Please Don't Tell My Parents I Have Henchmen (Please Don't Tell My Parents #3) by Richard Roberts

Penny’s career as a supervillain is in jeopardy with parental interference – but there’s a more complex battle happening at school. More and more of Penny’s contemporaries are deciding to be open with their super powers. A club is formed – and of course Penny is picked to lead it

But this points to a whole cultural shift for the city as people are now wearing their powers openly, the more alien super-powered beings are now able to be join the community and it comes with a whole lot of more complex questions: like who these kids want to be and what it actually means to be a super powered being

This book seems to be covering a lot more serious issues than the previous two – it has grown up a bit from the previous incarnations of the story.

When Penny started to gather a huge fanclub following of fellow superhero kids at school, I wondered if the Infernal Machine was going to become an army.

But, it was deeper than that. It instead used all of these kids to ask a lot of difficult questions and broaden the world beyond being just a zany setting of hilarious, almost comical superhero/villain fights

Like what goes into the choice of whether to become a superhero or a supervillain? Which do these kids want to be? Why? It may seem simple but then we see Marcia, poor, tortured, ill Marcia who speaks out of the perfection and repression that comes with heroism. We see kids who have powers that aren’t pretty and just don’t fit neatly into hero themes – including heroes rejecting their superpowered kids because their powers are “thematically” wrong

And what about those kids who do have super powers that just don’t lend themselves to combat? Not ever super power is actually an ideal battle ability. Nor is every altered form ideal for fighting – the kid who looks like they’re made of living glass may be intimidating and kind of awesome, but they’re also waaay too brittle to be involved in combat. In between the super powered fighting, the kids learning to use their powers, the kids all learning the rules of the world they’re in there’s a lot of looking at what it really means to be a super powered kid.

Death Blows (The Bloodhound Files #2) by D.D. Barant

Jace is from an alternate reality and she has been brought to a world were vampires, werewolves, and golems make up the majority of the population.  Jace is tasked with finding and arresting Stoker, a rogue human determined to end the domination of the supernaturals and get justice for the dwindling human population.  Jace is sidetracked from that mission when a superhero created by the government is murdered.  When magical artifacts start to go missing the case intensifies.  Can Jace follow the clues from the comic world to find the killer?

My biggest complaint with this book is that there is simply too much going on.  I am not a fan of comic books and too much of this book focuses on breaking down comics to microscopic levels for clues.  Barant, who is obviously a fan of comics, did some name dropping of famous comic artists, weighed DC and Marvel against each other, and went into the story lines and origin stories of many superheros.  I suppose on some level this is meant to remind us of the similarity between Jace's originating world and the world she inhabits today, and the fact that they are connected but for me, it plain and simple just dragged on and on.

In Dying Bites, Jace had several men seemingly vying for her attention.  I liked that it never really became a paranormal romance type thing but in Death Blows, all of that disappears altogether.  There is one awkward date with Cassius at a save the human event.  I suppose this was meant to build the will they or won't they vibe but the fact that Cassius has "a thing" for humans is just super creepy - particularly after meeting his ex girlfriend.

In terms of character growth, we learned all about Dr.Pete's background and some of Cassius's past as a superhero.  It became clear that Jace had developed a really good working relationship with Charlie, though I would like to see them on a more social level at some point. Jace also really cares deeply for Rachel but despite all of the concern, I have yet to see the work that went into building that relationship.  If Death Blows had spent more time working on the relationships and less on the comic books and weird magical world building, it would have been a far more interesting book.

Please Don't Tell My Parents I'm a Super Villain by Richard Roberts

Penny Ackk, daughter of super heroes Brian Akk and The Audit has been desperate for her super powers to finally kick in – and when they did they came in with a vengeance!

Of course, her dad thinks it’ll be years before they fully develop. So keeping them secret and then springing them on him as a surprise sounds likes a great idea. Until a little problem at the school science fair means she and her best friends kind of become Super Villains.

Ooops

And trying to change sides just digs them deeper in the villain put. And maintaining a secret identity when your parents are super geniuses isn’t easy anyway

But one thing no-one expected was how good they’d be at supervillainy – or how much fun it is!

This book is so much fun! I can’t remember the last time I had so much amazing fun reading a book! I literally spent my entire time reading this book with a big, silly grim on my face, broken only when I had to laugh.

It’s campy, it’s a little silly, but it’s so incredibly fun! Super heroes and super villains duking it out in the street – oh not your dark and gritty super villains who have become so popular. Far less stylish than that! These are fun super villains and super heroes – with the super heroes (perhaps) taking things pretty seriously but recognising limits and the villains are just enjoying themselves immensely. Yes, sometimes a villain takes it too far – but then their fellow villains will quietly feed them to the more extreme heroes (and then they “accidentally don’t survive a fight”). I love this sense of everyone having fun so long as everyone knows the rules, kind of, even though no-one’s ever going to expressly state it.

But, hey, there are RULES. Like you totally don’t hit people’s families or their secret lairs. That would be cheating!

I love the fact that even though they are supervillains they cling to the hope they can change sides whenever they find a suitably dramatic moment. And yes, of course it has to be dramatic – how else are they going to make sure they have an awesome backstory? Switching sides from evil to good can make for an awesome origin story, they just need the right moment. Lucyfar changes sides on a completely random basis! (Perhaps best summed up with, when they betray some fellow villains they meet a response of “you kids are awesome!”)

Did I mention it was so much fun?

The Tomorrow People, Season 1, Episode 20: A Sort of Homecoming

Tension, tension, recap, recap while everyone gathers around Roger’s inert form and he finally wakes up just as Stephen and Marla are considering he may not wake up. But not only did he wake up but can pull of all the wires and sit up as well. Marla’s an awesome nurse. There’s a happy reunion followed by John’s “oops sorry I killed you” but that’s totally ok because he and Jedikiah manipulated him into it as part of their master plan. Jed has randomly left as well – for some reason (and some how, does he even know how to get in and out of the base without teleportation).

Roger instantly wants fitting on all of the Founder’s plans when Marla speaks up, reminding him that Luca exists (the show often forgets) and before diving into the mission maybe, just maybe, he could spare a couple of minutes for his family.

And Stephen decides to report all the good news to spy Hillary. The Founder is worried because Roger is so uber powerful and even Stephen (a synergist – someone with two paranormal parents) hasn’t matched him. He orders Hillary to bring him in.

Roger gets dressed and prepares to go home but Cara wants her people’s saviour to stay underground with them. But he refuses to give up his family again nor does he appreciate being lectured by someone young enough to be his daughter. Then she orders him to stay and won’t let him leave unless he fights her… seriously. And John steps up – he will fight Roger to keep him prisoner.

And is there any point? Can’t Roger just stop time and win? Anyway they fight and it’s clear John is carrying a lot of guilt, he’s fighting so Roger can hurt him because of the whole shooting thing (speaking of, this is probably really bad for Roger’s bullet wound). Roger wins the right to actually go see his family rather than be Cara’s prisoner. Which causes John to roar and ask “who are we?” uhhh… not his family? John and Cara complain about being abandoned

Because the man wants to see his family, his son, after years of not seeing them? Damn, that’s some epic neediness there.

Roger goes home and acknowledges to Marla that he can’t just step into the lives they’ve built after so long away. She asks him to just “be here”. And Luca arrives – that’s the Luca who has only just learned that super powers exist, that he may have them and that his mother likes to keep massive secrets for no discernible reason but no-one has a minute to explain all this. Probably understandably he runs upstairs.

Stephen tries to talk to him about everything and not going out that night and avoiding everything. Luca thinks this will be far too awkward (since he’s a near stranger to his dad) and the first night of reunion needs some kind of buffer – Astrid is on call! And then Hillary invites herself because that’s totally not awkward.

Awkward dinner derails when Luca finally cracks and finally wants to talk about everything. Roger responds with a speech about how much he loves his family and proposes a toast, lifting all the glasses with telekinesis – y’know just in case Luca wasn’t freaked out enough about the super power thing.

After some convoluted twists people split off into twosomes. Astrid lays an awesome verbal smack down on Hillary about how she better be on the level and how much Stephen needs to trust people at the moment. Outside with Stephen, Roger confirms he can’t stay with them because the Founder will find him – Hillary watches and so does an “extractor team”. But Hillary tells them to hold off (I’m guessing she’s conflicted).

Rogers tracks down Jedikiah to offer forgiveness while Jed is all guilty for not bringing Roger back sooner, Jed admits that he liked being the powerful brother for once. Roger thanks him for looking after his family (Are. You. Serious?!) and Jed warns Roger about going underground because the Founder has already tapped Stephen for the machine. To check up on that they go to Jed’s flat (Roger taunting him all the time, as brother’s do) and use remote access to Ultra’s supercomputer A.I, A.L.I.C.E (an upgrade over TIM with extra flirting). They transfer the files and get out just before agents arrive.

The Misfits, Season Two, Episode Two

 

Nathan is standing on the roof of the community center with the other misfits and he strips off his overalls and starts slathering suntan lotion all over his body.  Alisha tells him to put his clothes back on, which I am sure is something every viewer wants him to do.  On the ground someone calls up that he looking for Nathan and Nathan asks who he is, Jamie says that he is his brother.  Nathan replies that he is the classic example of an only child, but Jamie says that they have the same father. Nathan answers that he has always wanted a brother. 

Nathan calls his father who is tied up in his trunk, from the bathroom of a bar and thus is unable to answer.  Nathan wants to know how it is that he has a brother. The Misfits are cleaning up the garbage and Shaun wants to know where Nathan is.  Simon lies and says that Nathan is in the locker room but Shaun nixes that right away because he just came from the locker room and Nathan was not there. Kelly says that he had a family emergency and Shaun asks what kind of emergency. Curtis pipes up to add that his brother came to see him, but Shaun wants to know how this is an emergency and Alisha says that he's got cancer. Kelly says that his brother was crying and that she thinks he needed a drink. Shaun is not impressed and says, "so Nathan's taken him to the pub has he? His brother hasn't got cancer has he?" Alisha responds, "he might have" and Simon suggests, "he should feel for lumps in his testicles." That is enough to creep Shaun out and so he leaves.

Back at the bar, Nathan wants to know how things went with their father, when Jamie went to see him.  Jamie says it was okay and Nathan replies, "let me guess, he was a useless twat. That's our dad for you, but don't take it too personally though." Nathan raises his glass and adds, "hey fuck him." Over Nathan's shoulder, Jamie notices a girl and Nathan adds, been there done that. He asks Jamie if he wants another beer and heads over to the bar and orders two pints of the cheapest lager. Nathan looks around and sees that his brother is hooking up with a girl, so he asks Lily the bartender how she would feel about having sex with him.  Lily responds, "I won't. I have this thing about having sex with bouffant haired mutton heads." When Lily puts her finger in some water on the bar, it immediately starts to freeze and then freezes all of the beer on the bar.  The glasses all break. Nathan says, "cool power. Don't sweat it, I'm immortal."  Lily is shocked and tells him that she thought it was just her. Nathan assures Lily that he has died twice in two weeks and wants to know who she is calling bouffant haired. Lily tells him that his hair is quite big.  The manager comes out and wants to know what's up with her and breaking the glasses. Nathan calls the manger a cunt and gets a shot in the jaw.  Outside, Lily approaches him and says, "I can't believe you did that." Lily gives Nathan her number and says that he should call her sometime. Nathan takes the card and says that he will do that. The two start walking and Jamie realizes that his car is gone. Nathan says, "welcome to the neighborhood, as Jamie starts to freak out.  Jamie says, "dad was in the boot."  Nathan wants to know why their father was in the trunk.  Jamie replies, "I went to see him and it's like he didn't want to be bothered with me. I lost it. I hit him with a toaster." Nathan is not the least bit impressed and Jamie adds, "I was going to drive him home and make him apologize to mom for being such a wanker to her." Nathan says, "I'm sure that would have been a touching reunion." Jamie admits that he wasn't going to go through with it and had planned to let their father out. Nathan asks him if he is out of his mind and Jamie says, "fuck you, you don't know how this feels. He was there for you, you don't know." Nathan suggests that they go and find their dad.

As they are walking, Jamie admits that he spent years dreaming about what it would be like to meet him and admits that their father didn't even turn the TV off because he was to busy watching Master Chef. Nathan tells him whatever ideas he had about father and son that Jamie should forget about it because their father is not interested in it.  They find a car on fire and Nathan asks Jamie if it is his car.  Nathan kicks open the trunk and realises that it empty. Just as Nathan gets the trunk open, a car goes driving by and Jamie says that's his car.  Nathan and Jamie chase the car until it stops and a couple of young men get out.  Nathan tells Jamie that the plan is for him to provoke them into chasing them and Jamie gets the car. 

Nathan approaches them and asks if they are doing business. They ask him if he is taking the piss.  Nathan replies, "Shall we say a hundred quid?  I'm thinking I do you and you do me and we all end up in a hot tub. There's and extra twenty in it, if you tie me up and hit my balls with a cactus."  They agree to his request and walk off with him. I am sick of this continual play on homophobia in this show. There isn't a single gay character but they seem to have no problems injecting homophobia left right and center.  Jamie sees this as his opportunity and he hops into the car.  A few paces away, they ask Nathan for the money and Nathan replies, "let's see your cock first, I want to prepare myself mentally and physically." Jamie pulls up in the car and Nathan hops in. As they drive away, one of the guys breaks a window of the car. Nathan and Jamie stop and are excited that they have gotten away, when they hear a knock from the trunk.  Jamie suggests that they let their father out.  Nathan says, "I'll untie you but I want you to promise me that you won't be angry." His dad is upset and starts to hell through his gag.  The brothers pull him out of the trunk, just as the police pull up.  

At the police station, Mike tells Nathan that it's complicated and that he didn't see the point of upsetting his mother. Nathan asks, "upset her more than you cheating on her, or walking out on her, or you just generally being a complete twat? And you never even tried to contact him. First class parenting there dad well done." Mike says that he thought about seeing Jamie but the longer it went on, it just kept getting harder. "He just turned up out of the blue, I didn't know what to say to him," Mike adds.  Nathan tells him, "even for you that is just absolutely shit," and points out that he is supposed to be a dad to Jamie. Mike says that whenever he tried to work things out with Nathan that he just throws shit back in his face. When Nathan tells Mike that he wishes he was Jamie and that he is better off not knowing him, Mike leaves.  Jamie gets released and asks about Mike, and Nathan tells him that he is gone.

They had back to the community center and Jamie passes out on Nathan's bed and so Nathan covers him with a blanket. This is absolutely the most sensitive that we have seen Nathan be to date. I like this version of Nathan so much better, but I know that this is just a short interlude, before he returns to being the all out asshole that he was before. 

Alisha is walking and the masked stranger is following her on the rooftops.  She picks up her pace and starts to run and catches up to him on the roof.  When he sees her, he backs away, just as Alisha attempts to take a photo of him.

In the morning, Jamie leaves and Simon asks if he is staying there now.  Nathan says yes and that he has always wanted a brother and that he can teach Jamie things.  Beyond teaching Jamie about how to be an ass, Nathan has absolutely nothing to offer. Nathan asks Simon if he has any brothers and Simon responds, "a sister." Nathan asks, "Is she cute? You should think about getting me and her together. Hey man, someone's going to, better off it being a close friend, someone you can trust to be gentle," as he begins to thrust his pelvis gently. Simon looks disturbed and says, "she's 12."  Shaun approaches and Nathan immediately says he knows nothing about the booze going missing from the kitchen.