Superhero Sci-Fi or Fantasy books

[Shingetsu]

Are there any superhero sci-fi or fantasy series/books? Technically all main characters of SFF books are heroes in one way or another. But I mean like Batman and Superman and such. I guess my sudden thought about it was because of the movie Watchmen that just came out in theatres today. I thought about getting the book for it, but I'm not really into comic books/graphic novels.

 

[dask]

Del Rey Books has published at least three original Batman novels: DEAD WHITE by John Shirley; INFERNO by Alex Irvine; FEAR ITSELF by Michael Reaves. There are novels about Marvel characters popping up all over the place, Spider-man has several by major authors. I saw one about Wolverine at Fred Meyer the other day. That's just the tip of the shark's fin.

 

[thepaladin]

Are you familliar with George R. R. Martin's Wild Card series? Or, it's not a series but Soon I Will Be Invincible is good. I'd also recommend Bad Monkey's. There are probably a "plethora" of others but these are all that come to mind right now...other than the actual Marvel and DC books of course.

 

[Connavar]

Are there any superhero sci-fi or fantasy series/books? Technically all main characters of SFF books are heroes in one way or another. But I mean like Batman and Superman and such. I guess my sudden thought about it was because of the movie Watchmen that just came out in theatres today. I thought about getting the book for it, but I'm not really into comic books/graphic novels.

As reader of books and comic books/graphic novels i must say there isnt a big difference. You still read the writer printed words to read the story. The pictures are only bonus.

Superhero novels are here these days but they are like hollywood movies on famous books. A knock off or at best a decent copy.

Alan Moore comics is much higher than the avreage comic book. The Watchmen you can only find as his comics book.

I thought comics was something for kids to before i read it. You must try before you decide its not for you. I became a comics/GN reader cause of the movie Sin City.

 

[Shingetsu]

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll take a look at them. I'll also take a look at the Watchmen graphic novel tomorrow when I go to the book store.

 

[K. Riehl]

If you want a historical view try Gladiator by Philip Wylie. It is the story widely believed to have inspired Lowher's Superman. Others say Lowher stole the ideas wholesale.

 

[dask]

If you want a historical view try Gladiator by Philip Wylie. It is the story widely believed to have inspired Lowher's Superman. Others say Lowher stole the ideas wholesale.

Who is Lowher? Is this the DC Superman?

 

[Shingetsu]

I looked at some comic books, but it still feels like I couldn't really read one. They seem too short and no where near enough words. But I guess like Connavar said I would just need to try. But it kind of feels like a waste of money when I could be buying books.

 

[dask]

I looked at some comic books, but it still feels like I couldn't really read one. They seem too short and no where near enough words. But I guess like Connavar said I would just need to try. But it kind of feels like a waste of money when I could be buying books.

I know what you're saying, but I was introduced to comics before I could read and was fascinated by them. Shortage of words don't bother me at all. In fact, all the wordage in the back of The Dark Tower adaptations is a little annoying. In the time it takes me to read it I could have read two or three more comics.

 

[Grimward]

Many of the graphic novels, even back when they were an entirely new niche within the comic book world, ironically tended to use writing (except in key sections where the images were meant to speak exclusively for themselves) than their comic counterparts. This no doubt was originally due in part to the fact that they were typically printed on larger media, but also because, well, the writers tended to write novellas (we won't go so far as to call the early ones "novels", even though Marvel, DC, etc. did...). Marvel's The Death of Captain Marvel, for example, is one that sticks out in my head as a decent example (incidentally, it was also the first Marvel offering to carry the title of "Marvel Graphic Novel", too).

Accordingly, depending on which offering you chose, Shingetsu, you could theoretically pick up the graphic novels and have more or a "book" feel to it. They are described as graphic for a reason, however, and if you're not one for the artwork as well, your money is probably best targeted to the classical "book".

 

[Perpetual Man]

I have been a reader of both books and comic books for most of my life; and it is something that I don't really think about. I often find that if I'm pressed for time, it is a lot easier to pick up the thirty pages of a comic, than it is to sit and read a book.

Like anything there are times when you pick up a novel that looks interesting, and find that it just does not suit you, and that reading it is more than a chore than a pleasure. The same can be said about comic books.

Watchmen (for example) is somethign really special, to the extent that when you read it it it's more like reading a top flight novel. It might not be in the traditional text format, but reading it is more like having the experience and depth of reading a prose novel!

Hope that makes sense!

 

[Connavar]

I looked at some comic books, but it still feels like I couldn't really read one. They seem too short and no where near enough words. But I guess like Connavar said I would just need to try. But it kind of feels like a waste of money when I could be buying books.

Sure a GN might cost more than a paperback as new but single issue omics are alot cheaper. Almost as much as a caffe latte.


Go after types of comics you are interested in originally. I started with genre comics like Sin City who is noir. I know you like Dresden files and there are supernatural,urban fantasy series like Fables who is an award winning series.

Vertigo has several fantasy series,european comics like the french has many fantasy. Dark Horse has Conan.

 

[tyche]

The only super-hero SF I have is The Death and Return of Superman. At the time I thought it was a nice way to get the full story of what happened after Supes death without buying 50+ dollars worth of comics. I've been meaning to give it another go for years now, but never seem to find myself picking it up.

 

[Grimward]

Forgot about that one, tyche, but that's another good example in the graphic novel vein.

 

[tyche]

Forgot about that one, tyche, but that's another good example in the graphic novel vein.

This was actually the novelization of the comics, which told the story of Doomsday and then the stories of all four the of the resurrected supermen. From what I can remember, it did a decent job, too. Much better than most adapted novelizations I've read.

 

[K. Riehl]

Dask-
I misspelled the author name. I was referring to George Lowther who authored the 1942 1st hardcover book edition of Superman. He is co-credited with Joe Shuster with creating Superman.

The character Hugo Danner, in Gladiator pub. 1930 by Phillip Wylie, has ex-ray vision, super strength, can fly, impervious to bullets... sound familiar?

 

[dask]

Dask-
I misspelled the author name. I was referring to George Lowther who authored the 1942 1st hardcover book edition of Superman. He is co-credited with Joe Shuster with creating Superman

I'm not sure this is 100% accurate. My life long understanding (verfied by the Clute/Nicholls SF Encyclopedia) is that Superman was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster and first appeared in comic book form in the June 1938 issue of Action Comics which if I recall was a collection of reprints from earlier newspaper appearances. Lowther's book, as you say, was published in 1942, a substantial distance from Superman's initial appearances. It is doubtful he can be credited as a co-creator though one website refers to his 1942 hardback as "a key contribution to the Man of Steel's evolving lore."

Of course if this is little more than steaming carbon dioxide I apologize.

 

[K. Riehl]

I asked some people from "the Biz" and they set me straight. Lowther was brought on board to write the novelization. Shuster and Siegel actually are credited on the book as well as the interior illustrations were done by Shuster. So I was wrong in my co-credit for creation.
When I asked my friends about Gladiator there was a difference of opinion. They seemed to think that since Wylie didn't sue there was not enough similarity to the book to win in court. This is further illustrated by the critical analysis in following link.

Pulprack: Philip Wylie's Gladiator: Superman with Feet of Clay

I sure saw the similarities when I read it though.

 

[dask]

I have GLADIATOR in my collection but haven't read it. Any good?

 

[owlcroft]

Two thoughts not directly on point, but related.

First, an interesting (though now a bit pricey) and delightful overview of the development of the comic-book superheroes is The Steranko History of Comics; the project was planned as six volumes, but in the event only two were completed and issued, but they are complete as to the eras they cover (which, of course, are the earlier ones) and quite magnificent. They are hugely over-sized volumes with much artwork in them; indeed, the covers alone are well worth framing.

The other observation is that when Superman first appeared in 1938, with an alter ego named "Clark Kent", the two far and away most popular pulp heroes of the age were Doc Savage and The Shadow--that is, Clark Savage, Jr. and Kent Allard.