Stuff I've Read: Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman

#bookreview #superheroes #author #austingrossman #writing #comics #novel

When the supervillain Doctor Impossible escapes from prison for the 13th time, he seeks once again to take over the world. His longtime archenemy CoreFire now out of the picture, nothing will stand in his way! Not even The New Champions, CoreFire’s former team of misfit costumed heroes can stand before his intellect! With that setup, Austin Grossman sends us on a fantastical deconstruction of modern superhero tropes in his 2007 novel, Soon I Will Be Invincible.

Soon I Will Be Invincible

Set in a version of New York where comic-style heroes and villains are commonplace, Soon I Will Be Invincible tells a dual narrative. One from the perspective of Doctor Impossible, a supervillain with enhanced intellect and strength, who suffers from Malign Hypercognition Disorder (or evil genius syndrome). He escapes from prison (yet again) after hearing of the disappearance of his enduring archnemesis, CoreFire, the world’s greatest hero. With no one to stop him this time, Doctor Impossible will gain his due as the greatest mind on the planet. The second narrative follows Fatale, a cyborg with a tragic origin who is the newest member of The New Champions. She struggles to fit in with a team made up of household names: the alien princess, Damsel, the half-man, half tiger, Feral, and the athletic marvel known as Blackwolf. The only member of this dysfunctional family she can relate to is Lily, the reformed supervillain and ex-girlfriend of Doctor Impossible.

I am an unabashed comic book junkie, so I can appreciate the homage to classic superhero archetypes like Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. I enjoyed the behind-the-scenes look at how these powered people behave when they’re not in front of a camera or saving the world. Superheroes carry hyper-developed egos (and superegos, for that matter… a little psychological humor), and they are on full display here with the way they interact with one another. These are not super-friends. This book predates the MCU by a year and is prescient in its depiction of larger-than-life heroes who don’t always get along. That story is now a staple of movies like Avengers and Suicide Squad. Also, Doctor Impossible is a charismatic villain. While he is destined to ultimately fail (he’s a comic book villain, and that’s what they do), his story is relatable. He’s a charming and likable character, and that makes his plan to take over the world more accessible and to some degree, more natural to root for.

The issue I have with this novel is that minimal effort goes into differentiating these people from their heroic or villainous personas. Therefore the background characters we spend so much time observing feel underdeveloped. Doctor Impossible gets a ton of character development; the bulk of his story gets told while he’s out of costume. The New Champions, however, are sold to the readers as if we should already know who they are. They are never seen out of costume and only sparsely referred to by their civilian identities. The only Champions I found compelling were Fatale, the narrator on the heroic side, and Lily, the reformed villain. Neither of them had alter-egos (side note: Lily’s true origins are a fun reveal when it finally comes to light). There are far too many Champions on-screen for far too long to know so little about them as people. While the above commentary about how the novel treats the Champions like we should know who they are is a common complaint among long-running comic books, it doesn’t play as well when the only reference material is a glossary in the back of the book. Fortunately, none of these derails the narrative, which moves along at a brisk enough pace that the issues mentioned don’t really matter.

Soon I Will Be Invincible is a lovingly crafted homage to the world of costumed heroes and villains and is sure to entertain fans of comic books and the movies based on them. While most of the cast are underserved in their development, the action trucks along thanks to the strength of its super-genius villain and a couple of heroic outsiders.

Pros: Fun, comic book-style romp, fast pacing, quick read.

Cons: Light on character development for the secondary cast.

Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars.