Behind the Mask: A Superhero Anthology

4.5 out of 5 stars

"Superhero" can mean different things depending on who you ask. If you ask your Grandpa, he'll probably recall reading about superheroes in comics when he was your age; if you ask a kid, he'll probably say his Dad is a superhero. The official definition, however, states it is a fictional hero having extraordinary or superhuman powers; or an exceptionally skillful or successful person.

I think "exceptionally skillful person" is the perfect definition for the characters in this anthology. Every story shows that whether they're superheroes or super villains, when their masks are off, they're people too.

Masterfully-written, this compilation lets us peek inside these people's ordinary lives, and shows us that they may not be show more as different as we think.

I want to start off by saying that I've never read a more welcoming introduction in my life. Tricia Reeks' anecdote about her grandson was the perfect way to introduce the 20 stories. I also want to quote Kyle on something every reader can relate to "I found life through the life of others." If that's not why we read, then I don't know what is.

I want to highlight some of my favorites:
Destroy the City with Me Tonight by Kate Marshall
The plot behind this story was so ingenious. To twist the typical "hero who defends a certain city" into a hero that is enslaved to one is fantastic. "She's always wondered why you'd bother with a mask; now she gets it. It's not to be concealed, it's to be seen, to be remembered."

Pedestal by Seanan McGuire
A funny yet realistic story of the struggles to lead an ordinary life when you're a superhero, a celebrity. I loved the casual thoughts she had during the fight: "I enjoy the number of limbs I have and buying jeans is difficult enough without mutating." We've all been there.

Quintessential Justice by Patrick Flanagan
This lighthearted story follows the day of a superhero's assistant. I found the conversations hilarious and loved the eccentric vocabulary. This story is proof that everything is not what it seems, and that we often label people without knowing them. Even Patrick's "about the author" is fantastic!

Eggshells by Ziggy Schutz
It is a heart-warming story about the process of recovery from an injury in which we learn, along the main character, that we shouldn't be ashamed of asking for help.

Final thoughts

I would be writing all night if I talked about every single story in here. I really liked most of them, luckily, but some of them just weren't my cup of tea.

The great thing about these stories is that everyone will find a character to feel identified to. Some of them are revenge-driven, some are angry or afraid, but more importantly, they're human.I think that's something most of us can relate to, right? (If you're an alien please contact me.)

Absolutely recommend it! show less

I adore superheroes. They are one of my weaknesses and as soon as I saw this book, I jumped on it. It did not disappoint. The stellar line-up of authors have crafted short stories that all approach superpowers differently, and in often unusual ways. Like the story where gaining superpowers means you end up being forgotten. Or the one where a retired superhero doesn't realized she's retired. A number of the stories showed the human side of superheroes, the stories about those who were in their lives or on the sidelines.

There were a lot of stories that seemed to just end, which was a bit frustrating. I wish those had been expanded upon just a bit so that they felt more complete. But overall, a really enjoyable collection of stories. Well show more worth the read for every superhero junkie.

Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley. show less

What do superheroes (and supervillains) do on their day off? What happens when they get old and/or senile? How do they handle the emergence of their powers?

These are some of the questions that are explored in this collection of twenty stories by a variety of authors. Like most anthologies I liked some stories more than others. But the entire book was enjoyable. There were several stories featuring female leads which is always a treat in this genre.

Pedestal by Seanan McGuire shows what its like to be a celebrity and a superhero who just wants to buy fresh produce without it becoming a social media event. I liked the approach taken. In As I Fall Asleep by Aimee Ogden, a superhero trashes a villain's air . . . or is she having a "senior show more moment"? These two stories were my favourites.

I recommend this collection for comic book fans, fantasy readers and (dare I say it?) chicklit aficionados. show less

A collection of prose stories that look at life for superheroes away from the action, as interpreted by a variety of different authors, well known or otherwise. It often looks like what normal life would be like for superheroes (and the occasional villain), away from saving the world. There’s a range of different styles and tones, some being comical and others being serious, but I found them to be of generally high quality throughout. For an anthology, it had a fairly high success rate for me, with only two or three stories around the middle of the book that I didn’t really care for. A few that stood out for me were: Pedestal by Seanan McGuire, which looks at superheroes through the lens of celebrity culture, with her trying to just show more do her shopping without constant criticism from celebrity bloggers or the paparazzi trying to get embarrassing pictures; Inheritance by Michael Milne, which follows a boy who has inherited some powers from his superhero father, who he rarely sees due to his busy schedule of constantly dealing with crises; Origin Story by Carrie Vaughn, where a woman recognises a supervillain to be her old boyfriend; and Over an Embattled City by Adam R. Shannon, which twists reality in a way that’s hard to say without counting as a spoiler for the story. That’s just a few but there are plenty of other good stories amongst the twenty in this collection. One of the better anthologies I’ve read recently, and with an interesting concept to go with it. show less

This is a decent anthology of superhero stories that mostly focus on what heroes and villains get up to in between battles. Stories in this collection play with several familiar superhero tropes, like secret identities, supervillain monologues, time travel and alternate universes, and bad costumes. The tone and quality of the stories vary, as with most anthologies, but there are few outright stinkers, and overall the set is enjoyable. My personal favorites are "Ms. Liberty Gets a Haircut" by Cat Rambo, "Pedestal" by Seanan McGuire, "Madjack" by Nathan Crowder, and "Over an Embattled City" by Adam R. Shannon.

I thought I had reviewed this a while ago, but apparently I only finished the first half. The nice thing about that is that as I read my way back through, I paused at almost every story to reflect that I had liked it the first time around, and, inevitably, I enjoyed it again. The conceits in these stories are not new, but the handling of them feels fresh. "Destroy the City with Me Tonight" could be a serious version of The Tick's origin, and Lavie Tidhar's story should send you to his excellent novel with the same characters. Many, probably most, of the authors here are polished, experienced writers, and it shows.

The idea which gave birth to this book is simple: what do the superheroes do besides what is told in the comic books? Yes, you may argue that the classic Marvel stories from Spider-Man on do talk about the "normal" life of superheroes, but this is only as a background. Here the superpowers are the background, and we can read about the troubles of going shopping without being recognized, of having Alzheimer's disease, or even finding out that superheroes are being canceled from our world.
Among the 20 short stories, I only disliked a couple, which is a great result for an anthology. There were instead many I really liked: Destroy the City with Me Tonight (Kate Marshall), Pedestal (Seanan McGuire), As I Fall Asleep (Aimee Ogden), show more Inheritance (Michael Milne), Quintessential Justice (Patrick Flanagan), Salt City Blue (Chris Large), The smoke means it's working (Sarah Pinkster), The beard of truth (Matt Mikalatos), Over an Embattled City (Adam R. Shannon). Overall, I heartily recommend the book. show less