AUSTIN GROSSMAN ON SOON I WILL BE INVINCIBLE

[MattBrady]

by Zack Smith

This interview dedicated to the memory of Daniel Robert Epstein

It’s not easy being a super villain.

Consider, for instance, the case of one Doctor Impossible. He’s in prison for the umpteenth time, and his ex-girlfriend, Lily, has joined a new version of the Champions, aka the good guys.

Faced with failed scheme after failed scheme and a new generation of heroes who see him as a joke, Doctor Impossible is left to wonder if he’s wasted his life. He’s desperate to put one more master plan into motion, to finally wreak vengeance on the world that’s wronged him. But when he’s blamed for the disappearance of his arch-nemesis CoreFire, things get even more complicated. Meanwhile, the Champions’ newest member, the cybernetic heroine Fatale, is faced with the challenge of tracking Impossible down…and finds that life on a super-team isn’t going to automatically help her get over the tragedies of her past.

Is this a new miniseries from Marvel, DC or Image? No, it’s the plot to Austin Grossman’s novel Soon I Will be Invincible, published by Pantheon Books. It’s been called “great fun” by Entertainment Weekly, a “witty, stunning debut” by Wired and “a new, winning, smart and funny way of interpreting our world” by Douglas Coupland, author of Generation X.

While on tour promoting the book, Grossman, who’s also worked on such video games as Deus Ex, Tomb Raider: Legend and System Shock, spoke to us about doing a superhero novel, the critics he really fears, and the schematics of destroying Metropolis with a giant robot. We also included some excerpts from the book to give you a taste of what lies inside.

I wasn’t a civilian anymore. I had superpowers. I was a super…what? But really, I knew. When you get your powers, you learn a lot about yourself. My professors called me mad. It was time for me to stop punishing myself, and start punishing everybody else.

Newsarama: Austin, your book has been very visible on bookstore shelves – it’s got a very distinct look.

Austin Grossman: Yeah, going into this I knew we were going to have Chip Kidd design it, and he knocked it out of the park! That was one of carrots that Pantheon dangled in front of us when we were trying to pick publishers, actually – “Hey, Chip Kidd’ll design your book if you go with us!”

I didn’t really collaborate with him – we spent a half-hour talking about the book, and then he went off and did his think, and it was amazing. That helmet on the cover is really a Thor helmet that Marvel actually made in the 1980s, I think.

Newsarama Note: Ultimates artist Bryan Hitch drew the cover for the UK edition of the book, seen below.

NRAMA: How’s the response been to the book so far?

AG: It’s been pretty good. The reviews are very largely positive, and reader response has been very positive as well. I guess I’m waiting for more responses from comics reviewers, because I’m a little nervous about the reception from the comic book community. I feel like they could either see me as an interloper, or as someone who really loves comics. I’m really waiting to hear from them.

NRAMA: It sounds like you see the reaction from comics fans as the acid test for this novel…

AG: You know, I feel like it is! I’m not afraid of the snobs down at the literary magazines or whatever, but the comic book people have read the stuff I’m drawing from. So they’re going to know whether I’m a rip-off artist or if I’m paying homage. And they won’t be shy about sharing their opinions.

NRAMA: In that case, I should warn you – Brad Meltzer did a character called “Dr. Impossible” in Justice League of America last year.

AG: Oh no, I know all about that! I’ve been through that with the legal department at Random House already. We knew about that, and we went ahead with that name anyway. “Let the chips fall where they may,” is our attitude. (laughs)

NRAMA: Hey, you managed to call your superteam “The Champions” and no one’s complained…what comics do you currently read?

AG: I’m a little behind, but I’ve definitely got all the Civil War stuff, which I really, really enjoyed…52, I admit, got away from me, and I’m still not sure how the hell it turned out!

I follow the writers I like. There’s Gail Simone, Ed Brubaker…just a whole lot of really talented people writing comics right now. I follow New Avengers, I follow Manhunter a lot, though I’m behind on both of those…I kind of feel like the last few years have been incredibly good for writing in comics.

NRAMA: What are some of your favorite comics?

AG: Ooh, that’s a hard one. I love Sleeper, the Ed Brubaker series from Wildstorm. To me, that’s the gold standard of supervillain comics. I got into comics in the 1980s with the Chris Claremont X-Men, which was the first comic I read every month.

In the 1990s, I kind of stopped reading comics for a while, but there were plenty of books I enjoyed…I love Scott McCloud’s Zot, I’m a huge Zot fan. I’m trying to mail Scott McCloud a copy of my book, but it’s impossible because he’s on tour! I went to his old high school, so Zot was huge there.

NRAMA: Would you want to write some comics yourself?

AG: I can’t figure that out! (laughs) I would need the right artist, I guess, because I think my writing works with some styles, and not others. I love the look of Watchmen, for instance. Collaborative media can often be difficult to work within.

Also, it’s hard to go back and change things when you’re doing a comic, as opposed to a novel. It took me five years to write this book, and I put a lot of really bad stuff in when I first wrote it! I was 2/3 through the book when I decided that two major characters were actually the same character! That’s the kind of slop I work with that sometimes turns out all right. (laughs) That’s harder to do when you have a monthly deadline.

A decade ago the Champions fought a woman who called herself Dollface. She built tiny malevolent toys – a cowboy, a tiger, a carriage – but the toys worked, and they each did something different. A novelty villain, arguable, but she had a kind of concentrated integrity. Why only toys? It must have meant something to her.

NRAMA: Let’s talk about the book itself. Something that’s unique about the story is that you examine a lot of the subtext to be found in superhero comics, but you’re not openly mocking them. You have some fun with the clichéd sayings of both heroes and villains, and in what it would take to live like a supervillain, but outside of the thematic elements, the action of the story plays like a straight superhero adventure.

AG: I’m glad that comes through. That’s exactly how I wanted it to work. It’s easy to push superhero doctrine into shtick, to deflate it and make fun of it. And that’s not at all what I wanted to do. I wanted it to be exactly like you said – if you drew the panels, it could look a lot like a straight superhero action piece.

But by hearing their thoughts, by getting that view on them that a detailed prose portrait gives, it kind of adds to it. I wanted to do a really good superhero comic, then add in a little bit of my own stuff, which I hope comic book fans will get that. If you put superheroes into the real world, then it’s funny, it’s naturally funny. But I didn’t want to handle it in a mocking way.

NRAMA: Have you read the novel Superfolks?

AG: No! I’m aware of it, but while I was writing the book, I kind of stayed away from anything like that, such as Kavalier and Clay. I didn’t want to read Superfolks, because I didn’t want my thinking messed with by what someone else had done before. I saw Superfolks in a store, and I picked it up and looked through it, and then I put it down and thought, “Don’t look at this while you’re writing.” (laughs)

The thing I keep waiting for people to ask me about is Venture Brothers, because I finally saw it last September, and I thought, “Oh my God, people will really think I ripped this off.” And frankly, had I seen it before, I would have! But the luck of the draw is, I only saw it after my book had gone to press. I’m a huge Venture Brothers fan now.

NRAMA: What really struck me as an influence on this was that issue of Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing where the Justice League makes a cameo, and there’s that vivid prose describing them – the Flash seeing the world as full of statues and all that.

AG: Yeah! Is that the one with the Floronic Man?

NRAMA: Yeah, Woodrue.

AG: I read any Alan Moore I can get my hands on, so I vividly remember that issue. Oh, and the way he did that in Miracleman as well. That was entirely the voice I was shooting for…I don’t understand how Alan Moore is so good. But that is a good observation, because I remember that issue specifically.

I knew so many of them, then and later, but we’re all changed now, utterly, but industrial accidents, wild talents, gods. We’ve become psychics and knife throwers, rogues and religious fanatics and clowns, and criminals. They wouldn’t recognize me now, even if they remembered me. Even if I wanted them to.

NRAMA: Another interesting aspect of the book is your perspective on supervillains as these beaten-down underdogs who keep trying in the face of oppression from the jock-like superheroes.

AG: When you flip the perspective, it really does feel a lot like that! The supervillains work incredibly hard coming up with all these plans, and really, they have much more interesting powers and costumes and ideas.

NRAMA: You know, that always bugged me as a kid – Lex Luthor builds a giant robot, and Superman comes along and destroys it, and we’re supposed to be rooting for Superman?! That robot probably took a long time to build!

AG: I know! He’d have to use non-standard parts! How did he move all that metal around in the first place? It’s a mystery! And also, why go about conquering the world that way?

Obviously, supervillains would be sort of super-competent if they had tried to take on a regular profession. But they must also have some kind of neurotic compulsion that keeps them out of any kind of regular science. Yeah, Lex Luthor is definitely one of the archetypes, and as they’ve been playing around with his character in the last decade or so, he actually gets elected president!

Which actually kind of makes a lot of sense…if Lex Luthor is around long enough, he’s prepared for the job.

NRAMA: Doctor Impossible’s origin echoes Lex’s from the Silver Age, along with Victor Von Doom’s.

AG: Yeah. I drew liberally from those guys in putting together Doctor Impossible…though I was never a big fan of Superman comics, for some reason. I do love Michael Rosenbaum’s version of Lex on Smallville. That inspired me more than anything else.

NRAMA: Do you feel the book is mainly about the conflict between the Silver Age and the modern age?

AG: It definitely draws on that kind of energy. What I like to compare it to is the scene in that Gail Simone miniseries Villains United where the Fiddler shows up and just gets killed because he’s kind of obviously out of his depth. That’s one of those moments where a guy is totally not in the right era.

We’re talking about a film version of the book …I can’t say too much, but we’re talking about, in flashbacks, doing different styles of special effects for characters from different eras.

NRAMA: So there’s been film interest already…?

AG: Well, you know Hollywood! People love superhero properties. There’s been some interest, but we’re being careful, because we don’t want to crank out a really crappy superhero movie.

NRAMA: And no one wants to see one…now, the book’s superheroic narrator, Fatale, is a sympathetic character. But her chapters still maintain the image of the superheroes as the immature jocks, who act like they know everything.

AG: Actually, the hard part of the book was to write the chapters with Fatale! I had to sort of work my brain back into a place were being a superhero makes sense.
And I had to think through that for Lily, too.

NRAMA: I was a little surprised that the book wasn’t told from her point of view, because she’s outside both the superheroes and supervillains – she doesn’t give a damn about good and evil, and is just wanders through this chaos on her own terms.

AG: If I had had a third narrator, it absolutely would have been Lily. Sometimes I think about whether the book would have worked that way, or whether the entire book should have been told from her perspective, rather than having it told from both sides. That’s another good spot, there. Had I to do it again, it might have gone that way.
NRAMA: Doctor Impossible is kind of an old-school supervillain, very much in the vein of the Silver Age, while Fatale seems more like an archetype of a 1990s vigilante.

AG: Yeah, she’s a very 1980s, 1990s type of character, influenced by William Gibson and his character Molly Millions – definitely that kind of personality, a product of that kind of era. And you’re right – Doctor Impossible belongs to another era, and has survived from the Silver Age into the modern era.

And I hate to admit this, but the chronology doesn’t quite work. But that’s the effect I wanted, this past-his-peak supervillain, who had done a lot of Silver Age stuff before we saw him.

NRAMA: Regarding that “past his peak” theme, there’s a very evocative passage about the original supervillains:

I met the original villain team once, the Delinquent Five, when they traveled to the present day to learn the future of their villainy. Their methods were hopelessly outdated, but in their day, they were geniuses! The Sinister Servant of Atlantis! The Diabolical Duplicate Sun! Their schemes are legend now, if only for their scope, their vision, the outlandish expense. It humbles even my own undertakings. But they came here seeking aid from their future selves, the selves they assumed would be wealthy and powerful, rulers of nations. When they found the world still ruled by governments and policed by heroes, they departed in silence, humbled. Maybe that was the beginning of the end for them.

AG: Yeah, that’s one of my favorite parts of the book. That could have gone on for pages, actually, but I didn’t know how well it would play with readers. But I love taking that sort of comic book narration and putting it in a prose form, because the imagination really shines through. You try to play that kind of writing straight in prose, and the effect is incredible.

NRAMA: The book also evokes a sense of shared history, of continuity between these characters…

AG: Absolutely. That’s one of the things that’s so great about the comics of today. I think the only thing you can compare it to in literature is something like The Iliad or The Odyssey, that sense of shared mythology.

NRAMA: There’s a good sense of closure at the end of the novel, but the superhero universe within the book is still around. Any plans for other stories set there?

AG: I’m definitely working on a new book set in the same superhero universe.

NRAMA: Finally, I wanted to ask about your Captain America editorial in The New York Times…

AG: That was a case of a guy who knew a guy who needed a comic-themed editorial for when Cap died, and they came to me. They actually cut out a lot of my comic-book references! Also, I was afraid people might think that the title (“Star-Spangled Schlemiel”) was anti-Semitic…but it turned out to be a Thomas Pynchon reference It didn’t get a lot of response, so I guess it didn’t make any waves.

NRAMA: Any final thoughts?

AG: I think that’s about it! I hope people check out the book, and that they enjoy it.

For more on Soon I Will be Invincible, including an excerpt, check out the official web site at www.sooniwillbeinvincible.com

[StevieCool]

I liked the book, and I generally don't read books without pictures in them.

[Bugaboo-X]

I really enjoyed this book. The alternating protagonists' perspectives (aside: one of the protagonists was an antagonist by his very nature) kept the tale fresh throughout and allowed the writer to slowly reveal mysteries without being beaten down by traditional plot structure. The details and characterizations were used to paint the "four-color" genre beautifully, even as the super hero medium as we know it transitioned over the decades.

If you don't have this book yet, buy it soon.

(If you can't afford to buy it soon, at least read it in the book store so you can tell your friends about it ... and then go back to buy the paperback later.)

[tdaniel]

Laught out loud funny in parts, Pitch perfect in terms of tone and characterization. It's pretty apparent Mr. Grossman is a longtime fan of comics and his affection for the medium comes through without being overly sentimental. Imagine the "monologuing" of the Incredible's Syndrome, then take that out over the span of chapters at a time, the inner space of the comically maniacal Dr. Impossible and you've got half the book right there. Then toss in a little Watchmen style team dynamics. You'll recognize parts from other places but the whole is totally original and fully entertaining!

And a nice twist to the pay off as well.

My friend compared it to a classic SNL skit the other day. You'll enjoy it while you're reading but love it even more in memory.

[Snikkas]

I, too, greatly enjoyed it.

I feel like there's currently a new genre in fiction, which I lovingly call Superhero fiction, and this book is going to be at the forefront of this genre for a while. Mind you, I'm fully aware that Marvel and DC are publishing Superhero books now, but I'm not counting them in this genre. I'm talking original fiction about new heroes and villains.

[Cray_ws]

Originally Posted by StevieCool

I liked the book, and I generally don't read books without pictures in them.

Not cool Stevie. There are way too many good books without pictures to be avoiding them.

[MrJasonTodd]

this book is killer. i read it when i have down time at the office.

[SWulf]

Great book.
I picked it up at the library because I could not find anything else and I am glad I did.

[Barry Strange]

It's nice to see this review and all, but why was there no review for Minister Faust's From the Notebooks of Doctor Brain, which came out months ago and was also about superheroes and villains? Why is this book getting all the press while Faust's was ignored?

[deco_la]

This book was a blast - like marvel handbook / DC whos who entries interspersed with serious internal monologues and emotional ramifications - a perfect combo of the absurd wonder of superhero stories with the absolute emotioanl sincerity of straight dramatic novel prose. It actually reminded me of the Freedom Force game - all original characters and concepts that clearly homage the greats but create an all-new world with perfect integrity that you wish you could explore more.

I actually "read" the audio book version (loooong commute) and I've gotta give props to the actor who preformed the Doc Impossible chapters - what a great reading, with the perfect tone of arrogant superiority / inferiority. The fatale sections are good too (and the reader was especially good w/the various voices of the champions) but the Doc sections are unbeatable (though Doc isn't - oops, spoiler!)

[SMARTASS8]

I was all set to buy the book until he said that he enjoyed Civil War. I can't support an insane person by buying their works.

[Doombug]

I've reviewed this once already, but you can tell the love of the industry here. everyone should read this:

Doctor Impossible is my favorite supervillian of all time.

[Doombug]

Originally Posted by SMARTASS8

I was all set to buy the book until he said that he enjoyed Civil War. I can't support an insane person by buying their works.

Please tell me that was sarcasm. Trust me, you will love this book.

[iwarrior]

I feel like there's currently a new genre in fiction, which I lovingly call Superhero fiction, and this book is going to be at the forefront of this genre for a while. Mind you, I'm fully aware that Marvel and DC are publishing Superhero books now, but I'm not counting them in this genre. I'm talking original fiction about new heroes and villains.

I did just that, except mine's a novella or a long short story. 66pgs. I'm trying to get it published, but I'm not sure where to submit it. I would ideally love to see my characters in comics form, but the comics industry seems too cliquish, and I can't seem to find the right artist anyway. So, I just started writing a story. And I think it turned out well. I'm still fine tuning it though.

Keep in mind, it isn't exactly new. Remember the old pulps? The Shadow, The Spider, Doc Savage, the Grey Lensmen?

Btw, I saw this book in my Westfield Catalog and almost ordered it but didn't.

[CaptainTemerity]

I'm in the midst of reading the book now (on my lunch breaks), and I'm really enjoying it immensely.

It was nice to see the Venture Bros. comparisons. I'm not totally sure what they're founded on, but, in my head, Doctor Impossible has been Rusty Venture the entire time.

Be anxious to read more from Mr. Grossman after this.

[neowrites]

I'm clearly in the minority, but I mildly enjoyed Soon I Will be Invincible. The dialog (and I understand he was playing with the archetypes, I do) just made me groan. Reminded me more of 60s Batman TV show than an homage to comic books. But I will say there are also parts of the book to enjoy, so I can't say I hated it. There's some character bits toward the end that really struck a chord for me, really felt "true" in that literature way. Mostly, I just couldn't do the camp dialog.

To the guy who wrote the long short story, you might check out:
http://www.thousand-faces.com/
I haven't seen their work yet, but its on my radar.

And, of course, since it's all about self-promotion, I'd like to recommend that people check out the book I edited last year, Able to..., which is a collection of 13 stories by 9 authors. It's stories about superpowers, but not superheroes. Most of the stories lean toward magical realism more than sci-fi/fantasy. There are a couple of reviews on Amazon. Punk Planet gave it positive review, just a few short issues before they folded.

The current issue of Poets & Writers Magazine has a short article on superhero fiction, too. FYI.

-Neil Ellis Orts
neoNuma Arts

[StevieCool]

Originally Posted by Cray_ws

Not cool Stevie. There are way too many good books without pictures to be avoiding them.

I'm sure there are, but pre-Internet, pre-owning-my-own-car, it was always a crapshoot as to which 500+ page novel was one or the other... and the house won a lot back then. I kept picking up too many that were the quality equivalent of "Return of Captain Marvel" or a Bruce Jones "Hulk". So it wasn't just the cost issue, it was also "I spent a week to read THAT?" effect.

However, Harry Potter and $3.99 comics comics have brought me back to giving novels a chance again. Oh, and "Some Day I Will Be Invincible", of course.

[RichJohnston]

UK copy with Hitch cover on eBay...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...3501&rd=1&rd=1

[Snikkas]

Grossman: "That helmet on the cover is really a Thor helmet that Marvel actually made in the 1980s, I think."

Does that mean it's a replica Thor helmet like the one the little girl in "Adventures in Babysitting" wore?

[Snikkas]

Originally Posted by iwarrior

I did just that, except mine's a novella or a long short story. 66pgs. I'm trying to get it published, but I'm not sure where to submit it. I would ideally love to see my characters in comics form, but the comics industry seems too cliquish, and I can't seem to find the right artist anyway. So, I just started writing a story. And I think it turned out well. I'm still fine tuning it though.

Keep in mind, it isn't exactly new. Remember the old pulps? The Shadow, The Spider, Doc Savage, the Grey Lensmen?.

I do recall the old pulps (however, of those you mentioned I only know The Shadow & Doc Savage) but it's not like you can find them anymore.

Regarding your story, turning this thread around a little bit, it seems like you've got a good start but you're stuck on the submissions part. (Everyone's downfall: Writing's the easy part, submitting the thing is the pain in the ass).

There's a ton of literary journals out there (such as McSweeney's) to submit to. Try and find a "super hero" specific one. Although I don't have an example, it could be out there. Or see if any literary journal has a supherhero theme issue on their editorial calendar. ____, it could be something to look into starting on your own with some friends.

And don't worry about the fine tuning. Some authors aren't even happy with their work and want to make changes after publication but know they need to "let go" at one point or another and just let the beast survive in the world.

[DJ Sloofus]

I just picked this book up at Border's an hour ago. I read the first five or ten pages, and so far it seems pretty good. I'm looking forward to the rest.

[Kevenn]

I got this book as a gift from a firend, and I absolutely freakin' loved it!!!!!!! I am so happy to read that there will be another book written in this universe. There's such a rich history presented in this book, and I can't wait to read more about that world.

[iwarrior]

Originally Posted by Snikkas

I do recall the old pulps (however, of those you mentioned I only know The Shadow & Doc Savage) but it's not like you can find them anymore.

Regarding your story, turning this thread around a little bit, it seems like you've got a good start but you're stuck on the submissions part. (Everyone's downfall: Writing's the easy part, submitting the thing is the pain in the ass).

There's a ton of literary journals out there (such as McSweeney's) to submit to. Try and find a "super hero" specific one. Although I don't have an example, it could be out there. Or see if any literary journal has a supherhero theme issue on their editorial calendar. ____, it could be something to look into starting on your own with some friends.

And don't worry about the fine tuning. Some authors aren't even happy with their work and want to make changes after publication but know they need to "let go" at one point or another and just let the beast survive in the world.

There's a company that's been reprinting old pulps. I see them offered in my Westfield Catalog. The publisher is called Girasol. I have one of them, but my budget didn't allow me to order any this month. I got interested in the Spider via Tim Truman's stories for Eclipse back in the early 90's. They had text pieces in the back describing all the villians and scenarios. Wild stuff!

I've been thinking of trying fantasy magazines. Thanks for the suggestions. I almost started a separate thread about it. I would love all of you to read my story.

[ziza9]

IWarrior: Have you tried WritersMarket? I have the new book (not suggesting you drop 50 bucks on it though), but with it came access to their database online. There is a lot of information in the book and on the site that I have found useful over the years when it comes to getting gigs and trying to sell my work. It's also useful in terms of finding an agent. Or you could just pop down to Borders or B&N and grab the guidelines, do's and dont's, what they are looking for and who to contact for the following (I pulled a list of these publishers and mags):

Magazines

Analog Science Fiction & Fact
Apex Digest
Asimov's Science Fiction
Book of Dark Wisdom
Leading Edge
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction
Necrology Magazine
On Spec
Sciweb BEM
Talebones
Tales of the Talisman

And of course there are tons of literary journals to submit to. A Public Space is friendly to super hero fiction. Jonathan Lethem of "The Fortress of Solitude" fame has a short story in the new edition in bookstores now. Their site: apublicspace.com.

Publishers

Ace Science Fiction and Fantasy
ArcheBooks Publishing
Bancroft Press
Bantam Dell Publishing Group
Crossquarter Publishing Group
Chippewa Publishing LLC
DAW Books
Del Rey
DNA Press & Narta Publishing
Doherty Associates LLC
Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing
Falls Media
Fatcat Press
HarperCollins
The Invisible College Press
Kaeden Books
Komenar Publishing
Kunati Inc.
Moody Publishers
New Victoria Publishers
ROC Books
Salvo Press
Spectra Books
St. Martin's Press
Top Publications, Ltd.
Twisted Shift
Vivisphere Publishing
WaterBrook Press
Whitaker House Publishers


Some will probably say they don't take unsolicitated manuscripts, so you might need to look into an agent or go with another pub house. Hope this helps on cutting down some of the research time.

[iwarrior]

Thanks very much ziza. I think I subbed to Writer's Market a while ago. I'll investigate further.