And so we embark on another journey into the strange world that is Drew Hayes’ imagination. How this guy can come up with so many different, yet complete universes boggles the mind. This one is similar, on paper at least, to his Super Powereds universe. But it’s very different in some very key ways. Like in Super Powereds, we have people with abilities. These people are called metahumans, or metas. Metas can be formed in different ways. They can gain powers during an accident […]
Who is the hero, who is the villain?
In 2015 I was introduced to V.E. Schwab through her book A Darker Shade of Magic, which I devoured and then a year later was pleasantly surprised to find out it was the start of a trilogy. Each time I chatted with the booksellers at my favorite bookstore and ADSoM came up they always asked if I had read Vicious. I kept admitting that I hadn’t and they would always chime back about how good it is. This year for our family holiday book exchange I […]
If Mr Incredible were a bad guy in a past life
Imagine a world that combines elements of The Incredibles, Discworld, and Marvel. That’s what you get in Forging Hephaestus (Villains’ Code Book 1). I really enjoyed this combination, and I really, really hope the series continues for at least a few more volumes. The basic premise is that the world contains meta-humans, those with special powers, and such people often become either heroes and join the Alliance of Heroic Champions, or a villain who joins the guild of villains. The organization and bureaucratization of crime […]
Secret origins of fiendish pony villains
Last month, I attended a lovely library talk about women in comics. Christina Rice, a local librarian and comics writer, talked about her work on My Little Pony comics. I’ve always been a fan of My Little Pony, but hadn’t really watched the new show. To sate my curiosity, I picked up the My Fiendship is Magic volume. These five comics explore the secret origins of five pony villains. It was interesting to see kingdoms outside Equestria, the main pony land, told from the various POVs. Beware, […]