Review: Heroes Fall (Serenity City book 1) by Morgon Newquist

People keep trying to give us "realistic superheroes."

Usually, they fail.

I think the trend may have started with Watchmen, which frankly told me more of what was in the soul of Alan Moore than said anything about the superhero genre. A better example (I'm told) is Kurt Busiek's Astro City, which addresses themes such as a man who becomes a superhero to find redemption, or even the legalities of X-Ray vision and super senses.

Here's the successor.

For those of you who long for the days when comic books were actually entertaining, and the most angst you were subjected to was the occasional Spider Man nervous breakdown, welcome to Heroes Fall, Serenity City, book 1, by Morgon Newquist.

The story

We open with The Rampage, a mission involving Superman, Batman and .... Iron Fist, I guess.... goes horribly, horribly wrong. One is murdered, the other goes mad, and only one is left standing.

Sounds like fun ... except this isn't a comic book crossover. This is Morgon's new world of heroes and villains. The heroes are Achilles, Pendragon and Banshee. And an epic battle of massive destruction throughout the city.

So, yeah, this one was fun. It starts strong, introducing plenty of side characters (even throwaway characters) effortlessly. It was a Hell of a way to open.

Despite the amount of time the blurb spent on the setup, 90% of the story focuses on Victoria Westerdale. She doesn't want to be a superhero, just a simple, straightforward hero who saves people and goes back to the daily nine to five. It's mostly a mystery set in a new and improved Astro City. And I can't say a whole heck of a lot without spoiling it, so I won't.

But the young "primes" of Serenity City are disappearing, and only Victoria can stop it.

The characters

The characters do a lot here. They both drive the plot and build the world. It's done so well you barely notice it's happening until you're halfway through the book and you realize just how much has happened, and how much about the reader knows about the world. It's an especially neat trick because Morgon Newquist doesn't rely on "down the rabbit hole" narration. Unlike Alice in Wonderland, or Harry Potter, our main character isn't a complete outsider that needs everything explained to her. This is a brave new world we're in, but one that our heroine was born into.

Even the villains of the piece are well drawn out. And yes, there are two. They're both fairly well developed, though one has barely any screen time. If you're wondering how that happens, it's largely because of the quality of the "evil plan." One villain is a narrative underdog, and the other is a cunning master manipulator. One comes off as David Tennant's Kilgrave, and the other is trying to do "good" for noble reasons, but has all the skills and talents of Richard III, or the MCU's Zemo in Civil War. It ends with a full on a train wreck for our heroes, with a moral quandary that had only one solution.

And the fighting. It's so well done. Of course, Morgon gets her martial arts right. If she didn't, I think everyone who knows her would worry, considering her black belt. And she does a good job of playing superhero chess -- how does Y superhero use X powers against Z and Z's powers. Even the execution of powers are well thought out.

Also, Morgon has a degree in Latin, so expect a ton of quotes and references from ... everyone. Peter Pan, The Aenid, The Illiad, The Odyssey, Greek myth, Roman myth, a few other myths. I do so enjoy it when the authors I read actively read other people .... and steal from them. It warms my heart. You get little lines like "He is Lancelot, not Arthur. But even Lancelot is better than Mordred."

The world

I like the breakdown of the superhero class structure. No, we're not going into class warfare here, merely a practical approach to superheroes. DC and Marvel comics are truly unrealistic -- that only one superhero (Booster Gold, IIRC) -- seems to be offered or has desires for fame and notoriety. In the world of Serenity City, everyone wants to climb the hero totem pole. It's a competitive culture for the next brand endorsement, coming with a good paycheck. And there are some of those heroes who are Iron Man narcissistic and some who are simply saving people and hero-ing, and taking cash because they'll take all the help they can get. Of course, this environment means that no one really teams up, but considering how many times the JSA and the JLA have broken up, is anyone surprised when heroes can't get along?

It's also fun when you consider this acknowledges that Batman basically has a superpower. Long story. But the description of the bat cave here will have you playing Danny Elfman's Batman film score in your head.

At the end of the day, fans of the superhero genre should recognize the occasional tip of the hat to everything from The Dark Knight to Astro City to Green Hornet. That would be a spoiler if you could get the permutations right. We have an Alfred with superpowers. A character named Ash who I suspect could be played by Bruce Campbell. A healer hero named Panacea (yes, really). A hero lawyer with the ability to cloud men's minds. And oh dear me, we're going to have a realistic portrayl of what it would be like as a superhero, only none of this grim and gritty Alan Moore BS? Be still my heart.

The politics

This is a superhero world that believes in subsidiarity-- that conflicts should be dealt with on the smallest, most local level. Corporatism is looked down on and rightly belittled. Trusting the government is a bad idea.

Content warnings

Rate this one PG-13. There are intimations of rape and inappropriate (ie: mentor/ mentee) seduction. Teenagers might be able to understand it, as it's not spelled out.

There is also superhero violence.

Why read it?

If you're a fan of superheroes and you want more, then here it is, the start of a great new superhero world.

If you want better superheroes than what we've seen coming out of the Big Two lately, then you definitely want to read this.

Who is it for?

Anyone who is a fan of well written superhero fiction, before things became political.