character then a cardboard cutout with one trait mannerisms. Hell, Babylon 5 was paving the way with this with Ivanova well before. I love Ivanova, she has the worst romantic luck but she's a fully realized character. You want a kick ass bisexual character, there she is! That's the difference between something that's lipservice like Dreadnought vs actual character arcs and development.
You want to see better representation or something more entertaining, dont give misery fiction or message fiction money. Find things that you can enjoy. Because everyone needs to escape the mundane for a while. Even if they are left or right.
For most Superhero Prose I can find at the moment: (IN some cases it sometimes nearly hits the top 1000. The really popular stuff hits 500-300 range.)
The more popular tropes used at the moment. From what I can see of samples and some past purchases.
A majority of them are High Schoolers
Dramatic Family Death
A family member is a villian.
Marvel Type Narrative really outnumbers Old Style DC (IE: Street level Problems/X-men type prejudge stuff vs Giant Scale ones/More Optimistic)
Anti-Heroes, Villain POV, Downer Settings (Some improve their setting by the end)
In fact, I can count on one hand what types of superhero books manage to get to the top 100: (Rest of its Lit RPG, UF, PRomance, Harems/ Rev Harem, which again, dead horse time: need their own sub genre tags.
Outlaw (Gritty, More Marvel type Avenger type deal)
The Outlaw High school junior Chase Jackson is the infamous Outlaw, a
celebrated midnight crimefighter caught in an ancient clash between
order and corruption. The world only sees the mask, not the young man
balancing his secret identity against love.
Rumors surface of a
growing evil within Los Angeles, and powerful strangers are searching
for the reclusive vigilante, whispering truths about his illness.
Despite his desperate attempts for peace, the Outlaw is being drawn into
war with the dangerous Infected.
I wont be listing harem books because I don't consider that actual proper superhero stuff. Because its everywhere and needs its own category. Yes, its simple human resentment on my part but its there. I am very biased against these books because they are making it harder to find Cape books. In a sea already flooded. Glaring at UF and Paranormal Romance too. I am beginning to resent them taking up the Superhero tag also.
Supervillains are
murdering people in the streets, but yet superheroes are more concerned
with gaining popularity than bringing the villains to justice.
These villains think they are above the law and that nobody can stop
them, but they never planned for me. I’ll murder every one of them with
my powersuit, traps, and sidekicks.
And if killing bad guys makes me a villain in the eyes of the heroes, well… I’ll destroy them too.
Plus more often then not, with Superhero Prose, many are trying to go for the literary Option:
The author of the “urgent and deeply moving” (The New York Times) Youngblood
returns with this bold and provocative novel following a group of
super-powered soldiers and civilians as they navigate an imperial
America on the precipice of a major upheaval—for fans of The Fortress of Solitude and The Plot Against America.
Thirty
years after its great triumph in Vietnam, the United States has again
become mired in an endless foreign war overseas. Stories of super
soldiers known as the Volunteers tuck in little American boys and girls
every night. Yet domestic politics are aflame. Violent protests erupt
throughout the nation; an ex-military watchdog group clashes with police
while radical terrorists threaten to expose government experiments
within the veteran rehabilitation colonies.
Halfway between war
and peace, the Volunteers find themselves waiting for orders in the
vast American city-state, Empire City. There they encounter a small
group of civilians who know the truth about their powers, including
Sebastian Rios, a young bureaucrat wrestling with survivor guilt, and
Mia Tucker, a wounded army pilot-turned-Wall Street banker. Meanwhile,
Jean-Jacques Saint-Preux, a Haitian-American Volunteer from the
International Legion, decides he’ll do whatever it takes to return to
the front lines.
Through it all, a controversial retired
general emerges as a frontrunner in the presidential campaign, promising
to save the country from itself. Her election would mean unprecedented
military control over the country, with promises of security and
stability—but at what cost?
Featuring Gallagher’s “vital” (The Washington Post), “evocative” (The Wall Street Journal) prose, Empire City is a rousing vision of an alternate—yet all too familiar—America on the brink.
*FACEPALM*
No thank you. Would you kindly. It has the taste of Watchman on it. And current year shenanigans.
Again, all of this just keeps motivating me to work on my own series every day. Even in little ways. Between the short stories for the anthology, the other two first drafts, the world building, revamping books 1, 2, 3, and 4 so far, outline wise, I've written over 300,000 words so far. And its only Feb. I started in Nov of 2019. Let's see where the rest of the year will bring us.
So far, what my series will have: (Thinking of calling the series The Uplift Protocol.)
Planet Hopping within the sol system (Book 1), eventually ill go cosmic :D (Late Book 2/Book 3+)
Stopping nefarious agents of the Grays/Keepers, The Roswell Incident. Grays vs Atlantis made WW1 and 2 happen. Oops.
A whole clan of Superheros, 3 whole generations jumping into the fray.
My Justice League standins vs the Legion of Doom (The Cabal)
Space doggos powered with Defender Belts, most of them Blue for Loyalty, but some are Reds. Powered by the Blood that runs hot in them. One of those is going to be a doberman, 2nd in command of the entire Defender Corp. Cooper/Guards-The-Stars is Green for Faith.
This Earth has Prolong, Habitat Rings, outer Sol System Defenses, Moon Bases, Colonies on Mars, Bases on Jupiter's Moons. Plus even our doggos live to be 40 years old or so. Because why not.
O'neil Cylinders, Terraforming. Yes, that means good old pulpy mini moons around other planets also have humans on them. Because it reminds me of fun. Its why this series isnt hard sci fi as much as space opera. It does have some slight tech aspects but just like supers and pulps, the tech will be made to fit that setting.
Cosmic Relics, Kardeshev 5 and 6 civilizations
Babylon 5 references
Cornfields of Silly out the butt because I am also corny.
Atlantis, wherein Arthon is a Muthra, which translates to Security in a certain dead language.
Pew pew pew!
Truth, Justice, the American Way and Apple Pie. Just like my old school superman.
Space Ships w/ FTL
Area 51 and other things that will be just as fun to write.
A United Earth. Still have many individual countries but we pulled ourselves up and formed a Terran Alliance. Not even gonna touch any current year subjects. Just like Original Star Trek, our society is more concerned about exploring beyond Earth.
Ancient Astro theories are true. After a fashion. :P
No Dead Parents or Dead Grand Parent crutches. No orphans. Just tired of that aspect. Its why I have prolong on this Earth.
What makes Earth stand out is its ratio for magical Demis/Supers. Not the same as the Atlantians. Its a plot point I built up for the world building aspect that will come into play later in the series.
Ill Update this page as I find more: *NEW Tag for blog (GENRE DATABASE) so look for that label to find the updated genre fun.
Well regardless of my own personal preferences, I am going to compile more links and things to help showcase more superhero prose, because I want it to rise to the top, or make it easier for fellow enthusiasts to find things. (Even if I don't share the same politics because that's not what's really important to me atm. Just want people to be able to find books. Period.)
So Ill also include series that don't appeal to me personally. Its all about adding to this hub.
Websites/Search Hubs: (even linking sites that give writing advice I don't agree with mainly because its a resource. Cause I really do want to find as much as possible and put it in one spot.)
Here comes the books, not going to link names, going just to link who writes superhero prose in the style of actual capes/comics/spandex or alt earth. Even if its YA, Dystopia, More Marvel in Nature rather then DC, as long as its not the clutter from the mis-tagged top 100.
IE via series name instead, have fun at the buffet everyone. (this will be lots of scrolling if you are on a phone especially.)
This is only the beginning. Breaking up the sections with a bit of commentary. The more YA angled ones love to have the teen super hero vs school vs secret id angle. Then the setting will open up in later books. From what I can tell anyway.
There's so much out there, Ill keep adding to this page as I find more. Wont let the mistaken labels win. Onward! Another thing, ummm....sometimes the covers really dont tell if you are actual superhero prose or not. Just saying.
Plus many of these series go a more X-man Route then Justice League. IE: Teens fighting against evil situations. But Ill still link, because its better then what's displayed in the top 100. Seriously, would you want anyone to put Harry Dresden stuff in the superhero genre tag? When its Urban fantasy? Paranormal Romance is not superhero capes/spandex stuff either. You can have romantic elements but its not fair to shove what's obviously Twilight Ripoff 200202 into this seagull's funtimes. I will rip it out like a rotted french fry.
The reason why some of the witch and wizard stuff doesn't work for supers is because its not like its attached to a world of supers like Constantine is. So dont put your book in that category even if they have magic powers because it will not correlate with what cape fans are looking for. All I'm asking for is for writers to genuinely put thought into the genre tags and keywords they use.
Some of these books try to make the Boys look like a walk in the park though.
Some of these books only lasted a book or two, then the writer gave up. Don't give up people. That's a subconscious key to readers that they shouldn't invest.
If you are going to write for a really popular category to try to get the mythic "Write for Job" earnings slot, you will have to fight millions of writers who had the same idea on kindle. But dont mess up the tags just on the slim hope you will beat out Harem LIT RPG Frack Fest 2000. At this juncture readers are going to have to build networks. So that's why this whole thing here is happening on my blog.
To be continued/added to. This is only the beginning. If the tech is having a hard time getting us what we want, we have to interlink our markets to each other. Not only that but writers have to pin point and find those readers. So we can all uplift each other.
Sometimes even having more anthologies can help. Even if Superheroes aren't the gang busters that all these harem books are in terms of dollar signs, as a reader I hope people will carry on and make more superhero stories to follow. Readers need more then junk food at the table. We need entertainment.
Its really easy to find many very gritty superhero stories. :P In general. Compared to what my own preferences are but its still a type of superhero story. So they are going in.
Rich World Building, the universes in both series feels lived in, so even if you don't see all the events on screen, the repercussions are felt by the characters there.
Face-Off/Victoria: You think they are the Loner, the Ultimate Anti-Hero but their arcs are subverted in a good way. They may be rough and tumble at the start but the people in their lives change them for the better.
Both series have very clear lines of good vs evil. (With Heroes Unleashed, some other books within the various series have different themes though, kinda how DC has Justice League Dark to explore the more magic side of things.) the internal consistency of these settings is top notch.
For NOS: They are Neos/For HU, they are called Primes. Even this is important for setting the internal tone for both.
Gritty but without going overboard to cartoon level grim dark like some Watchmen or The Boys type ripoffs. My personal preferences aside, it takes a very deft touch to even make something like Watchmen work. In fact, the only Moore stuff I actually like is League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
I really think there is something for everyone with both book series. If you love tabletop, CJ even included the basic rules and stats so you can run your own campaign in his universe. Ill link everything below at the end.
Like I said on Twitter: Both of these series have the wonder of the silver age. There is some bronze and iron elements with some characters but its one happy blender. Wherein the powers are interesting but it isn't what makes the character interesting.
In my personal opinion: there's something here for anyone and everyone that ever loved supers.
If you want street level characters, these have that. If you want Superman types, its here too. The politics in both are for that setting, not thinly veiled references to whatever is happening here on our Earth. Much appreciated.
In fact, hope is the cornerstone. It might be darkest before the dawn but when it shines, it shines like a star in the void.
The Use of Tropes:
Christine started out as what you would consider a typical college student, flaws and all, but her adventure from the mundane to the alt Earth of Neos, well that pretty much kickstarts her growth. Face-Off and Christine share something similar, they are both loners in their own specific ways. He had a rough childhood and Christine was cut off socially from people. But they each have their own anchors to offset the loneliness. They will become each other's support in a very vital way. To change for the better. (I do hope Mr. CJ returns to this setting at some point.)
As for Heroes Unleashed, the various protagonists of each book aren't pulled from "Our" earth or even a similar earth to another one. They live and breath in that setting as citizens accustomed to the happenings in their world. NOS: Fish out of water Christine hook vs They already live here. Both are fun. Plus it gives each series a way to present to the reader the various plots and characters with their own set of rules.
What's refreshing about both: The Protags want to change their worlds for the better. That's like a river in the desert for me. No matter the background, the underlining idea of Good vs Evil is ever present. Its a nice change from all the books out there where GREY morality is king.
Yes, the things we love about superheros are in these books:
Meta Plot and Character moments, magical items, super spies doing the right thing, govt shenanigans but not a direct correlation to anything current year in nature.
It's important to have a good balance between the main plot and quieter moments. You can tell everyone involved is experienced. (the Writers that is).
You can root for the Underdogs, Like Joe or Face-off, or see what kind of dilemmas are afoot with Victoria or Adam. There's a story-line for everyone basically. The super powered cop that doesn't desire the lime light to help protect everyone around him. Victoria wants to stay low but her sense of right and wrong basically get the best of her.
Jason and Christine are there to provide the more innocent view of genuine goodness. Doing their best to change things for the better.
Grit is there but its not to the point of moral event horizon or grimdark. Which in this day and age with much fiction, that's getting harder to find. Everyone here knows what to do with Supers and its awesome.
Some are Knights in Sour Armor but more emphasis is placed on the nobility of a Knight.
A concrete look at why I read these books vs most comics nowadays:
The characters have clearly defined morality. I know that's like hitting the same point over and over but I like that they have clearly stated compasses. Like Odd, from Dean Koontz's series. A clear delineation between right and wrong.
You can tell the writers aren't just doing it for a payday. They genuinely enjoy what they are reading and writing here. (But its vital we support them anyway.)
The world-building and lore suck you in but the characters keep you there.
These series are some of the few where society isn't in the dumpster. Lots of superhero prose seems to take a page from "Apocalypse Now" and paint it over with some ideas of spandex. But when that happens it usually turns into more of a downer setting. (In my experience.)
While not a utopia, both are aiming for a more ideal world. Because escapism is nice. Star Wars and Star Trek have forgotten this. You can have interesting conflicts but still have hope as the bedrock.
Plus I don't have much issues with characters like superman, so in other settings, have that symbol of hope, it can be embodied in other settings:
Because the biggest thing for me in superhero prose, make your characters inspiring. And give those stories villains for us to Boo/Hiss at.
Stop looking to the Dirt of "Realism" and look to the Sky of the "Ideal/Aspirational." Read things that instill the best parts of Superheroes.
Go against the more popular trends so we can have a greater appreciation for more then what's considered the top "100." We need to give niche genres and midlisters a bigger platform to spring from. So we can have more then just the despondent levels of real. It's never really appealed to me. Sure, I can have fun with a series that goes into the common level of man but I need variety. These books give me that. Please support what superhero books you can. (Even if I hope for more optimistic books, at this point, we should all try to help lift one another, yes even you dystopia books, because the genre is small enough as is.)
I'm a more old style DC girl at heart but I know the gritter aspects of marvels more "flawed" characters are more popular at the moment.
Superhero Book Database (Gonna add more to this, or help them, because our genre needs a central hub too.) If you have a book series with supers, need to get out from under unrelated books crowding the tag, submit it here.
LitRPG has its place but not in the superhero sci fi or fantasy tag.
Harem/Rev. Harem has its place but not in these tags. I get that so many want to survive on writing as a main job but until amazon can create more tags and categories, its like sifting through a pile of needles to find what you need.
Even that database spells it out:
Why Did We Create Superhero-Fiction?
Due to the crowding of the superhero category by books not fitting
the archetype on major retailers, we decided to take matters into our
own hands. Our mission is to provide readers with easy access to novels
featuring the superheroes they love. Because this archetype may appear
in many genres, we screen all books added to the website make sure they
feature strong superhero elements.
Fans and Readers have to make inroads so we can bring stuff to the forfront of what we love and enjoy. If DC and Marvel arent cutting it anymore, find things that do. Things that inspire. That remember what superheroes are.
Addedum: Quick Rundown of Heroes Unleashed so Far.
This is how you add Magic to Superhero Work!
Gemini Warrior: This is what happens when Heroes Unleashed goes Twelve Kingdoms meets Pulpy Scifi x The Rising of the Shield Hero on you all at once. (No LIT RPG elements but more like the character's personal growth arc. The foundation is there but the hero or protags are completely lost at first.)
Overlook: Superhero Spy Thriller (What if you'd put James Bond with Mr. Smith's ability to blend in within a Superhero World.)
Hollow City: Superhero Cop (Blue Bloods with a dash of Cyberpunk Neon but with the additional street level problems of Super Powers)
Heroes Fall: Superhero Mystery (Imagine if Jessica Jones was likable. Along with a more upbeat attitude and moral center. My favorite entry point into this setting.)
Silver Empire publishing has something for everyone though.
I wanted to like this book. I'm a trans woman and I wanted to root for the hometeam here, but I couldn't recommend this book to my friends. The author spends way too much time detailing the torture Danny is put through by the cis people around her. Yes it's realistic that cis people can be that awful but is realism what you want in a superhero book? Is it realistic that Danny is the one-and-only trans character in the entire book? The city New Port City is based on has a thriving youthful trans community which is absent from this book. It just felt like misery-tourism for the amusement of cis readers. Super heroes are supposed to inspire but I feel like this book would have sent me deeper into the closet if I had read it as a teenager.
Also the writing is bad. It starts off mediocre but after the halfway point it goes downhill. The climactic battle should have been exciting but it was just boring. The final chapter left me saying to myself "what did I just read? Why would that character do that? When was THAT ever mentioned. Is that an editing mistake?"
TLDR The worst transgender super hero fiction I have ever read. Only get it if you're really desperate for novels written by trans women. I did enjoy the first half.
- No one really likes this stuff. They just pretend to find the Misery Message Fiction "interesting."
- When it comes to the Superhero Genre, far too many books concentrate on the Watchmen/The Boys side of things. Misery for Misery's sake. Again, this is all my opinion, make of it what you will. The world and writers in general have lost that optimistic spark. There are still hold outs, here and there, with dreams of a better tomorrow. But its harder to find in indies or trad pub. It's why when I do find some series that go for a more hopeful bent I cling to it like a seagull with a french fry.
- Actually, the whole angle of "coming out or getting antagonized by x y or z strawman" in gay or lesbian fiction is the standard for many of these "fantastical" stories. Even if they are sci fi or fantasy based. I can count on one hand how many stories with a Gay, Lesbian or Bi Protagonist is just there to have an adventure without any "current year" baggage. IE: oh the parents disown the protag, or their friends turn on them, or This Character hates them because of who they sleep with. If these writers cant even let fictional characters escape this cesspool then what the hell can throw them out of it?
Oh and if you are wondering which books are what I'd term: Rainbow without the Current Year Misery Baggage/Message Fiction....mostly these books:- Aeon 14
- Cooper really does have all sorts in Aeon. I am entertained by the characters and the situations they are thrown in. But man oh man, did Katrina get thrown into the deep end. This is one series wherein the writer throws the whole sink at people. But unlike things like GOT, Cooper remembers to bring the Sun in. IE Hope. Tanis and Joe, along with the rest of their motley crew are def. favorites.
- Romancing the Inventor *When a Victorian Style Lesbian Romance novella is more or less heartwarming compared to current year misery fiction, you know you done fracked up.
- Nightrunners For the most part. There's some lowkey stuff that kinda reminded me of "oh great, please dont use them for that." but then the troubles created by the setting itself was more in the forefront. IE: Magic and Antagonists threatening the whole setting was much more paramount then preaching. Even if her blog and other things indicate otherwise, she really does prioritize story over soapbox. In her books at least. Tamir Triad is pretty good too. Much more interesting story of girl hidden as a boy via magic then the cape story above. Makes you realize just how kids are primed to be influenced to things. Which is why I am not going to give age inappropriate stuff to my niece and nephews. Again, my parents didn't let me start reading more mature stuff til I hit highschool/16+ and even then I didnt understand some things until I re-read it in my 20s.
- The Shadow Campaigns
Seriously, when I was still kinda active on goodreads, so many people were like, "Why doesnt this have more representation?" There's no way you can get someone or someone to represent you to a tee. Find books that prioritize characters. Who just happen to have X Y or Z in their background. I'd rather have a fully realized character then a cardboard cutout with one trait mannerisms. Hell, Babylon 5 was paving the way with this with Ivanova well before. I love Ivanova, she has the worst romantic luck but she's a fully realized character. You want a kick ass bisexual character, there she is! That's the difference between something that's lipservice like Dreadnought vs actual character arcs and development.You want to see better representation or something more entertaining, dont give misery fiction or message fiction money. Find things that you can enjoy. Because everyone needs to escape the mundane for a while. Even if they are left or right.