The Adventures of Superhero Girl
Written and illustrated by Faith Erin Hicks
Published by Dark Horse Comics
Review by Stephanie Cooke
On November 5, 2010, a little webcomic popped on the internet from Faith Erin Hicks called The Adventures of Superhero Girl. The title of the series pretty well sums up everything that the book is about, as it basically follows the adventures (or more appropriately, MISadventures) of a young superhero. She wants the normal things in life: a boyfriend, a place to live, a good job and of course, an arch-nemesis. Not all of these things are coming together though. What she DOES have are superpowers; she can lift heavy objects, leap over tall buildings and such. Basically she has the same sort of powers that Superman has, minus a sprawling Metropolis to fight crime in.
Superhero Girl is trying to just get a little acknowledgment for the hard work that she puts in, but fighting ninjas on a regular basis doesn’t get the recognition it once did… Plus it’s hard to be awesome at something when your brother is even AWESOMER.
Anyways, when the comic was still coming out online (it originally was created for a Canadian Nova Scotia paper called The Coast), I caught it here and there. One of the great things about The Adventures Of Superhero Girl is that you could virtually pick it up at any point. Some of the stories were part of a larger arc, but I found that most of them were one-offs that you could just enjoy by themselves.
The comic is STILL available online, but it’s been collected into a hardcover book that’s being published by Dark Horse Comics. If you want to get an idea of what the comic is like, I recommend checking it out online. Honestly though? It’s still fairly early in the year and the hardcover edition of The Adventures of Superhero Girl is one of my favourite purchases. I can’t think of a single person who wouldn’t enjoy everything about this delightful series from Faith Erin Hicks.
On Amazon right now, the book only goes for about $12 and that’s one DAMN good deal for a book that you’ll want to read again and again. If you’re a collector like me, I recommend getting two… one to keep on your bookshelf and one to keep on your coffee table for all your guests to check out as well. Even non-comic book people can hop on board with Superhero Girl and enjoy the heck out of it.
VERDICT:
I don’t know if you caught onto this from pre-verdict, but BUY IT. You won’t regret picking up this book and I can guarantee that it’ll be something you’ll enjoy and wind up buying copies of for your friends and family members too. The Adventures of Superhero Girl is one of the most delightful comic experiences I have ever had and the only mistake you can make with this series is not finding the time to read it.
