Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman

So, to see if I was on the right track, I asked someone younger and more into comics than I am. Still, it seemed odd to me that it might still be (at least comically) true that all scientists are mad scientists, or that all scientists work for evil. Now I realize that the Golden Age of superhero comics started as a result of World War II, and that the public reputation of science both grew and suffered as a result of the Manhattan Project. Powers for good appeared entirely to be God-given (or the result of a fluke inter-dimensional vortex, which boils down to pretty much the same thing). The major inventors and discoverers worked to further world domination and tyranny, whereas the forces for 'truth, justice and the American way' came up with no more than the occasional clever tactic. One of the things that struck me as I finished the novel was that, while products of science (super soldiers, experimental outcomes gone wrong, etc.) appeared as both superheros and super-villains, all the actual scientists in Grossman's fantasy wore black hats. Grossman's considerable work and wit would be for naught.

In fact, if you didn't grow up (and aren't growing up right now) with tales of Batman, Superman, Spiderman, Iron Man, and the X-Men, then reading the book would be a waste of your time. It's an original piece, but it draws heavily (and with obvious parodic intent) on material from Marvel and DC comic book universes.

The 'less so' novel I just finished is 'Soon I Will Be Invincible', by Austin Grossman. I often have two or three books going simultaneously, one or two of them 'serious' and one much less so.

Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman