Those of you who read my column last week might remember that I promised another comic-related novel this week – well, that is not completely accurate. Not all heroes get their start in the funny books, as I am sure many of you know. Some original super hero stories spring up in film – Unbreakable comes to mind. Heck, even Buzz Lightyear could well be considered a superhero, though he doesn’t strictly fit into the traditional mold.

Well, this brief series of Still on the Shelf deals with comic novels, and I really do feel that novels featuring wholly original heroes are very much worthy of being counted among novels based on pre-existing comic characters. Though this is a comic book column, I do feel that most of us really enjoy stories about heroes, else we wouldn’t be reading comics. Novelists have the advantage of being able to tell a deep and involved story without having to wait an entire year for their story to run its course.

There could be no other choice for an original hero book besides Other People’s Heroes by Blake M. Petit. Not only is it a damned fine novel, but it also fits into the typical Still on the Shelf mold – in other words, not nearly enough of you have read it!

To avoid spoiling things too much, Other People’s Heroes is the story of a reporter in a city filled with superheroes and villains who finds one day that he has powers of his own. Of course, the natural thing to do would be to make up a costume and go join the fray. Quite unexpectedly, “The Great Pretender” finds that the world of Capes and Masks is nothing at all like what he had grown to believe.

Cast of Characters

Josh Corwood, a reporter for Powerlines, a news magazine dedicated to following the exploits of Siegel City, wanted nothing more than to be a superhero since he was a young child. Far from the normal dreams and aspirations of a boy with a vivid imagination, Josh’s dream was born after being saved from a burning building by Lionheart – the hero he has looked up to ever since. Though Lionheart had long since vanished, Josh carried his dream with him.

A series of close encounters with a group of “Capes and Masks” (Heroes and Villains, as Siegel City calls them) helped him realize that he had a superpower of his own – the ability to mimic the powers of anyone near him. He decides to use his newfound ability to strike out on his own as a hero, and he runs smack into a world he realizes he knew nothing at all about.

Sheila Reynolds, copy editor at Powerlines and close friend to Josh can only watch as he gets sucked deeper and deeper into the world of Capes and Masks. She grows frustrated with Josh’s silence on that matter, and with a small bit of snooping discovers the secret that Josh is hiding. Can he convince her to keep quiet? Does he really want her to?

Doctor Noble – hero to Siegel City, defender of the peace – and a tubby to boot! Doc Noble, though a hero in name, becomes one of Josh’s chief rivals in the Cape and Mask game, for no other apparent reason than they both rub each other the wrong way (in other words, he’s a *#^@ing *#$%!). Doctor Noble is also particularly sensitive about an incident with “Photon Man,” something Josh learns much more about as the novel progresses.

Doctor Noble’s girlfriend, Annie (or Miss Sinistah), is the classic case of an abused girlfriend – always apologizing for her boyfriend’s rude behavior, and always sticking by him, no matter how terrible he treats her. Josh, of course, falls for the super-strong beauty (oiy, I can hear Dr. Laura screaming about the knight-on-a-white-horse complex now!). Tom, Annie’s younger brother, comes into the picture after Josh saves him during his first “mission.” Without spoiling too much, Tom becomes a much more important character as the novel progresses.

Gunk and Goop, another pair of “Capes” in Siegel City, are a pair of gelatinous blobs attached to otherwise normal skeletons. Though Gunk is fairly known by the populace, Goop, his sidekick, has more mysterious origins- in fact, not even the rest of the Cape and Mask community really know much about where Goop came from.

Lionheart – well, what else can be said about Lionheart other than the fact that he was a true hero? From a time in Siegel City before the Cape and Mask game was perverted into the shame it is now, Lionheart was the embodiment of the ideals that Siegel City’s protectors held dear. So what happened to Lionheart? Through the course of Other People’s Heroes, you find that he may not have simply died like most believe.

Thoughts

The “Cast of Characters” for this novel is much bigger than the few that I mentioned, but I do believe that I nailed just about all of the major players. The diversity in the cast is one of the strengths of this novel. Petit shows a very active imagination and a real love for the superhero genre in his novel, creating a wide array of heroes and villains with many varying powers and power levels. The fact that a key part of this novel is indeed a mystery is really helped along by the diversity of characters – the more possible “suspects” there are, the more intense the situation becomes.

The story itself is very engaging. More than a simple superhero story, Other People’s Heroes really breaks down into a pretty complex mystery, which is so well structured that clues to its unraveling can be found before the first chapter ever comes to a close. In short, before you ever even know to look for it. And there is a lot to look for. Unanswered questions pepper this novel, and for every mystery there are tons of clues scattered throughout the book, things that make you slap yourself for not noticing when they all come together in the end.

I know that having Blake here on staff might lead you to believe that I would be less than honest in my opinion of his novel, and that I might skew my criticism in a positive light. That really is far from the case – and it would not be fair of me to analyze anything and not give you the good with the bad. And there are a couple of things that I thought could be done better here. Specifically, the suddenness of Josh’s transition from average Joe to “superhero” stuck out for me the most. Normally, I am not the kind of guy that likes needless fluff in a novel (I about go crazy when reading all of the puff and fluff in “romantic” novels like The Hunchback of Notre Dame”), but I also don’t think things should be needlessly rushed. Petit zips through the introductions and right into the action with Other People’s Heroes, and I do think that the characters could have used a bit more “get to know you” time before the action really got going. I would have also liked to see Josh ease into his role as a superhero a little more slowly, going from deciding to be a hero to discovering the big secret of the Cape and Mask community happens so fast that the impact of both on his life end up somewhat muted. This is far from a fatal flaw in this novel, but it is something that stuck with me at the very beginning. As a sometime writer, I know that beginnings can often be the toughest part of writing, especially when you have a fantastic idea for the meat of a story. This is Petit’s first published novel, and I have no doubt based on the skill with which the rest of the novel was put together that any choppiness I perceived in the beginning of this story will be improved upon in later works.

The rest of the story proceeds at a very appropriate pace, and I was sucked right in. In fact, I read this book in a single sitting, something I consider to be the highest of praise. If a novel has me engaged enough to shut out the outside world and forget about all else (sleeping and eating included), the author has a good thing going, and I very much appreciate it. (Well, maybe not so much the next day, after only a few short hours of sleep…)

A book with a concept like this one just begs for a sequel, and thankfully Petit has that covered already. On his website, Evertimerealms.com, the first eight chapters of 14 Days of Asphalt can be found. This story continues Josh’s adventures as Copycat, but this time on the open road with his friend Sheila, away from the Cape and Mask community where he got his start. No telling how far Petit is going to take this one, but it is a fun ride so far, and very much worthy of the novel that the idea came from. While I am not so sure that reading Other People’s Heroes is absolutely necessary before diving into 14 Days, I do think it is a good idea to read the novel first, so you get the whole history of just who Annie, Shelia, and Josh are. And naturally, since 14 Days takes place after Other People’s Heroes, certain key story elements might be spoiled for you if you read the sequel first.

Bottom Line

Even though this novel deals with Superheroes and Supervillains, you might wonder why I would cover it in a comic book-related novel. Well, the very fact that those two words are trademarked by Marvel and DC (Superhero and Supervillain) says all you need to know. The whole idea of super-powered people fighting the never ending battle between good and evil is so intertwined with comic books in general that it is safe to say that without the contributions of comic books over the past several decades, a story like this might not exist.

With the exception of a very few of us, we all love these stories, else we wouldn’t be reading comics. We all line up to see X-Men and Spider-man at the movie theater, and I know there is a bunch of buzz out there for The Incredibles, which has nothing at all to do with any existing comic property. So it is safe to say that each and every one of you would have some interest in this novel, being a story about superheroes, and I do feel it is my duty to let you all know that you will love it. I promise.

Other People’s Heroes can be ordered online at a few different places. I recommend Barnes and Noble, though it is also available through Amazon.com and PublishAmerica.com. It carries a cover price of $19.99, and well worth every dollar. Come on now, why aren’t you ordering? You do still read books without the pictures in it, right? Also, be sure to keep an eye out for Blake’s next novel, The Beginner, which is due out within the year.

Credit Where Credit is Due

Other People’s Heroes is
Written by Blake M. Petit, and
Published by America House Book Publishers

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