Sunday, January 17, 2010

Perry Moore's Hero



I know it's been an unbelievably long time but I'm back!
So to continue like nothing ever happened and to continue with the comic book nerdage, I just recently read a superhero book by Perry Moore. It's called Hero. I have mixed feelings about it. I enjoyed the book but I cannot overlook the many things that annoy me a bit.
What's the story about you ask? well, to put it shortly, it's about a gay teen that just so happens to be gay. He's asked by a group of superheroes to join THE LEAGUE! so he has to go through tryouts and tries to make the team, all while trying not to reveal that he's gay, so as not to disgrace his father. There's a bit more to it but if you want to know more you'll have to just read the book!
Now, on to my review! first and foremost, said League is a blatant Justice league rip off! It's lead by Justice: a super strong, super fast, flying alien that has x-ray vision and ice breathe. At first I was like "well... maybe it's a coincidence." I like to give people the benefit of the doubt. Then, it's revealed that he was also adopted by an elderly farming couple from, get this! Kansas when his ship crash landed. Warrior Woman is obviously a Wonder Woman rip off. There's another character called Dark Hero that I'm pretty sure is a reference to Batman as well....
But, other than the Justice League steal, the book over all was pretty good. It seemed to be more from the perspective of a gay teen that also happens to be a super hero though instead of a superhero that happens to be gay. I thought it would be the latter. The book goes more into the trials of being gay in a society that isn't as gay friendly as it should be and less into the awesomeness of having super powers. Perry obviously knows about not being accepted and chastised and it shows in his writing, but he skims a bit on the super battles and it doesn't seem to flow right.
On a rating scale, I would give it a 7 out of 10. It could have been better but I still enjoyed it!