Welcome to my first installment of Erica's
Sunday PJs & Comic Book Reviews on my blog,
6'7 & Green.
Today, I'll be talking about how much I love
Thomas F. Zahler's Love & Capes.
Love & Capes is a superhero book with a lot
of heart.
And, not to mention, some very adorable art.
It centers around the relationship between
Abby and Mark.
Abby is a bookstore owner, and Mark is an
accountant/superhero.
Mark is definitely based on Superman, and
Abby has a little Lois Lane in her.
But she owns a bookstore, so she's not getting
into all the trouble Lois always found herself
in.
Love & Capes, the first volume, called Do
You Want to Know a Secret? follows the progression
of Abby and Mark's relationship.
And I love stories that show how two people
fall in love because you kind of fall in love
with them.
Oh, and this is my other comic book reviewer
Winston.
He's a bit of a guest star.
You'll probably see him more than once.
Say "Hi."
He also really enjoyed falling in love with
Abby and Mark as they go from dating to more
serious.
One thing I really appreciated is in the very
first issue that Mark tells Abby that he's
the Crusader.
Of course, there's the jokes.
He wears glasses exactly like Clark Kent and
all those superhero tropes that you expect
to see.
But Zahler does them in a very refreshing
way and, you know, takes what could be a 'oh,
you've seen this before' and freshens it up
and livens it up.
Abby and Mark are adorable.
And sometimes they're so adorable, as Charlotte,
Abby's sister would say, they just make you
really sick.
Love and Capes also explores other really
great relationship.
Abby and her relationship with her sister
is very refreshing.
They definitely have that sisterly bond and
that love, but sometimes, hate relationship.
Mark's relationship with his best friend Paul,
also known as Darkblade, who's supposed to
be Batman, is also really endearing.
It harks back to the 1970s version of Superman
and Batman when they were best friends and
helping each other solve crimes.
Some of my favorite parts of Love and Capes
were all the jokes.
I'm a sucker for a pun and a corny superhero
joke.
I love when they went to Atlantis and Major
Might (or was it, Mighty Major?) who is the
Captain Marvel-like figure is dating Amazonia,
who is based on Wonder Woman and Mark's ex-girlfriend.
And Abby discovers his secret: that he's a
kid.
That's something that's...
I don't know if Captain Marvel dates anyone
in the comics.
Of course, Abby, who's a little jealous of
Mark's past relationship with Amazonia, she
is like 'you need to tell Amazonia that you're
a little kid and make sure you do it while
I'm in sight.'
Things like that add little touches to the
book that are really great.
There was a Slings & Arrows reference in it,
which just made my little fangirl heart jump
with joy.
I have to say that my favorite part was the
part about Amazonia and her book deal.
I kind of love this ex-girlfriend is really
snarky to new girlfriend, but they all have
to get along because Amazonia and the Crusader
are superheroes and they have to fight together
on the Liberty League.
But there's that very real tension that can
happen when your ex and current girlfriend
are in the room.
It's kind of clear that Amazonia's still interested
in Mark and doesn't really understand why
he's dating Abby and not her, or, at least,
not another superhero.
So Amazonia's writes this book and Abby owns
a bookstore.
So she tells Abby, why don't I come, I'll
sign my book, I'm really famous, people know
who I am, it'll be great for your store's
profits.
And Abby can't turn that down, even though
she doesn't like Amazonia at all.
During the whole thing, she hasn't read Amazonia's
book yet, and Charlotte does.
She's like, oh my gosh, you have to read this
book.
And Abby reads it during Amazonia's signing
during her store.
And it's this tell-all about Amazonia and
Mark's relationship, which makes Abby madder
than mad.
And is like, Amazonia totally planned this
and all this stuff.
At the end, she finds out that Amazonia had
her heart broken by Mark.
So she, I think, gets to see a little bit
of different side of the relationship and
why Amazonia isn't really nice to Abby.
It's a very human element.
So I finished the book, and I can't wait to
read the next one.
I'm really excited about Love and Capes.
You should definitely check it out.
Zahler is a great writer.
He's really witty, funny, and cute.
He's a little corny, but there's a lot of
heart in it.
I hope you enjoyed this first installment.
And pick up Love and Capes.
It's definitely worth a read.
