Boltman Complete

Boltman #1-2

by Eric Quinn Knowles

A hapless young man believes he is the incarnation of Boltman, a comic book superhero. On a quest to unlock the secret of Boltman’s super powers and complete his transformation, Kevin must rescue his sidekick, Ampere, from the clutches of Tommie Boy and the Church of the Mind, an evil celebrity cult of energy vampires. In his costume, Kevin is stronger and faster than anyone can believe; he becomes Boltman, but Boltman has a mind of its own. On the path to fulfill his destiny, Kevin begins to wonder if he is really just losing his mind, or if Boltman is a separate entity, bent on using Kevin for its own mysterious ends.

Genres: Fantasy

366 pages, Nook

First published November 21, 2010

Reviews

[Alexis DeSousa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Boltman had me from the get-go. Boatman was story of a young man who believed that the spirit of his favorite comic book hero, Boltman, had come to reside in him. Following Boltman's death in a movie, Kevin believed he was the new Boltman. But was he?

I think what intrigued me the most about this book was that I continuously went back and forth trying to figure out if Kevin was really just crazy or not. He hears a voice in his head telling him he is Boltman. However, he doesn't seem to posses any great superhero abilities (except for some crazy strength that could be explained away as pure adrenaline in crazy circumstances). The guy constantly goes looking for trouble dressed as Boltman and loses or quits jobs so that he can be Boltman.

Kevin's best friend, Jack, thinks he's crazy. Kevin uses him as his sidekick, Ampere, but Jack wants nothing to do with his friend's crazy antics. Instead, he wants to try and convince his friend that everything isn't real and that he's not Boltman.

This doesn't work for Jack. Kevin tries to find the real Ampere, which leads him to a Hollywood cult that reminded me of Scientologists (Travolta! Lol). These people really are nutso, and they are using the real Ampere (the actor who played him in a movie) as some kind of energy food. I couldn't really tell if the people behind this cult were supposed to be aliens or vampires. Either way, my curiosity about them is peaked. Jack and Jessica (both Kevin and Jack's love interest) go to Hollywood to find the actor who really played Boltman in the movie. They think they can snap Kevin out of his craziness if he comes face to face with the "real" Boltman.

At the Church of the Mind ranch in CA is where things really get weird and a little confusing, I'm STILL not sure if Kevin is just crazy or not. I like to believe he really is Boltman. He seems to be picking up the BoltVision Ray here, but is it a fabric of his mind or real? Either way, I'm still guessing.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Where there is celebrity fueled idiocy misleading the masses Boltman will be there! Boltman explores the life of a very confused young man who is obsessed with his comic book hero. He believes that after the body of Boltman was destoryed his consciousness was sent back to Earth and inhabited his body. The villain that he believes himself destines to take out is Tommy Boy the celebrity face of the "Church of the Mind."

The book has some interesting aspects of the Boltman vs Kevin personality wars as both want to control his actual body. He decides that to complete his transformation he needs to find his sidekick so he goes of to Hollywood to find Ampere (from the Boltman movie). This story has a different spin on the normal superhero tale. Kevin is conflicted, but not in the dark brooding way that superheros are often portrayed, he is mentally conflicted by having two personalities vying for dominance.

This is a great book for anyone who enjoys comics or read them as a kid.

[Hal Brodsky · Rating 1 out of 5]

The only way this book could have been worse is if I had paid to download the second half (That's right, this is only HALF of the book !).

This PG Rated male Adolescent Fantasy has three characters: 1) Boltman, a "Greatest American Hero" clone 2) His Roommate, a slovenly obese unkempt candy munching pornography watching comic book store employee and 3) Boltman's twenty-something love interest who, because she is "insecure", in turn seduces each of the male characters in the book including the room mate whom she finds "disgusting" a paragraph or two before she pulls his pants off in said comic book store.


I have to wonder if the author a)has never actually spoken to a woman, b) is 13 years old or younger or c) BOTH.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Boltman blends action and comedy in a Hollywood-bashing explosion of entertainment from start to finish! It tells the modern-day dramas of a super-hero wannabe, Kevin, who believes he is the reincarnation of movie and comic phenomena, Boltman! His head-cracking exploits take him from the dark alleys of his home to the church-of-the-mind fortress, where Kevin must come to terms with his role in order to defeat his arch-nemesis "Tommy Boy", while saving his friends.
Although Boltman has a few rough edges, it is well written and entertaining, with a witty undercurrent where the reader finds themselves rooting for the demise of the bad guys.

[Michael Stockinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a strange book, though I did have a lot of fun with this one. Mix in superheroes and mental health issues and you have Boltman.