This series of linked stories are from the points of view of "the wives and girlfriends of superheroes, female heroes, and anyone who’s ever been “refrigerated”: comic book women who are killed, raped, brainwashed, driven mad, disabled, or had their powers taken so that a male superhero’s storyline will progress." Valente explores these ideas is a new subversive way, giving perspectives that often have no voice in the typical storyline of a superhero story.
I liked some of these stories more than others, but I really liked the idea behind this book. I liked that Valente starts the book in Deadtown, with one woman explaining that "Dying is the biggest thing that ever happened to me. I'm famous for it." As it turns out, she died while her superhero boyfriend was trying to save her and typically, in a superhero story, this is a tragic element, but we never get to know the girlfriend at all. Valente turns this idea completely around here, giving us stories that focus on the women who are often left in the background. Some stories are funny, some are tragic, and there are a variety of different kinds of women (and thus, stories).
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