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Men of Steel(Paperback)
by
Nguyen, Qui
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Description
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"Captain America, who was killed this month in a comic book but is
rumored to be returning to life in time for a movie, first came on the scene
in 1941, back when a nervous nation was looking for a patriotic symbol of
American power. But times have changed, and so have superheroes. In films
like Batman Begins and television shows like Heroes, they are now more
flawed, moody and ambivalent about power than ever.
Qui Nguyen’s MEN OF STEEL…introduces audiences to Captain Justice, a
crusader for the Iraq war era. A dead ringer for Captain America, including
the tights and shield, he was created by the United States military and has
dispensed with all kinds of villains, but he still has his critics.
Some say he’s made people dependent on "supers", as they’re called, and
created safe havens in the outer boroughs by concentrating on Manhattan. And
when he killed two murderers in an act of revenge, the man who fights for
justice and the American way was tossed into prison.
…the show belongs to the genre of gleefully lowbrow Off Off Broadway
entertainments for overgrown adults. The prodigious onstage fights are not
as elaborate as those in THE JADED ASSASSIN, the martial arts fantasy play,
but this plot-rich piece, which begins with a murder and moves backward, has
more to chew on.
The plot centers on the friendship between Captain Justice and Maelstrom,
a wealthy playboy with a collection of gadgets and a sexual secret. He’s an
angrier version of Batman. There are other superheroes as well, including
Bryant, a drag queen whose power is that he doesn’t feel pain, and Captain
Justice’s sidekick, Liberty Lady, who some suspect is merely a P R gimmick.
Mr Nguyen has an appealingly clean style that mixes colloquial slang and
hard-boiled detective fiction. ("Hope is only good for prisoners and bums
playing the lotto.") Some of his comic ideas are truly inspired, like the
mad villain, The Mole, who prefers making dramatic statements of intent to
actually avoiding weapons hurled at him.
…this is a fully realized and contained world that raises the skeptical
question: If power corrupts, than what about super power?"
Jason Zinoman, The New York Times
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Product Details
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Publisher : Broadway Play Publishing Inc.
Published : 08/01/2007
Format : Paperback
ISBN-10 : 0881453471
ISBN-13 : 9780881453478
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