Book picks similar to
The Cryptic Code by David Orme


annie
childrens
elementary-aged-friendly
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On a Pale Horse (Incarnations of Immortality, #4)


Piers Anthony - 1993
    Zane and Luna go on a date and discover some deeply hidden secrets about one another.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Black & White Classics, Vol. 1


Kevin Eastman - 2014
    He shares the story of his master’s murder and asks them to avenge this death and kill the one responsible, the man known as ... Shredder!

Incandescent Guardians (Mythic, #1)


D.R. Rosier - 2020
    A magician to the world at large, wielding the powers of magic, only not. That’s just a part of his cover, and a clever use of his true power.His alter ego is Bob Williams who is a powerful telekinetic that works in the civilian business world, no one knows that he’s truly the infamous Mythic, and keeping the streets of Chicago safe from monsters with powers. Supervillains.He isn’t the only superhero vigilante. With the end of the MTF, heroes were back on the streets, but the rules had changed again. Lawful heroes had to by law, reveal who they were, take off the mask. That was something he and the others he fought alongside of simply could not do. Not when they had families vulnerable to any psychotic supervillain bent on revenge for past slights.Things are about to get a lot more complicated for Bob, as he teams up with two of the other vigilantes, Lady Lightning and Elegant Prodigy. Will they be able to keep their secrets from each other?After all, the government had mind reader supers, it wasn’t safe for even allies to know the true identity of a vigilante, lest they all be caught when one was. Join Bob as he fights to protect Chicago, and the surprises in store for him.Content Warning: Not suitable for children. This is a Superhero Harem story with explicitly mature scenes between a man and a woman, and other mature content. This first book has no harem action, but plenty of explicit sex, and the harem aspects will come in book two and three. You have been warned.

Immortal Iron Fists


Kaare Andrews - 2018
    But can he teach the young K'un-Lun native how to fit in at a New York City public school? And what about all the mysterious monsters that keep trying to destroy New York? Trouble is coming, but thank goodness this city is big enough for both Iron Fists, because it's gonna need them! Get ready for an action-packed tale with twice the Iron Fists: crushing demons and crushing on classmates.Collecting: Iron Fists #1-6

Transformers


Bob Budiansky - 1985
    The Autobots are reformatted by the Ark to resemble cars and trucks; the Decepticons take the form of jets, weapons or in the case of Soundwave, a cassette deck with tapes.The Decepticons wreak havoc, steal energy and build a fortress. The Autobots, seen here as very weak underdogs, unsuited for war, fight valiantly to stop their foes.Ultimately, it's the humans that the Autobots befriend that save the day. Buster Witwicky's dad, captured by the Decepticons to formulate a fuel for them, secretly poisons his captors.In the final battle, five Autobots take on the entire Decepticon army. On the cusp of defeat, the tainted fuel concocted by Mr. Witwicky kicks in and the Decepticons fall.The Autobots don't even have time to celebrate, however, as the 4-part mini-series ends with Shockwave making an appearance, blowing the remaining Autobots to pieces. This cliffhanger led directly into the monthly Marvel run, which began 3 months after the miniseries ended. (Issue #4 had a cover date of Mar. 1985; issue #5 had a date of June.)Starting with issue 5, The Transformers had more drastic changes. Before reaching its 30th issue, both Optimus Prime and Megatron had been killed off to make way for newer characters.Starting in issue 35 (cover-dated December, 1987), the events became less Earth-centric, as the Transformers repaired their spacecraft and were able to revisit their homeworld Cybertron and other planets. This aspect was particularly prominent in the Matrix Quest sub-plot.In issue 75 (cover-dated February, 1991), the Autobots and Decepticons had united under one banner after Autobot commander Optimus Prime surrendered to Scorponok, in order to end their civil war. United, they finally faced their ancient nemesis: Unicron. The Transformers won, but with heavy losses, including the deaths of Scorponok and Optimus Prime (again). Peace between the two Transformers factions was shortlived after Unicron's death. Bludgeon, the new Decepticon leader, tried to strand the Autobots on Cybertron, which was apparently destroying itself. His plan failed and the final confrontation between the two factions played out, with the Autobots lead again by Grimlock. Optimus Prime is united with Hi-Q (his Powermaster) and given life by The Last Autobot. He returns to battle to save the Autobots and then exiles the Decepticons forever (until Transformers: Generation 2). After the battle with Unicron, the comic ran for only five issues before being cancelled. The final issue had the mini series banner above the title; "#80 IN A FOUR ISSUE LIMITED SERIES".Most of the issues of Transformers Marvel US were written by two writers. Although the first four issues were written by Jim Salicrup, editor Bob Budiansky was the one who contributed the most to the story, writing the character bios and backgrounds for the Transformers, even giving names to some of them. After the mini-series became an ongoing comic, Budiansky was promoted to constant writer. Except for issue #16 (Plight of the Bumblebee, written by Len Kaminski), issue #43 (The big broadcast of 2006, a Transformers cartoon episode adaptation by Ralph Macchio) and the two-part story Man of Iron (imported from Transformers Marvel UK), Bob wrote all the Transformers comics until issue #55.Most famous story arcs and issues are Warrior's school featuring the introduction of the Dinobots and the first clash between Autobot medic Ratchet and Megatron; Prime Time! when Optimus Prime is finally freed from captivity and battles current Decepticon commander Shockwave; Smelting Pool and The Bridge to Nowhere brought the story back to Cybertron where only a handful of Autobots fight an underground war against Straxus's Decepticons, also introducing Blaster, Budiansky's most-used character who was radically different from his cartoon and Marvel UK version. Afterdeath and Gone but not forgotten saw the deaths (for a while, anyway) of Optimus Prime and Megatron, after which Grimlock took control of the Autobot forces in King of the Hill. Starting at issue #28, Blaster and Goldbug (a rebuilt Bumblebee) defected from the Autobots due to Grimlock tyrannical leadership, which ended with Grimlock and Blaster having a duel in Totaled. The next issue, People Power saw the return of Optimus Prime, as a Powermaster. The "Underbase saga" began in issue #47 and ended in issue #50, Dark Star, where Starscream, absorbing the power of the Underbase, kills most of the active Transformers of the time. (Budiansky admitted in an interview that Hasbro was forcing him to introduce new characters so quickly, he had to do an epic to "make room" for them.) Budiansky's last 5 stories were very mediocre, he himself said that he lost the interest in Transformers, and asked Hasbro to hand over the comics to a new writer.From issue #56, the by then well-known writer of Transformers Marvel UK, Simon Furman took over the reins, having been asked by Marvel US. Furman used the characterisation he used at Marvel UK for the Transformers, and introduced many characters to the US comic who have already appeared in the UK comic. He wrote all the issues until the comic's cancellation at issue #80.Furmnan's most famous story arcs include Back from the Dead, the return of Megatron who kidnaps Ratchet to help him in his revenge against both Autobots and Decepticons; Primal Scream! which introduced Primus and re-told the origin of the Transformer race to the US readers too; the "Matrix Quest" which features the Autobots sending numerous teams to locate the Matrix that was lost when Optimus "died" and his body was shot into space; and the Unicron story arc from #67 to #75, featuring the Transformers' ultimate battle against the Chaos Bringer.Sadly the comic was cancelled shortly after issue #75, so Furman had to "wrap up" the ending. According to some interviews with him, he planned to feature the Neo-Knights and the "demons" inhabiting Cybertron's underground more in the never-written issues

Red Light Hero


Kory Shen - 2018
     Alan Star thinks he's the luckiest guy in the world, but fantasy turns into nightmare when a late-night meetup with a heroine turns deadly. To the dismay of the powers-in-charge, Alan has stumbled upon the dirty truth behind the squeaky-clean image of the hero business. Soon, everyone from government black ops to angry superpowered flames want to shut him up. Permanently. With nowhere else to run, Alan escapes to the one place that the heroes won't go: the underground world of a fabled hero-killer. There, he discovers the key to becoming the greatest hero of all. Alan will have to gain new powers, seduce even more superpowered babes, and face the true menace lurking in the shadows. Witness the birth of the Red Light Hero. Warning: This book contains diverse adult situations and possibly unwholesome interactions such as superpowered flings, polyamory, and biology experiments gone wild. This book also contains light gamelit mechanics in the final act.

Super Babes


Jeremy Zenith - 2019
    When the three heroes who protect Eros City are taken down, Ryan gets his chance, thanks to a high-tech implant that uses RPG mechanics to unlock hidden powers. Now that Ryan's become a real-life superhero, he's going to have to face the five powerful supervillains that have taken over his city, but he'll have some sexy superheroines to help him along the way. Note: This LitRPG story contains strong language, harem elements, and explicit adult situations.

A Christmas Carol


Marion G. Harmon - 2019
    It’s time for snowball fights and Christmas lights, family and tradition. So when Astra is attacked by a villain she’s never seen before, and saved by Faith, her sister in another reality, she takes her home for Christmas. That alone would have made it the most amazing Corrigan Family Christmas ever—but when Christmas morning dawns and the world awakens to find that Santa Claus really, truly delivered on the wishes of millions of children around the world, Astra and Joyeuse Guard are called upon to find out what happened. Because they may just have to save Christmas. ----------------------------------------------------- Wearing the Cape: A Christmas Carol, takes place after Wearing the Cape Book 8.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Shattered Grid


Kyle Higgins - 2019
    For the first time in comic book history, the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers will join forces with some of the most popular Power Rangers teams in the franchise from across time and space to face the ultimate threat...one that will mean the death of a Ranger!   Join New York Times best-selling writer Kyle Higgins (Nightwing) and artists Daniele Di Nicuolo (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Pink) and Diego Galindo (Red Sonja) for the Power Rangers epic that redefined the comic book series. Collects Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #25-30, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Free Comic Book Day Special, and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Shattered Grid #1.

Weapon H, Vol. 2: War for Weirdworld


Greg Pak - 2019
    The bizarre adventures of Weapon H - an all-new hero with the Hulk's raw strength and Wolverine's Adamantium claws -continue here! As if Wendigo, Brood and Man-Thing weren't enough, our favorite ex-mercenary must now face the Skrullduggers! But what the heck are they? Why, dragon-monsters with Skrull shape-shifting powers, obviously! But were they sent by Roxxon, or is this an all-new threat from outer space? Hopefully special guest Captain America can lend a hand! COLLECTING: WEAPON H 7-12

The Once-Dead Girl (Shapechanger Tales)


Laer Carroll - 2013
    She comes back to life with superhuman powers. She remembers that in her brother's comic books superheroes come to be feared and hated no matter what good deeds they do. She tries to lead a normal life.But little by little fate conspires against this course. Bad things happen that only she can make right. Baby step by baby step, then bigger steps, she grows into her responsibilities.To help her do her superhero "job" she creates first one, then another alternate identity. Former soldier now mercenary Yao Ming, unequaled with weapons, able to get unseen into places impossible to enter. Beautiful jet-setter millionaire Sandrine Ascaride. And a star girl with blue skin and purple hair who can fly and wield laser bolts and lightning.She is sometimes desperately lonely, unable to share her secret. Then she finds she is not alone....

Avengers: The Avengers Assemble


Thomas Macri - 1969
    are faced with a foe no single person can defeat. So Fury sets out to bring together Earth's Mightiest Heroes and form the Avengers! Join Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, the Hulk, Black Widow, and Hawkeye as they battle the Asgardian trickster known as Loki, who plans to unleash a dangerous and powerful force upon the Earth. If Loki succeeds, the world as we know it will change forever-for the worse. Can the Avengers work together and rescue mankind from this vile villain's cruel grip? Or will Loki disassemble this new team and become ruler of Earth?

Zot! Book 2


Scott McCloud - 1998
    Zot! is Scott McCloud's critically acclaimed take on superhero comics, and was one of the greatest cult comics of the '80s.Volume 2 collects issues 11-15 and 17-18, the beginnings of the black-and-white relaunch of the series.

Team Omega


Christopher G. Nuttall - 2015
     Superhumans! They fly through the skies like gods; superhumans, men and women who have gained extraordinary powers. Some are celebrities, some rule entire countries, some just try to lead normal lives … and some are criminals. Jackson McDonald, USMC, fought and killed a superhuman who threatened to tear Camp Pendleton apart. His reward is to be invited to join Team Omega, an elite black-ops military unit tasked with dealing with rogue superhumans. But one superhuman has plans. He will save the world, even if it doesn’t want to be saved… And no matter who tries to stop him.

Astonishing Times #1 (comiXology Originals)


Frank J. Barbiere - 2021