George R. R. Martin’s Wild Cards rampage through unrecorded history! Mike Mignola’s Hellboy battles the fiendish Nuckelavee! Can Camille Alexa’s Pinktastic prevent the end of the world? Will Jonathan Lethem’s Dystopianist cause the end of the world?
In these pages, you’ll find the exploits, machinations, and epic mêlées of these superpowered aliens, undead crusaders, costumed crime fighters, unholy cabals, Amazon warriors, demon hunters, cyberpunk luchadores, nefarious megalomaniacs, daredevil sidekicks, atavistic avatars, adventuring aviators, gunslinging outlaws, love-struck adversaries, and supernatural detectives.
In these twenty-eight astounding Super Stories, join larger-than-life heroes and villains in the never-ending battle of good versus evil!
With hard-hitting stories from masters of the realm and fresh new talents, this vastly adventurous anthology collects some of the most exciting and original superhero stories of the past few decades, along with an array of entertaining and informative articles on the evolution of the genre. The origins of caped crusaders and their ingenious nemeses will be uncovered, their terrible secrets revealed, and their victories and defeats chronicled for all.
“Editor Lalumière has put together an impressive best-of anthology for modern superhero fiction, with works from SF royalty like George R. R. Martin and Kelly Link, hit comics creators Kurt Busiek and Mike Mignola, and wonderful but lesser-known writers. The satisfying and varied stories range from J. Robert Lennon’s deeply sad “The Rememberer,” about a super-powered storyteller. who can never forget, to Benjamin Rosenbaum’s brilliant and lighthearted “The Deathtrap of Dr. Nefario,” in which a familiar crime-fighter calls his therapist from a routine death trap. Also of note are Paul Di Filippo’s “The Jackdaw’s Last Case,” starring Franz Kafka as a superhero, and Busiek’s hilariously cynical “Clash of Titans (A New York Romance),” about a marketing man encouraging the rivalry between a superhero and his villainous ex-girlfriend to increase tourism. There are a few missteps: Gene Wolfe’s “The Detective of Dreams” is out of place, and Rachel Pollack’s Wonder Woman-inspired “Burning Sky” detours so far into sexual fantasy that it entirely loses the plot. Even so this is by far the best superhero anthology around, and a must-read for comic book fans.”
—Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Super Stories of Heroes & Villains is a fantastically presented anthology full of great stories. There are a lot of anthologies out there dealing with superheroes, but this is the best one I’ve run across. From pulp to steampunk, all the bases are covered. There’s a lot to love here.”
—Comic Book Therapy
“Super Stories of Heroes & Villains is filled with smart, imaginative, inspired stories taking place in a variety of versions of the superhero genre.”
—Fanboy Comics
“Not only are the stories fine in their own right, but they will provide a certain illumination you can take back with you when you’ve returned to the 8-paneled page.”
—Nexus Graphica
“If the capes-and-cowls genre ever hopes to find a foothold in the mainstream, it desperately needs a champion, and we think Lalumière would be a great nominee for the position.”
—Super Hero Novels
“Super Stories of Heroes & Villains was one helluva ride to read! From origin stories, romance gone wrong, to aliens from outer space and lets not forget philandering ‘heroes’ – there is a little bit of something of everything to turn your head.... Hats off to the editor for compiling a really great collection that any fiction fan would greatly enjoy!”
—My Shelf Confessions
