S1E04 – Book Club: April Daniel’s Dreadnought & Chris Claremont’s X-Men: The End

Trish is attempting to survive with two girls home from school this week and a flu that won’t go away.

Jeremy is working on a superhero romance for an anthology. He’s going to attempt writing in some steamy scenes even if it makes him blush.

This month in Pop-Culture History

1940 the radio show The Adventures of Superman first premiered
1960 The Justice League first premiered in The Brave and the Bold #28, written by Gardner Fox
Wayne’s World premiered in theaters in 1992 and became the 8th highest-grossing film of the year, and is the highest-grossing film based off of a skit from SNL (Saturday Night Live)

Geek Outs: The Book Club Edition!

Trish’s Geek Out!

This month I read Dreadnought by April Daniels

It’s the story of a Trans girl who comes in contact with the hero Dreadnought in the moments of his death and she receives his powers. Her gender identity has been a secret until Dreadnought’s powers transform her into the ideal version of herself, and she suddenly has the body of a sixteen-year-old female. She is then faced with the responsibility of being a teenager with all the incredible powers of one of the worlds’ most famous heroes, along with the transmisogyny of her father, the unwanted advances of her best friend and discrimination from a terf in the city’s superhero team. This is an incredible coming of age superhero story with some of the usual tropes that don’t feel dusty or worn out. The scenes of discrimination and transmisogyny were hard to read at times because it was so real, you could tell that the author has been there. Ultimately, this is a story about living as your authentic self no matter what and finding fulfillment by doing so. And, it’s just a really good superhero story.

I give it five out of five stars.

Jeremy’s Geek Out!

This month I read X-Men: The End by Chris Claremont & Sean Chen

The End is Claremont’s farewell to the franchise and and characters he brought into the limelight. The X-Men have aged and we’re seeing their legacy play out. Bishop and Deathbird’s daughter liberates one of the most iconic characters, Jean Grey. The rise of the Phoenix (a story line originating in Claremont’s Phoenix Saga) forces the Shi’ar to unleash the War Skrulls, who attempt to exterminate the X-Men and nearly succeed. We watch beloved characters sacrifice themselves in moments of emotional heroism. Plot points from the Dark Phoenix Saga, Inferno, and the Mutant Massacre weave together beautifully to give us the closure Marvel denied its fans. It’s a brutal goodbye, while unfilled questions set up in the 80’s and 90’s are finally answered. Ultimately, if this were the final arc for the X-Men, it’d be tough, but I would say it couldn’t have unfolded any other way.

I give it five out of five stars.