Superhero Fiction

[RaZrEsHaT]

Anyone a fan of superhero fiction? Like I need to ask. But what are some of the better Superhero Fiction stories you have read? Before you respond, lets leave out Wildcards since there would be about 100 responses all says something about Wildcards.

[Blueferret]

What's Wildcards and why would there be 100 responses about it?

[Bright-Raven]

Wild Cards was / is a fairly popular book series from the 1970s -1980s - a superhero universe created by George R.R. Martin, that featured prose fiction by a number of prominent SF, fantasy, and comics writers.

As for other supehero fiction:

COUNT GEIGER'S BLUES by Michael Bishop

SUPERHEROES (Ace Fantasy short fiction omnibus)

There are a few short fics that I saw in Science Fiction Age magazine years ago, but I don't remember the specific names of the stories and I don't feel like going through boxes of back issues to find them at the moment. I think one story was written by Robert Reed.

[Shellhead]

I enjoyed the novelization of The Death of Superman, by Roger Stern.

Marvel published a numbered series of superhero paperback books back in the late 70's. They weren't novelizations of existing stories, they were brand new stories featuring popular Marvel characters. One of the Spider-man books had Kingpin on the cover, and revolved around a gang war between Kingpin and Silvermane, with Spider-man fighting both sides. Captain America fought the Red Skull. There was a team-up one featuring Spider-man and Hulk.

My favorite was the Avengers one where they fought Kang. The line-up for that story was Captain America, Iron Man, Vision, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, Beast, and maybe Thor, which puts it during an excellent Avengers era. Another book in that series was an anthology of shorter stories, including one where the Avengers fought Kang, and that was later turned into comic form, in Avengers # 202. I think David Michelinie wrote both of the Avengers stories, and comparable Marvel writers wrote each of the other stories. The cover artwork on these books was pretty good, too.

Review of the Iron Man novel:

http://www.republiquelibre.org/cousture/bd/wan/IMNOVEL1.HTM

cover shot of the Marvel Superheroes anthology that included the Avengers/Ultron story:

http://daredevil.dreamhost.com/books.htm

[Rachel Grey]

I liked that in the X-Men/ST:TNG X-over they mention how much Captain Picard & Proffessor X look alike. :D :D :D

[Smell]

I read the novelisation of batman No Mans Land, last year, Greg Rukka (i think) and enjoyed it immensly - got a little bit more from the books than I did from the comics, altough the time scale seemed to be skewed, just cos I didn't have to wait a month between chapters!

Dom

smells a housequake

[DrewTheXenocide]

I read the novelisation of batman No Mans Land, last year, Greg Rukka (i think) and enjoyed it immensly - got a little bit more from the books than I did from the comics, altough the time scale seemed to be skewed, just cos I didn't have to wait a month between chapters!

Dom

smells a housequake
I loved that book. One o' my favorites. Too bad I read some other stinker that Greg Rucka wrote that turned me off from him.

[Kirayoshi]

I rather enjoyed Andrew Vacchs' "Batman: The Ultimate Evil". Vacchs' story had Batman facing not a costumed psycho but the all-too-real evil of a white-slavery ring that deals in children(a favorite topic of Vacchs). Dark stuff, with Batman travelling from Gotham to a third-world nation where Gotham children were being sold off as sex-slaves. Dark gritty noir stuff.

If you have fond memories of the TV show Lois and Clark, I would recommend the novel "Lois and Clark" by C. J. Cherryh. A nice character-driven piece involving Lois investigating an arson fire with ties to Lex Luthor while Clark(as Superman) is helping relief efforts in an eastern European village recovering from flooding.

[Bright-Raven]

Basically, just run a google search under "Superhero Novels" and see the listings for yourselves. I did try to post a listing, but stupid 10,000 character limit killed the post, and I am not cutting and pasting again.

In general:

Marvel novels - Read at your own risk.

DC Novels - Elliot S! Maggin novels, check. Batman novels / collections - hit and miss, but check them out. Anything else, read at your own risk.

HELLBOY - 5 novels / Short Fic collections. If you like the character, check. Otherwise, don't bother.

THE CROW - 5 novels. Ask AzAngel about them. I read one and was not overly enthused, but I'm not a crow fanatic.

[Deskad]

Anything by Elliot S. Maggin is good, believe it!

[RaZrEsHaT]

Good info. I am currently getting interested in orginal superhero fiction (ie not from one of the major comic book companies). It is an interesting (and hopefully) growing genre. Here are a couple of good ones I have found:

http://members.socket.net/~hiebert/Stories/straight2stories.htm
http://www.artificecomics.com/

They have some good, solid work on those sites from what I have read.

[Slappy san]

I liked the novelization of KINGDOM COME and NO MAN'S LAND quite a bit.

[Rik]

Those Who Walk in Darkness by John Ridley.
http://www.twbookmark.com/books/25/0446612022/

Sounds like a vampire novel, but it's superheroes. Not Marvel or DC characters, this takes place in its own universe, and features a tough female cop who is a member of the MTAC squad. Super heroes have been outlawed and these cops are the ones who hunt them down.

And then there's the classic Super Folks by Robert Mayer, which I read back in the Seventies. It's easy to see the influence this one had on Moore's Miracleman and Watchmen.

[Slappy san]

Those Who Walk in Darkness by John Ridley.
http://www.twbookmark.com/books/25/0446612022/

Sounds like a vampire novel, but it's superheroes. Not Marvel or DC characters, this takes place in its own universe, and features a tough female cop who is a member of the MTAC squad. Super heroes have been outlawed and these cops are the ones who hunt them down.


I just added it to my Half.com Wishlist. Hope it's good.

[Josh_G]

I have really fond memory's of reading Michial Goldens Mutant Empire Novels, They were really intersting (For a 12 year old atleast). Magneto and his Acolytes (which were very fleshed out by the way) Hijacked the Sentinals and reprogrammed them and then took over Manhatten and kind of made it a country unto itself.

It's been a long time since I read it but Fights between Amelia Voight and Uniscone are still extremely vivid in my mind you know. I might have to go Box diving later tonight and give that sucker another try.

[bluetyson]

Anyone a fan of superhero fiction? Like I need to ask. But what are some of the better Superhero Fiction stories you have read? Before you respond, lets leave out Wildcards since there would be about 100 responses all says something about Wildcards.

Again, no guarantees of best, but you can possibly find something you like here :-

http://rnmscott.customer.netspace.net.au/

[Indigo Al]

I once read a Catwoman anthology, published in the early 90's to coincide with Batman Returns. Nothing great, but some of the stories actually worked. And some of the stories really liked to focus on Selina being a bisexual prostitute.

[JeffreyWKramer]

One could always go for the classics, and Philip Wylie's novel GLADIATOR - an early SF "superman" novel which was among the influences which directly inspired Siegel and Shuster's creation of Superman.

[Cephus]

Anyone a fan of superhero fiction? Like I need to ask. But what are some of the better Superhero Fiction stories you have read? Before you respond, lets leave out Wildcards since there would be about 100 responses all says something about Wildcards.

How many modern-day superhero fiction stories are there? If you leave out novelizations of other media and comics, are there any?

[Greg Hatcher]

How many modern-day superhero fiction stories are there? If you leave out novelizations of other media and comics, are there any?

Sure. Superfolks. Wild Cards. John Varley's Superheroes. Weird Heroes. They're out there.

[Gordon Smith]

Anything by Elliot S. Maggin is good, believe it!

I basically concur, although I can't say I was hugely enamoured with Elliot's take on Lex Luthor in his Superman novels.

[bluetyson]

How many modern-day superhero fiction stories are there? If you leave out novelizations of other media and comics, are there any?

See my list above. Or here :-


http://rnmscott.customer.netspace.net.au/

under Original Section - which is right at the top. ;-)
This sort of thing :-
ORIGINAL SECTION

Unique : The Hampdenshire Wonder - J.D. Beresford
Unique : Count Geiger's Blues - Michael Bishop
Unique : Superfag - Daniel Curzon
Unique : Joe Gosh - Tom DeHaven
Unique : Supermen - Garner Dozois
Unique : The Man, A Hero For Our Time Why? - Robert Drake
Unique : Brother Grim - Ron Fortier
Unique : The Hounds of Hell - Ron Fortier and Gordon Linzner
Unique : Ultimate Warriors - Jaide Fox and Brenna Lyons and Joy Nash and Michelle M. Pillow
Unique : Midgard's Militia - Steve Jordan
Unique : Captain Jack Zodiac - Michael Kandel
Unique : Astounding Hero Tales - James Lowder
Unique : The Triune Man - Richard Lupoff
Unique : The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril - Paul Malmont
Unique : Doctor Diablo - H.G. Martin
Unique : Nobody Gets The Girl - James Maxey
Unique : The League of Heroes - Xavier Maumejan
Unique : Superfolks - Robert Mayer
Unique : Nunzio - John Minahan
Unique : Flyboy Action Figure Comes with Gas Mask - Jim Munroe
Unique : Hidden Gifts - Neil Ellis Orts
Unique : Other People's Heroes - Blake Petit
Unique : Adventure, Volume 1 - Chris Roberson
Unique : Cybermancy, Incorporated - Chris Roberson
Unique : The Voice Plutonium Nightmare - Erwin K. Roberts
Unique : Superman - It's A Bird - Steven T. Seagle and Teddy Kristiansen
Unique : City Come A Walkin' - John Shirley
Unique : Brave Men Run Matthew Selznick
Unique : The Adventures of Professor Stone--Island X and Other Tales - Wayne Judge
Unique : More Than Human - Theodore Sturgeon
Unique : Odd John - Olaf Stapledon
Unique : Sirius - Olaf Stapledon
Unique : Superheroes - John Varley
Unique : Gladiator - Philip John Wylie
Unique : The Savage Gentleman - Philip John Wylie


Agent 13 : Agent 13 and the Acolytes of Darkness - Flint Dille
Agent 13 : The Invisible Empire - Flint Dille
Agent 13 : The Serpentine Assassin - Flint Dille

Blue Avenger : The Adventures of Blue Avenger - Norma Howe
Blue Avenger : Blue Avenger Cracks the Code - Norma Howe
Blue Avenger : Blue Avenger and the Theory of Everything - Norma Howe

Bureau 13 : 01 Judement Night - Nick Pollotta
Bureau 13 : 03 Full Moonster - Nick Pollotta
Bureau 13 : 02 Doomsday Exam - Nick Pollotta
Bureau 13 : 04 Damned Nation - Nick Pollotta

Doc Ardan : City of Gold and Lepers - Jean-Marc Lofficier and Randy Lofficier

Doc Sidhe : Doc Sidhe - Aaron Aalston
Doc Sidhe : Doc Sidhe ~ Sidhe Devil - Aaron Aalston

F.R.E.E. Lancer : F.R.E.E. Lancers - Mel Odom
F.R.E.E. Lancer : F.R.E.E. Fall - Mel Odom

iHero : Cyber Age Adventures - Frank Fradella
iHero : The Timelessness of Ghosts - Frank Fradella
iHero : Private Little Corner of the Universe - Sean Taylor
iHero : Playing Solitaire - Sean Taylor
iHero : Swan Song - Frank Fradella

Jumper : Jumper - Steven Gould
Jumper : Reflex - Steven Gould

New Heroes : The Quantum Prophecy - Michael Caroll

Zarkon : 01 The Nemesis of Evil - Lin Carter
Zarkon : 02 Invisible Death - Lin Carter
Zarkon : 03 The Volcano Ogre - Lin Carter
Zarkon : 04 The Earth-Shaker - Lin Carter
Zarkon : 05 Horror Wears Blue - Lin Carter

Psi-Man : 01 Mind Force Warrior - Peter David
Psi-Man : 02 Deathscape - Peter David
Psi-Man : 03 Main Street D.O.A. - Peter David
Psi-Man : 04 The Chaos Kid - Peter David
Psi-Man : 05 Stalker - Peter David
Psi-Man : 06 Haven - Peter David

Riftworld : Crossover - Stan Lee
Riftworld : Odyssey - Stan Lee
Riftworld : Villains - Stan Lee

Shadowmen : Tales of the Shadowmen 1 The Modern Balon - Jean-Marc Lofficier and Randy Lofficier
Shadowmen : Tales of the Shadowmen 2 Gentlemen of the Night - Jean-Marc Lofficier and Randy Lofficier

Silver Age Sentinels : Paths of the Bold - James Lowder
Silver Age Sentinels : Paths of the Just - James Lowder

Soledad O'Rourke : Those Who Walk In Darkness - John Ridley
Soledad O'Rourke : What Fire Cannot Burn - John Ridley

Spectros : Hunt the Beast Down - Logan Winters
Spectros : Silverado - Logan Winters
Spectros : Natchez - Logan Winters
Spectros : Silver Canyon - Logan Winters

Tales of Masks and Mayhem : 01 Tales of Masks and Mayhem - Tom Johnson and others
Tales of Masks and Mayhem : 02 Tales of Masks and Mayhem (July 2006) - Tom Johnson and others

Temps : Eurotemps - Neil Gaiman and Alec Stewart
Temps : Temps - Neil Gaiman and Alec Stewart

Weird Heroes : 01 - Byron Preiss
Weird Heroes : 02 - Byron Preiss
Weird Heroes : 03 Quest of the Gypsy - Ron Goulart
Weird Heroes : 04 Nightshade Terror, Inc. - Tappan King and Beth Mechanem
Weird Heroes : 05 Doc Phoenix - Byron Preiss
Weird Heroes : 06 - Byron Preiss
Weird Heroes : 07 Eye of the Vulture - Ron Goulart
Weird Heroes : 08 - Byron Preiss

Wild Cards : I - George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards : II Aces High - George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards : II Jokers Wild - George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards : IV Aces Abroad - George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards : V Down and Dirty- George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards : VI Ace In The Hole - George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards : VII Dead Man's Hand - George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards : VIII One Eyed Jacks - George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards : IX Jokertown Shuffle - George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards : X Double Solitaire - Melinda Snodgrass and George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards : XI Dealer's Choice - George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards : XII Turn of The Cards - Victor Milan and George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards : XIII Card Sharks - George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards : XIV Marked Cards - George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards : XV Black Trump - George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards : XVI Deuces Wild - George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards : XVII Death Draws Five - George R. R. Martin and John J. Miller

Wraith : Wraith - Frank Dirscherl
Wraith : Valley of Evil - Frank Dirscherl

----------------

Jim Munroe's Flyboy Action Figure comes with Gasmask is even available to download from his website, for one.

The there is the Executioner, Destroyer, etc., too, that sort of thing - which have had comics briefly made.

[Gordon Smith]

And speaking of superhero fiction, I recently purchased DC Universe: Inheritance, by Devin Grayson.

[bluetyson]

And speaking of superhero fiction, I recently purchased DC Universe: Inheritance, by Devin Grayson.

Yep, that is quite good.

[Gordon Smith]

Yep, that is quite good.

I haven't started reading it yet. It might well be months before I get around to it.

[Toreador]

Has anybody read Batman:Stone King? I tried to get through the first few chapters but had to give up on it. I've read better fanfiction than this book, it was hard to follow through.

[Gordon Smith]

Has anybody read Batman:Stone King? I tried to get through the first few chapters but had to give up on it. I've read better fanfiction than this book, it was hard to follow through.

I read this one. I didn't care for it.

[Donald M.]

I basically concur, although I can't say I was hugely enamoured with Elliot's take on Lex Luthor in his Superman novels.

Hell, he wrote a Generation X novel that I thought was better than anything that ever came out of the series, and I liked Generation X.

One of the Annuals had a truly awful adaptation of it.

[bluetyson]

Has anybody read Batman:Stone King? I tried to get through the first few chapters but had to give up on it. I've read better fanfiction than this book, it was hard to follow through.

Yeah, it is ok, that is about it. Second worst of those six 'JLA' books, I think.

[FaithfulMonkeyButler]

Temps - Neil Gaiman and Alec Stewart
Eurotemps - Neil Gaiman and Alec Stewart
I can recommend these, by the Midnight Rose collective.


Midnight Rose was a name taken by a group of United Kingdom science fiction and fantasy writers for a series of shared world anthologies published by the Penguin Books imprint Roc. The group's "core members" were Alex Stewart, Roz Kaveney, Neil Gaiman and Mary Gentle. Contributors to individual anthologies included Marcus Rowland, Storm Constantine, Kim Newman, Charles Stross, Stephen Baxter, Colin Greenland, Graham Higgins, Paul Cornell and David Langford, amongst others.

…

Temps: Two volumes of superhero pastiches, set in a world where the United Kingdom and European Union demand registry of superhuman talents, whereupon the Talented are expected to be perminently "on call" as part-time superheroes, in exchange for a stipend. The popular perception of the British Civil Service is played up, with registering as a "Temp" being strangely similar to applying for Jobseeker's Allowance or other benefits. The two books were Temps (1991) and EuroTemps (1992).

[tyciol]

I rather enjoyed Andrew Vacchs' "Batman: The Ultimate Evil". Vacchs' story had Batman facing not a costumed psycho but the all-too-real evil of a white-slavery ring that deals in children(a favorite topic of Vacchs). Dark stuff, with Batman travelling from Gotham to a third-world nation where Gotham children were being sold off as sex-slaves. Dark gritty noir stuff.I just read this book myself, I really enjoyed reading it too, some may not like retconning Batman's origins but really, he found out afterwards so it's not as if it would change the character right?

Your description's a bit off though, it wasn't Gotham children being sold in the country of Udon Khai, but natives of that country who were being exploited by American (and other foreign countries) who would travel there due to their lax policies and tolerable dictatorship.

[Kirayoshi]

I just read this book myself, I really enjoyed reading it too, some may not like retconning Batman's origins but really, he found out afterwards so it's not as if it would change the character right?

Your description's a bit off though, it wasn't Gotham children being sold in the country of Udon Khai, but natives of that country who were being exploited by American (and other foreign countries) who would travel there due to their lax policies and tolerable dictatorship.
It was awhile since I read it, so I may have been a little off in my details. I do remember the 'sex tours' subplot, especially Vacchs' notes at the end about how, alas, such things weren't fictional.

And actually, the retcon was surprisingly well-executed. (Spoilers ahead, y'all)

Batman started investigating Gotham's underage sex rings when Bruce met a social worker who made him aware of the situation. As his investigation continued, Batman felt that this case was hitting him close to home. At one point Alfred revealed a family secret that he had kept for decades; before the Waynes were killed, Martha Wayne had used her position as Thomas' wife to put together information on Gotham's sex rings herself, proving to be an effective and capable detective in her own right.

After reading his mother's notes(which Alfred kept preserved), he began investigating them further, and discovered that one of the leaders in the rings ordered a hit on Martha. In other words, the mugging that resulted in the Waynes' deaths was a cover for a hit, as many have speculated, but Martha was the intended target, not Thomas.

Nice haiku, though:

Warrior, heed this;
When you battle with demons,
Aim not at their hearts.