Book Club: Karma Girl
Putting this up a day early because my originally planned date is looking like it may get a bit hectic.
Okay, confession time: I am mildly addicted to romance novels. They're like candy; not at all good for you but make for a nice, tasty treat when you need one, and you know exactly what you're getting. The formula is easy to break down and apply to everything from Historical bodice rippers to Vampires to, yes, Super-Heroes. Which is what we're getting in to today. So, on with the show!
Karma Girl starts with our Spunky Heroine, reporter Carmine Cole about to get married to her fiancee, Matt Marion. Everything is ready... except for the groom and Carmine's maid of honor and best friend, Karen Crush. Of course, since this is a romance novel, we can't START with the Happily Ever After, so Carmine stumbles upon Matt and Karen having sex... while wearing parts of their costumes; for you see Matt is secretly Beginnings, TN's very own super-hero, Machinator, and Karen is his arch-enemy, the uber-villain Crusher! (dun dun DUN!)
Needless to say, Carmine is NOT happy to discover this, and retaliates by revealing their identities. She then goes on the make a career out of unmasking good guys and bad guys alike, until she hits the big time in Bigtime, New York, working to uncover the identities of the city's most famous heroes, the Fearless Five. Tragedy strikes when, after learning that Fearless Five member Tornado is businessman Travis Teague, the hero kills himself. Suddenly, Carmine is a social pariah, and has lost interest in her vendetta in the spandex set.
This is where the plot actually gets rolling. Carmine is threatened by the Fearless Five's enemies, the Terrible Triad, who force her to resume ferreting out the identities of the surviving members under threat of being turned into a horrible mutant. Carmine responds by deliberately getting the attention of Batman Striker and the rest of the Fearless Five, hoping to help them track down the real identities of the Terrible Triad and Save the Day.
Anyone familiar with the Romance Novel Formula can guess how things go from there. Passions flare, secret identities are revealed, public parks explode, and there are some easily skipable sex scenes. It's easy to figure out who's who (the fact that most of the alliterative names start with the same sound as their handles makes it even easier), and there are no real surprises.
Still, I like this book. It's a bit of fluff that I find pretty enjoyable. Carmine is one of the more genre savvy characters running about Bigtime (when it comes to comic books, anyway, and that's STILL not saying much), and the world has a cracky, Golden Age feel to it (I suspect it was heavily influenced by Adam West era Batman, though Striker has more in common with Michael Keaton Batman) that makes for a pleasant break from the way most mainstream comic books are these days.
Okay, so... thoughts? Did anyone else read it?
Okay, confession time: I am mildly addicted to romance novels. They're like candy; not at all good for you but make for a nice, tasty treat when you need one, and you know exactly what you're getting. The formula is easy to break down and apply to everything from Historical bodice rippers to Vampires to, yes, Super-Heroes. Which is what we're getting in to today. So, on with the show!
Karma Girl starts with our Spunky Heroine, reporter Carmine Cole about to get married to her fiancee, Matt Marion. Everything is ready... except for the groom and Carmine's maid of honor and best friend, Karen Crush. Of course, since this is a romance novel, we can't START with the Happily Ever After, so Carmine stumbles upon Matt and Karen having sex... while wearing parts of their costumes; for you see Matt is secretly Beginnings, TN's very own super-hero, Machinator, and Karen is his arch-enemy, the uber-villain Crusher! (dun dun DUN!)
Needless to say, Carmine is NOT happy to discover this, and retaliates by revealing their identities. She then goes on the make a career out of unmasking good guys and bad guys alike, until she hits the big time in Bigtime, New York, working to uncover the identities of the city's most famous heroes, the Fearless Five. Tragedy strikes when, after learning that Fearless Five member Tornado is businessman Travis Teague, the hero kills himself. Suddenly, Carmine is a social pariah, and has lost interest in her vendetta in the spandex set.
This is where the plot actually gets rolling. Carmine is threatened by the Fearless Five's enemies, the Terrible Triad, who force her to resume ferreting out the identities of the surviving members under threat of being turned into a horrible mutant. Carmine responds by deliberately getting the attention of Batman Striker and the rest of the Fearless Five, hoping to help them track down the real identities of the Terrible Triad and Save the Day.
Anyone familiar with the Romance Novel Formula can guess how things go from there. Passions flare, secret identities are revealed, public parks explode, and there are some easily skipable sex scenes. It's easy to figure out who's who (the fact that most of the alliterative names start with the same sound as their handles makes it even easier), and there are no real surprises.
Still, I like this book. It's a bit of fluff that I find pretty enjoyable. Carmine is one of the more genre savvy characters running about Bigtime (when it comes to comic books, anyway, and that's STILL not saying much), and the world has a cracky, Golden Age feel to it (I suspect it was heavily influenced by Adam West era Batman, though Striker has more in common with Michael Keaton Batman) that makes for a pleasant break from the way most mainstream comic books are these days.
Okay, so... thoughts? Did anyone else read it?