Never say pomo didn’t build anything — there’s a small genre of books that take fresh looks at old stories, usually adopting the outsider point of view. Soon I Will Be Invincible is the latest such book, the story of a supervillain (Doctor Impossible) and his attempts to take over the world. I stayed up late to read this book in one sitting.

This book follows all the comic book conventions — evil genius trying to take over the world, super heroes, etc. The universe seems to be Marvel-esque; there are alternate dimensions, and magic, and aliens, and gods. Soon makes funny references to the comic book world as well, with a mention of the “golden age”, and generally drawing implicit parallels between the life stories of its characters and the evolution of comics themselves.

It reminded me of Lint in that it is a bit repetitive at times. It is a nice read, though, and I recommend it.