Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #386145 in Books
• Published on: 2008-08-19
• Released on: 2008-08-19
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 368 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780765318510
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
Themed along the grayer areas of superhero fiction, this anthology of 18 original stories nonetheless covers a wide spectrum. One standout is Switchback, by Ann Nocenti (Daredevil), in which teenage Mimi must try to cope with both her strange mind-control powers and the shards of familial ties that still bind her to her broken family. In Tat Master, Edgar award–winner Naomi Hirahara (Snakeskin Shamisen) introduces tattoo artist Eye, who discovers the ability to bring her designs to life while on the run from her abusive boyfriend. Shamus winner Peter Spiegelman (Black Maps) pulls off a classic tale of superheroics meeting reality with In Vino, Veritas, delving into a simple tale of ethics and love through the viewpoint of lie-detecting Veritas. Deceptively simple and entertaining while never skimping on serious topics, this tight anthology will satisfy any superhero enthusiast. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
When most of us think “superhero,” we tend to think of world savers, people in costumes with special powers. But what about superheroes for today’s world, people who are “plain old us” (to quote the editors’ introduction)—not world savers but “flawed and scared” people who live in the real world . . . and occasionally outside it? This mostly excellent collection of 18 short stories features contributions by such notables as Lorenzo Carcaterra (about a vengeful healer), Walter Mosley (a cursed crook), and Peter Spiegelman (a crime fighter whose secret elixir is wine). These aren’t stories about cartoon heroes, although some of them, like Spiegelman’s, feature some of the trappings of comic-book superhero tales. They are, instead, stories about recognizably human characters whose lives have a dark and scary side: in L. A. Banks’ “Dream Knights,” for example, the heroine works for a paper-supply company, but when she is asleep, she battles evil in the dreamscape. Not all of the stories here are gems, but none of them are duds, either. A solid and interesting collection that should appeal to fans of the superhero genre, especially those willing to explore the subject from a new and darker perspective. --David Pitt

About the Author

Customer Reviews

you want Dark, you got it
The Darker Mask: Heroes from the Shadows, delivers what it promises: "an eclectic mix...,exploring worlds gritty, visceral and fantastic."

It is also a very R-rated world, with expletives, blood, violence, and drug use. That part is almost a shame, as it reduces the audience for some well-crafted stories. Would the stories lose their grit or their message if "watered-down" to a PG level? I don't think so, but perhaps it is best that the younger set still cling to a less-murky, rose-shaded world of super heroes where justice does win, and the cavalry comes in before the fight is over.

The stories are as varied as the authors in this collection - some of the standouts include THE PICKET by Wlater Mosley, THE EDGE OF SEVENTEEN by Alexandra Sokoloff, SWITCHBACK by Ann Nocenti and my personal favorite IN VINO, VERITAS by Peter Spiegelman.

While the stories all have mature themes, the style and characters range from comical to disturbing. As in real life, the price of victory is sometimes dear, and who the real hero is may depend on the viewpoint presented. You may not even root for the lead character in some of these stories, but they will hold your interest.

I would rather watch Heroes...it is that bad
All the stories are either poorly written, completely predictable, boring as heck, and/or my favorite having nothing to do with a superhero.

One story is about a mob boss who has enemies, so he goes to see a fortune teller only to discover that the fortune teller is actually a ghost of someone he wronged and kills the mob boss. I'm not saying there haven't been ghost superheroes, but this story is in no way a superhero story it is bad predictable horror story at best.

Amazon is kind enough to let you read some of the first chapter written by L.A. Banks. Now I know Banks has a successful series of vampire novels and a fan base, but this is my first experience reading the author's work. I was shocked by how poorly Dream Knights is written. The descriptions are just horrible. Read the snippet for yourself.
"Perspiration soaked the T-shirt and sweater she wore beneath her coat."

The sweat "soaked" the shirt and "sweater"?!
umm...soaked them really? uh gross.

At first I let that slide but then more mistakes in just poor use of adjectives kept piling up.
"Watchers emerged. They peered at her with their dark flickering eyes as their shadow-like, willowy bodies..."

I'm still trying to picture exactly how the "shadow" people have flickering Dark? eyes...wouldn't their eyes just blend in?

"By eleven thirty, she was practically weaving at her desk"
No, the character work does not work as a basket maker. This is Banks describing how exhausted the character is.

If you REALLY think this book sounds cool or I haven't picked on the writer that is in this anthology you are looking forward to reading. I recommend checking your local library or getting this book used.

If you think this book might be okay, I recommend you save your money.

Superheroes In Prose, Through a Pulp Filter
In a darker, more urban and multi-cultural superhero collection than the "Wild Cards" series, "The Darker Mask" is a collection of stories, by some talented writers that will entertain, and possibly (as is often now a days) make the jump from short story to comic or movie. There are both comic writers--Ann Nocenti "(Daredevil")--and science fiction authors--Stephen Barnes--and everything in between, delivering 18 original stories, all of the above average, and all providing a new, updated look at the super-hero concept outside that of the comic book. I suppose it is just inertia that keeps superheroes in comic form, with either comic fans unwilling to read superhero stories in prose form, or speculative fiction fans unwilling to read books about superheroes. But, it is collections like this that create the "what if" in your head. What if the superhero concept had succeeded in the pulp novel environment, and not in the comic one? What would the mystery/thriller book section of the store look like?