Super Human

“Right now, Roz Dalton despised the ‘one thing at a time’ limitation on her telekinesis. If she’d been able to control more than one object, she might have had a chance to get away. Instead, she’d been captured.” – Michael Carrol

A worldwide plague has begun spreading, endangering the existence of the human race. But it seems as though only adults are being hit by this flu that is slowly spreading around the world. A sinister group known as The Helotry is immune to this disease and attempting to use it to their advantage. Are they the culprits behind the outbreak? What is their plan? And, if all of the adult super humans are sick, who is going to stand against them? Michael Carrol’s Super Human is a superhero comic without the comic, a thrilling story of a patched together team of teens who try to find a cure for the sickness and stop The Helotry. They are underdogs, trying to prove themselves in a society that is surrounded by super heroes. Carrol borrows ideas from other stories, such as the threat of the end of humanity, the loss of all parents, and a nod to super heroes of old, to put together his fast-paced adventure that focuses on three super humans, Thunder, who manipulates sound waves, Abby, who has super speed and strength when using metal, Roz Dalton, a professional super hero who has telekinesis, and Lance, a regular teen human who is a bit of a thief and con artist. It is their story that the reader follows, with occasional snippets of story from the villains’ perspective.

While Super Human is a super hero story, it is not as shallow as some would assume. The idea of prejudice is quite strong in the story, with the teens being underestimated by adults early in the story, and some infighting between Lance and Thunder based on class, race, and human/super human issues. The way that Carrol uses these themes is not heavy-handed, but he uses it to develop his characters’ motivation. However, there is nothing new in these concepts either. I guess it is just good to have teens thinking about these issues on a regular basis, so the more they encounter them in literature, the more they will keep it in their minds. This isn’t that new for the super hero world though, as many graphic novels and comics are dealing with deeper issues more and more as they become more culturally relevant. There are many Marvel and DC stories that have dealt with big issues like these, such as the prejudice constantly seen in the X-Men comics.

I found the pacing of Super Human to be quite good, although I wasn’t always feeling like I needed to keep turning the page. Carrol does a good job of leaving cliffhangers at the end of his chapters, but the jumping back and forth between characters that so many people are using now was a bit distracting and pulled me away from the action sometimes. One thing that Carrol did well was slowly leaking the answers to mysteries in the story. It kept me in the action and made me want to know more about how he was going to weave all of the different stories together. Most teens who enjoy comic books and superheroes would probably enjoy this one, as it does a good job of describing the action scenes and pushes the pace of the story well.

I have to say that Super Human is not my favourite superhero story, but it is better than some of the books from the I Am Number Four series. The story is fast and action-packed, but it is a bit violent, so I would suggest this be used for grade 8 students or above. I would also say that the lack of depth in the story would lead me to not suggest it as a Lit Circle book, but it would work just fine as a silent reading story. If I had to suggest some books to pair it for Lit Circles, I would use Michael Grant’s Gone, Pittacus Lore’s I Am Number Four, or Jonathan Maberry’s Rot & Ruin, as they either have super heroes, missing parents/adults, or teens forced to take on more responsibility than they normally would. Super Human is an interesting story that will draw in students who are drawn in by superheroes or fast-paced adventure.