Book Review: The Cape is A Lie by M.K. Gibson
THE CAPE IS A LIE by M.K. Gibson is a superhero parody/conspiracy book that I absolutely loved. I'm already a fan of Michael Gibson's work from his TECHNOMANCER and AGENTS OF MORTAL series. Those were specifically cyberpunk and urban fantasy set ups. A bit like me, he's a humorist who enjoys throwing ordinary geeks into genre busting situations where we get a look at the inside of how a typical (or atypical) example of popular archetypes would work.
In this case, Kevin Coello is a self-described journalist who has gone from reviewing video games on his Not-Twitch and Not-Youtube channels into live superhero reporting. To get his subscribers up, Kevin is willing to get closer than any other investigator to the people hitting each other with superpowers. This is due to Kevin having been a survivor of the destruction of San Francisco and believing Capes (superheroes) are a kind of aspirational ideal to revere.
Unfortunately, as the title says, the Cape is a lie. What they're lying about, what they'll do to cover it up, and what's really going on is the central crux of the story. However, Kevin is not a very good investigative reporter. In fact, he's not any kind of investigative reporter and the fact that he has stumbled upon the story of several lifetimes is something that has left him completely flummoxed as to what to do. Not even his best friend, Cool Greg, and his married sister or her wife can help him. Not that his sister in law wants to help him.
I really liked the semi-serious way Gibson approaches his superhero world. It's a ridiculous over-the-top world where superheroes (Capes) and villains (Cowls) beat each other up like its professional wrestling. They're big, bombastic, and full of epic punching as well as kicking. Unfortunately, real people are caught up in the conflict and casualties are frequent. This includes Kevin's parents.
Opposing the capes are a hate group that wants to see them brought to heel. Kevin believes they're just like any other group due to the fact that they target the Capes and Cowls for how they're born. However, his companions have a different opinion that there's more going on than mindless prejudice. Personally, I was with Kevin on this but the book leaves it dubious whether worrying about someone who can explode is different from the color of their skin.
There's lots of twists and turns in the book but it's, overall, a really entertaining work and I very much enjoyed it. The gross-out humor is sometimes too much with Kevin frequently throwing up due to stress over people trying to kill him. I also think there's perhaps a little too much story for the first book and he could have spread some of it out over a second book but I'm hardly one to complain over extra content.
In conclusion, this is a fun sci-fi romp that is strongly reminiscent of the X-men as well as some more deconstructionist takes on superheroes like the television version of The Boys. I really think superhero fans looking for an afternoon's read will enjoy it.