Teenage Danny is minding her own business when famed superhero Dreadnought crashes to the ground in front of her. As his last act, he passes his powers on to Danny. Said powers include strength, flight, and an idealized superheroine body, which is great except for one thing: Danny’s transgender and closeted, and wasn’t planning to have the “By the way, I’m a girl” conversation until she was well out of high school.
Danny’s parents want their “son” back. Her best friend turns out to be kind of a creep. The local superhero league, still mourning the death of their friend, doesn’t know what to do about her. And on top of all that, the murderous villain responsible for Dreadnought’s death is still out there, planning another attack.
Though the coming-of-age part of Danny’s story can be grim, the narrative is firmly on Danny’s side and stays blessedly far away from the misery lit territory too often explored in books about trans people. Ultimately, Dreadnought is a classic hero origin story done well. Exciting, heartwarming, recommended.
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