Iron Man: Femmes Fatales Posted by Paul on 11:42 AM

Iron Man: Femmes Fatales by Robert Greenberger


My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Iron Man: Femmes Fatales was an OK read. I had a difficult time with placing the world in which the story takes place. It didn't seem set in the movie time line, nor the comic book ones that I remembered. Also the story was disjointed, less about the titular superhero and more on events and other characters around him. Many names & characters from the comics were used to try and give it the feeling it was set there, but didn't work for me. Since the book is supposed to be set in the early days of the Iron Man story, it felt odd knowing where some of these characters ended up in the present day story lines. It had the feel that a story was written about the origins of SHIELD & the rise of HYDRA, only the publisher didn't think that was 'sexy' enough and needed a 'name' superhero to carry the story. I don't *know* that's what happened, though. I've read many of Robert Greenberger's other stories, and enjoyed them more, so this came as a disappointment from that aspect. Overall, a decent story, but not one that I'll likely read again.

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It's Superman!: A Novel Posted by Paul on 4:29 PM

It's Superman!: A Novel by Tom De Haven


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is a retelling, or re-imagining, of the Superman story. The novel has the thematic elements of the Superman legend, only set in the '30s of the "real world." Smallville remains a town in Kansas, but Clark ends up in New York City, rather than Metropolis. There are several references to Metropolis, however.

The story was written in the style of the books I remember swiping from my father's book collection in the attic as a child; chapter plot points at the start of each chapter, lots of side story detail that would be missing from current stories.

Even Lex Luthor has a new origin of sorts, and is a believable and worthy foe, even though his first comeuppance is less about a rivalry , and more about a complex chain of events that lead to Superman facing Luthor only after the house of cards have come crashing down. Luthor escapes, of course, using Superman to do so. This sets up their feud which must continue after the period covered by the book.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book.

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Just saw District 9. Posted by Paul on 2:46 PM

Just saw District 9. Not a bad movie at all. Enjoyed it quite a bit.