Book picks similar to
Superfolks by Robert Mayer


fiction
superhero
superheroes
science-fiction

Wearing the Cape: A Superhero Story


Marion G. Harmon - 2011
    Which made her superhuman breakthrough in the Ashland Bombing, just before starting her freshman year at the University of Chicago, more than a little ironic. And now she has some decisions to make. Given the code-name "Astra" and invited to join the Sentinels, Chicago's premier super-team, will she take up the cape and mask and become a career superhero? Or will she get a handle on her new powers (super-strength has some serious drawbacks) and then get on with her life-plan? In a world where superheroes join unions and have agents, and the strongest and most photogenic ones become literal supercelebrities, the temptation to become a "cape" is strong. But the price can be high-especially if you're "outed" and lose the shield of your secret identity. Becoming a sidekick puts the decision off for awhile, but Hope's life is further complicated when The Teatime Anarchist, the supervillain responsible for the Ashland Bombing, takes an interest in her. Apparently as Astra, Hope is supposed to save the world. Or at least a significant part of it. ------------------------ Wearing the Cape is a 300-page superhero novel for anyone who ever loved comic-book heroes, and wonders how they might behave in the real world.

Avengers Academy, Volume 1: Permanent Record


Christos Gage - 2011
    The future is in their hands...and in the hands of the six young superhumans chosen to make up the inaugural class. But who are they? And what dark secret will turn their world upside down?Collecting: Avengers Academy 1-6

Green Lantern, Volume 1: No Fear


Geoff Johns - 2006
    Hal Jordan has returned from the dead and has once again sworn to protect all living beings in Space Sector 2814 using his power ring, the most powerful weapon in the universe.Discover how Hal re-establishes his personal life as a jet pilot for the Air Force while reconnecting with the super-hero community he once betrayed.Collecting: Green Lantern 1-6, Secret Files and Origins 2005

The Flash, Vol. 1: Move Forward


Francis Manapul - 2012
    Tapping into the energy field called The Speed Force, he applies a tenacious sense of justice to protect an serve the world as The Flash!The Fastest Man Alive returns to his own monthly series as part of the DC Comics—The New 52 event with the writer/artist team of Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato. The Flash knows he can't be everywhere at once, but he has seemingly met his match when he faces DC Comic' hottest new Super Villain, Mob Rule, who really can be everywhere at once!As Mob Rule wages a campaign of crime across Central City, including an electromagnetic blast that plunges the city into darkness, The Flash learns the the only way he can capture Mob Rule and save Central City is to learn how to make his brain function even faster than before—but as much as it helps him, it also comes with a steep price.Collecting: The Flash 1-8

Spider-Man: The Darkest Hours


Jim Butcher - 2006
    No evildoers have tried to flatten him in weeks, his marriage to Mary Jane is stronger than ever, and he's enjoying his job as a high school science teacher. Life is good. Naturally, that doesn't last. When Peter learns that his old enemy the Rhino is on a rampage in Times Square, he suits up as Spider-Man to stop the destructive villain in his tracks. But he's unexpectedly foiled in his attempts by the Black Cat, a former ally and old flame. The Cat informs Peter that the Rhino is just a distraction -- the real threat comes from a group of Ancients, members of the same race as the being called Morlun, who Spidey defeated in battle years earlier. The Ancients are now looking to exact revenge -- and hope to steal Spider-Man's life force in the process. To defeat such powerful beings, Spider-Man is going to need all the help he can get, especially from the Black Cat. But what will Mary Jane Parker have to say about that? Peter isn't sure which is worse -- the Ancients trying to drain his life force, or the wrath of a jealous wife....

American Flagg!, Vol. 1


Howard Chaykin - 2005
    America, 2031. TV star Reuben Flagg is drafted to protect the citizens of Chicago as a Plexus Ranger, having pretended to be one onscreen. The inexperienced Flagg must tackle an America blighted by a biased and oppressive media, dubious 'wars', widespread political corruption and environmental disaster...Never-before-collected, this bitingly prescient satirical series is an all-time classic. This debut volume features an introduction by Michael Chabon (Wonder Boys).

The Refrigerator Monologues


Catherynne M. Valente - 2017
    A ferocious riff on women in superhero comics.A series of linked stories from the points of view of the wives and girlfriends of superheroes, female heroes, and anyone who’s ever been “refrigerated”: comic book women who are killed, raped, brainwashed, driven mad, disabled, or had their powers taken so that a male superhero’s storyline will progress.

Sidekicks


Jack D. Ferraiolo - 2011
    Scott Hutchinson, an ordinary schoolkid by day and a superfast, superstrong sidekick by night, fighting loyally next to his hero. But after an embarrassing incident involving his too-tight spandex costume, plus some signs that Phantom Justice may not be the good guy he pretends to be, Scott begins to question his role. With the help of a fellow sidekick, once his nemesis, Scott must decide if growing up means being loyal or stepping boldly to the center of things.

Irredeemable, Vol. 1


Mark Waid - 2009
    A comic book industry event: a new original ongoing superhero series from Mark Waid! IRREDEEMABLE dares to ask the question: what if the world's greatest hero decided to become the world's greatest villain?  A "twilight of the superheroes"- style story that examines super-villains from the writer of KINGDOM COME and EMPIRE!Collects issues #1–4

Velveteen vs. The Junior Super Patriots


Seanan McGuire - 2012
    But when you had once been Velveteen, child super-heroine and one of The Junior Super Patriots, West Coast Division, you were never going to be free, even if your only power was to bring toys to life. The Marketing Department would be sure of that.So it all came down to this. One young woman and an army of misfit toys vs. the assembled might of the nine members of The Junior Super Patriots, West Coast Division who had come to take her down.They never had a chance.Velveteen lives in a world of super-heroes and magic, where men can fly and where young girls can be abducted to the Autumn Land to save Halloween. Velma lives from paycheck to paycheck and copes with her broken-down car as she tries to escape from her old life.It's all the same world. It's all real. And figuring out how to be both Velveteen and Velma is the biggest challenge of her life, because being super-human means you’re still human in the end.Join us as award-winning author Seanan McGuire takes us through the first volume of Velveteen's — and Velma's — adventure.

Deadpool Classic, Vol. 1


Fabian NiciezaIan Churchill - 2008
    the un-shut-up-able But all may not be lost if the sultry Siryn can inject a little sanity into the proceedings Will Deadpool be steered toward a better life by his new heartthrob, or stay the chaotic course he's set for himself? The answer is Yes Guest-starring the New Mutants, Banshee, Sasquatch, and more Collects New Mutants #98, Deadpool: The Circle Chase #1-4, Deadpool: Sins of the Past #1-4, and Deadpool (1997) #1

The Vision, Volume 1: Little Worse Than A Man


Tom King - 2016
    The place where he first rebelled against his given destiny and imagined that he could be more -that he could be a man. There, he builds them. A wife, Virginia. Two teenage twins, Viv and Vin. They look like him. They have his powers. They share his grandest ambition (or is that obsession?) the unrelenting need to be ordinary.Behold the Visions! They’re the family next door, and they have the power to kill us all. What could possibly go wrong? Artificial hearts will be broken, bodies will not stay buried, the truth will not remain hidden, and the Vision will never be the same.Collecting: The Vision 1-6

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.

Black and White


Jackie Kessler - 2009
    Jet is a by-the-book hero, using her Shadow power to protect the citizens of New Chicago. Iridium, with her mastery of light, runs the city’s underworld. For the past five years the two have played an elaborate, and frustrating, game of cat and mouse.But now playtime’s over. Separately Jet and Iridium uncover clues that point to a looming evil, one that is entwined within the Academy. As Jet works with Bruce Hunter—a normal man with an extraordinary ability to make her weak in the knees—she becomes convinced that Iridium is involved in a scheme that will level the power structure of America itself. And Iridium, teaming with the mysterious vigilante called Taser, uncovers an insidious plot that’s been a decade in the making…a plot in which Jet is key.They’re both right. And they’re both wrong. Because nothing is as simple as Black and White.

Invincible: Ultimate Collection, Vol. 1


Robert KirkmanBrian Michael Bendis - 2005
    Get in on the ground floor! This massive hardcover collects the first 13 issues of Robert Kirkman's Eisner-Nominated super-hero, along with all the extras from the first three trade paperback volumes and even more on top of that! Invincible: The Ultimate Collection, Volume 1 is a can't-miss for anyone who's wanted to start reading Invincible, but needed an easier way to start from the beginning.Collects issues #1–13.