HERO

Go, Thom, go!

HERO

Written by Perry Moore

ISBN:  9781423101963

First published in 2007, reprinted in 2009

Available in hardback, paperback, and audio book formats

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Being a gay teen is hard enough, let alone a gay teen with the world's toughest father, no mother, and no friends. Now try being a gay teen with the world's toughest father, no mother, and no friends who just figured out he has superpowers. You want to join the League, the world's premiere superhero team, more than anything–but your parents are blacklisted, making everyone look at you suspiciously. And even if you do get in, good luck dealing with the cackling old lady, screaming bitch, neurotic hypochondriac, and second-rate sidekick you're put on a team with, probably because the League wants to make you quit.

Welcome to Thom Creed's life. He's not thrilled about it, but he's not giving up. Whatever it takes, he'll be a hero–though he might need to learn how sooner than he thinks.

HERO, essentially a coming-of-age story with superpowers, is wonderful in every possible way. It's funny, it's exciting, it's touching. It has adventure and mystery, family trouble as Thom tries to figure out his father and learns about his mother, and a bit of romance when he meets Goran, a handsome basketball player from Croatia.

Perry Moore, most famous for producing the Narnia movies, wrote HERO as a challenge to the comic book industry, which had begun introducing gay characters but then sidelined them, apparently not knowing what to do with them and uncomfortable with the idea of giving them love interests. When HERO became a financial and critical success, it helped galvanize some wary writers/editors into really including their gay characters into the mainstream for the first time.

A lot of plans followed. Stan Lee, founder of many of Marvel Comics' most famous characters and titles, loved HERO and was working with Moore on a comic project. The first steps of a movie adaptation went underway. And, of course, Moore started work on the sequel…

…When he died in 2011 at the ridiculous age of 39. It's a terrible tragedy that so much talent, at the peak of his career in both movies and writing, left the world so young. But as a legacy, I can't think of much better Moore could have left behind than HERO.

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Review by Elizabeth Reuter