book data
479 ratings, 3.81 average rating, 163 reviews
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published
September 1st 2007
by Hyperion Book CH
binding
Hardcover, 432 pages
setting
Unknown
isbn
1423101952
(isbn13: 9781423101956)
description
Thom Creed is used to being on his own. Even as a highschool basketball star, he has to keep his distance because of his father. Hal Creed had onc...more
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 752)
It’s been recounted in almost every conversation about gays and comics; that we relate to the duality of the super hero; having to keep a secret from the rest of the world, finding camaraderie in others with ‘special’ abilities, wearing stylish outfits after dark, etc. As obvious as it is, we still have to read between the lines to put our experiences into a heterosexual context. As hunky as Kyle Rayner is with his spandex and the accessory with unlimited power, he still has a girlfriend t...more
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Read in October, 2007
There is little this book brings to the superhero genre in terms of newness or innovation. Luckily, the book also brings us Thom Creed, the protagonist whose voice won me over immediately. The plot veers maybe a little too much and the book feels, in general, shoved with too many peripheral characters, but even when Thom's being too self-centered and introspective and woe-is-me I'm on his side, and his faults have to do with his age, maturity level, and the enormous strain on his life due to his...more
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Read in December, 2007
Yawn. Punk sums up a lot of the problems I had with this book in her review—the cartoonishly ridiculous level of homophobia, the utter failure to take advantage of the preexisting (and really cool) connection between being queer and being a superhero—but I would also like to add this complaint: it’s boring. The melodrama level is high, but as for actual drama…on the edge of my seat I was not. A lot of the “twists” are incredibly predictable, and frankly, I just never believed in this...more
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Read in August, 2008
A very good novel, though perhaps one that tries to do too much in too little a space. The romance within the novel is given too little focus, and so it feels empty and unfulfilled; this is depressing, as the brief glimpses we get of the love interest are incredibly enticing and the romance itself has so much potential.
Read this book for the characters. Yes, many of the superheroes are carbon copies of famous ones you may know -- Batman and Superman make an appearance, for instance, ...more
Read this book for the characters. Yes, many of the superheroes are carbon copies of famous ones you may know -- Batman and Superman make an appearance, for instance, ...more
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Read in November, 2007
In a world where superheroes are real, Thom dreams about joining The League, a band of A-list good guys who protect the citizens of their fair city. He also dreams about one of the most famous (and dreamiest) superheroes, Uberman. Thom's keeping a lot of secrets, not the least of which is that he's got superpowers and has been invited to try out for The League. He knows his dad would flip if he found out. His dad used to be a hero, one of the greats. But then he was maimed in a catastrophic acci...more
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Read in November, 2007
Young Adult. A gay teenager with superpowers and his disgraced hero-dad live together in the suburbs. They have their differences, but when Thom gets tapped to try out for the League (of superheroes) those differences threaten to tear them apart. Hee, sorry. It really is that dramatic.
This book takes on a lot. It's got a solid story with a good array of characters. Kind of like a mix of The Incredibles and Sky High. A lot of the superheroes were just familiar DC characters with slig...more
This book takes on a lot. It's got a solid story with a good array of characters. Kind of like a mix of The Incredibles and Sky High. A lot of the superheroes were just familiar DC characters with slig...more
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3 comments
Read in September, 2007
recommends it for:
Gay Teens and thier friends, people who love spoofing the Superhero Genre
This is one of the best Gay Teen/Coming of Age books I have read since Boy Meets Boy (I have to review that as well). This story is set in the alternate world where Superheroes are a part of every day life, but puts a more humorous twist to it than many graphic novels. For avid readers of the Gay/YA fiction genre I would say that this book is a blend of Year of Ice, The Tick and the X-Men comic series. Thom Creed is a boy coming to terms with both his sexuality and burgeoning super powers –...more
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This is the kind of book that makes me want to stay home from work and spend the day turning pages. But go to work I did on Friday, and I had to wait until Saturday to finish the story of Thom Creed, a teenager who has more than his share of problems. His father was a highly respected super hero back in the day, but "somehow" became disgraced and now struggles to make ends meet for him and his son, who have been alone since mom disappeared. Thom feels that he not only has to hide hi...more
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Read in July, 2007
recommends it for:
fans of superheros and gay men
Thom's dad, Hal, used to be one of the most famous and revered superheroes in the League. But then Hal messed up some rescue mission and a bunch of people got killed and his hand got all mashed and deformed. After the mashy hand incident, Thom's mother left the family and its been Thom and his dad ever since. Thom and his dad aren't exactly close and its a good thing too because Thom doesn't want his dad to know that he's been asked to join the League. Thom also doesn't want to tell his dad tha...more
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Read in October, 2007
Started out very promising, setting up a great opportunity for a tale of coming out and self-discovery set against the fantastical and highly visual world of super-heroes. Many gay kids grow up with a love of super hero stories because they can relate to the idea of being "different" and often misunderstood, so the idea of an actual gay hero, not an implied one, is extremely exciting to us who got blissfully lost in that world as a child.
But while character development at ...more
But while character development at ...more
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Read in December, 2007
Ok, here's why this book is good: There's some good layering going on here. The foundation is this high school kid, Thom, coming to terms with his sexuality. So that's interesting on it's own, but then Moore adds a world of superheroes. Superheroes in this world don't always have special powers and being a superhero is a career(complete with a salary). Then there's Thom's home life with his single dad. Thom's parents are former superheros and his mom abandoned them a few years back. I really...more
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Read in February, 2008
Could have done without (a) all those loathsome one-scene peripheral characters being fatties (b) all those plot twists that we guessed eight miles off (c) the paragraphs that would begin with thinking and end with passive-voice action (d) the tediously long final battle (e) the fact that Hal is constantly portrayed as someone to fear but is written so carefully as to make him never ever scary, just kind of misunderstood. Plus a colostomy bag has never been more boring or made less sense.
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Hero is about Thom Creed, a gay teen training to be a superhero. His past comes back to haunt him, and he quickly goes from having a totally embarrassing try outs to having to choose between something that means the most to him, and saving the world.
I highly recommend this book, as it is a real eye opener to how gay teens are treated today, and it also brings you along one teenagers path to becoming a true hero. However, Thom's childish tendencies and the unrealisitic plot knocked a ...more
I highly recommend this book, as it is a real eye opener to how gay teens are treated today, and it also brings you along one teenagers path to becoming a true hero. However, Thom's childish tendencies and the unrealisitic plot knocked a ...more
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Read in December, 2007
recommends it for:
anyone who has felt like a freak
This is a gay teen superhero's coming of age story. Do I really need to say more? In a slightly alternative world where superheroes exist (a la The Incredibles), Thom Creed, is the son of a disgraced superhero, Major Might, who was tossed out of the "League" for failing to prevent a tragedy that cost thousands of people their lives. Harold Creed is now a single dad raising his son on his own, working a factory job, pining for his wife, and still being ostracized and reviled by most...more
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Read in August, 2007
recommends it for:
everyone
This is an excellent book. It is not only for gay teens or fans of comics. It appeals to everyone who has ever felt rejected, outcast, or uncertain whether their friends would like them if they knew what was going on under the surface... and who cant relate to that?
The characters are appealing and real, even though they have superpowers. The writing is easy to read and is like hanging out with someone you really like. The author has made what would otherwise seem like a book with a v...more
The characters are appealing and real, even though they have superpowers. The writing is easy to read and is like hanging out with someone you really like. The author has made what would otherwise seem like a book with a v...more
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Read in November, 2007
So, someone said this book was cute. And I thought, "I can do cute." They said that it was gay superheros. I though, "I could do gay superheros."
The book itself is quite nice actually. While some of the storyline is fumbled, and a few of the characters aren't all there, it's nice.
The main character is dealing with many problems, but the two biggest is being gay and finding that he has super powers. "And those are problems why?" you might ask?...more
The book itself is quite nice actually. While some of the storyline is fumbled, and a few of the characters aren't all there, it's nice.
The main character is dealing with many problems, but the two biggest is being gay and finding that he has super powers. "And those are problems why?" you might ask?...more
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Read in September, 2007
September 29 is the first day of "Banned Books Week" and it was apropos to read this book. I'm SURE this book will be challenged by some parent or school system out there because the main character is gay, there are some sexual situations and as much swearing as you could imagine from a teenager. The overall themes are simple and you've all heard it before--Be true to yourself, discover your true identity and be proud of it, and good prevails over evil. I'm not much for fantasy or supe...more
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Read in October, 2007
While I don't have much in particular bad to say about this book, it didn't do a whole lot for me. I liked the matter-of-fact treatment of there being superheroes in this world, but because it was so matter-of-fact, the superhero aspect didn't particularly engage me. The persecution due to gayness felt foreign to my personal experience and (possibly because of that) felt almost incidental to the plot. While I wasn't engaged by a lot of the plot threads, I did care about a lot of the character...more
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Read in October, 2007
recommends it for:
Comic Book Fans
First of all, I know this is teenlit. Secondly, I know the main character is gay.
But more importantly, it's about SUPERHEROES. And it's adequtely written, with a fun, episodic style that is true to the ultimately visual genre from which it springs. And the sexuality of the protagonist is simply one facet of Thom's very well-rounded personality.
It's not a gay superhero story. It's a story about a young man who feels out of place and needs to learn who he is and where he fits int...more
But more importantly, it's about SUPERHEROES. And it's adequtely written, with a fun, episodic style that is true to the ultimately visual genre from which it springs. And the sexuality of the protagonist is simply one facet of Thom's very well-rounded personality.
It's not a gay superhero story. It's a story about a young man who feels out of place and needs to learn who he is and where he fits int...more
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An uninspiring and strangely childish story about a gay teenage superhero, which somehow misses its mark repeatedly. It’s badly-pitched as a YA novel, melodramatic and ill-thought-out as a gay coming-out novel, and simply boring as a superhero adventure story.
In a world where masked superheroes (and their villainous counterparts) are a normal part of life, Thom struggles simultaneously with his emerging power (which allows him to heal) and his sexuality (he’s gay, but fears his d...more
In a world where masked superheroes (and their villainous counterparts) are a normal part of life, Thom struggles simultaneously with his emerging power (which allows him to heal) and his sexuality (he’s gay, but fears his d...more
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