Superhero books

[Locksmith]

Aside from the Wild Cards series, are there any other books which have "superheroes" (in the Spiderman/X-men cool powers way - I'm not talking about magic here)?

I'm racking my brain, and can't think of any off-hand - plenty of graphic novels/comic books, but it seems to be a subject which is avoided in novels. If you are aware of any "superhero" books, are they worth reading? If not, why do you think this has been avoided in books?

 

[iansales]

John Varley edited an anthology of superhero stories, called, of course, Superheroes in 1995.

Marvel have also published novels featuring various heroes from their comics, including the X-Men.

 

[BookStop]

A.P. Fuchs' Axiom-Man

 

[ravenus]

China Mieville's King Rat may be regarded as a dark-edged mutant superhero book.

Robert Mayer's Super-Folks if you can find it is a pretty amusing satire featuring an ageing superhero in a cynical world.

 

[Aleksei]

Psi-Man, by Peter David.

 

[Blue Tyson]

There are of course lots of Spider-Man and X-Men novels

To answer your question, though. There are heaps . This is something I have put a lot of time into discovering.

If you have a look here :- Super Reader

Scroll down to the bottom right will give you a very long list of those, and related

 

[Tim R. Mortiss]

David Brin has his short story Thor meets Captain America freely avaliable on his website.

And let's not forget Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex, Larry Niven's scholarly analysis of Superman's sexuality.

 

[Locksmith]

Thanks folks, Blue T in particular - there do seem to be an awful lot (where have I been?) - have you read all of those!?

 

[Lucien21]

I remember there was a Star Trek Next Generation/Xmen crossover.

Scifan has 901 books in that Supermen category.

SciFan: Science Fiction & Fantasy Books by Theme: Supermen - Human Species Evolution - Future Man - Superheroes - Mutants (novels, anthologies, short story collections, non fiction)=

 

[BookStop]

Even with all everyone has mentioned above, the super hero market in actual fiction novel form does seem to be an open genre. I'm actually surprised it hasn't yet exploded given all the frenzy associated with super hero films the last few years. I wonder why that is. Is part of the classic super hero tale, supposed to be a visual feast that you just can't do in a novel?

 

[Blue Tyson]

Thanks folks, Blue T in particular - there do seem to be an awful lot (where have I been?) - have you read all of those!?

I have read a chunk, but no, not all of them!

If you look at the master list, and it is a url that links to a blog post, I have read it.

 

[Blue Tyson]

I remember there was a Star Trek Next Generation/Xmen crossover.

Scifan has 901 books in that Supermen category.

SciFan: Science Fiction & Fantasy Books by Theme: Supermen - Human Species Evolution - Future Man - Superheroes - Mutants (novels, anthologies, short story collections, non fiction)=

Yes, the crossover novel is called Planet X - by Dean Wesley Smith.

That is a cool link there, thanks.

 

[Locksmith]

Even with all everyone has mentioned above, the super hero market in actual fiction novel form does seem to be an open genre. I'm actually surprised it hasn't yet exploded given all the frenzy associated with super hero films the last few years. I wonder why that is. Is part of the classic super hero tale, supposed to be a visual feast that you just can't do in a novel?

Well, this was my initial starting thought - I now appreciate there are in fact a lot of superhero books, but they don't seem to be "mainstream" - I certainly wasn't previously aware of them. I would have expected there to be a rash of "now a major motion picture" type novels given the success of (some) superhero films. I like comics/graphic novels, but to my mind they're somewhere between a movie and a book, so don't really do the subject matter the same justice as a book might. In any event, I think I'll try and pick a few of these up and give them a whirl.

 

[ravenus]

I wonder why that is. Is part of the classic super hero tale, supposed to be a visual feast that you just can't do in a novel?

The comic medium is heavily defined by the visual style. Even if you read the books of Alan Moore, widely regarded as one of comicdom's most literate contributors, you'll find a good chunk of his stories are scripted to give space for series of images without any accompanying narration.

I for one believe that each medium has its own strengths and weaknesses and one of the biggest gripes I have is that a single property that gains success in one medium is tediously translated to every other popular medium with a vocal body of fanboys insisting that every medium present the property in the same way, in the name of that very overrated quality, "faithfulness".

 

[Steve Jordan]

Some of the most fun I've ever experienced was writing my novel Midgard's Militia, a story that takes place immediately after the world's superheroes are destroyed, and the rest of normal humanity must fend for themselves (and stop the force that killed the superheroes)! The genre is just so much fun and excitement, mixed in with modern mythologies and takes on what defines humans and heroes, it's hard to leave alone!

 

[Blue Tyson]

I have actually read Steve's book, too. It is pretty good.

 

[Steve Jordan]

Thanks, Blue... I didn't know you'd written a short review, too!