Robert Venditti, illustrated by Dusty Higgins
ISBN: 9781481405577
Miles gets addicted to the power of the cape and the kick of doing good, and gets kidnapped by a crazy guy with a robot army.
These are fun because they're set in Atlanta, they're prose novels for the most part, but switch into graphic novel format when the character of the Golden Cape is active, and because the author is trying very hard to purposefully subvert the tropes of a superhero narrative and show how hard it is for a normal person to always do what's right and what's best, when they're just normal people faced with powerful temptations.
Supporting Cast: A+. Miles' dad, poor guy. I just want to buy him a drink. At least he's got a girlfriend now. Doctor is cool but needs a bit more characterization. New girl is hella interesting and I hope she's permanent and not treated poorly by the author.
Plot: A. Emotional arc is dead-on and perfect for the age-group (honestly, it's perfect for most people all their lives, when you really look at it) and the physical plot/perilous situation is 1) creepy as heck, 2) very nicely built on the first book, 3) subverts superhero-story tropes where people have obvious names to show they're bad-guys or good-guys without actually making the storyline ANY LESS CREEPY (well-done, that is), and 4) is solved relatively rationally and by the characters making informed and purposeful choices instead of getting deus-ex-machina'd (although I do think perhaps dad had a bit of a mild ret-con to his character so that Miles doesn't get murdered at the end of the book).
Fun, silly, engaging, thoughtful, and peopled with fun and interesting characters that are tropey without being any less interesting and individual. I'm really impressed, and really enjoying this series.
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