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theowrites 's review for:
We Could Be Heroes
by Philip Ellis
I love a book that's full of queer joy and acknowledges queer history, and We Could Be Heroes fits that billing. Will is a drag queen and rare bookseller in Birmingham, England, and Patrick is a closeted A-list American superhero movie actor who finds himself in need of saving after his coworkers drag him to a gay bar.
Patrick plays Captain Kismet, and the two come together in search of the Omega Issue, the last issue of Captain Kismet's original run. Ellis weaves the contemporary romance in with bits of the past about Captain Kismet's actual creators, their queerness, and how times are both wildly different and the same. Faye (Will's drag mother) gives a speech at a counterprotest when their drag queen story hour is attacked, which made me cry, especially as her character, due to age, links the past to the present.
The couple's major conflict revolves around Patrick's closeted status and fear that he won't get A-list roles if he comes out. Hollywood (with a capital H) has done a great job at propagandizing itself as a liberal bastion. However, it still is true that LGBTQ+ actors (even cis white gay men) get less prestigious roles than their cishet counterparts. Will and Patrick have a delightful cast of characters and found family surrounding them. Ellis doesn't shy away from having these side characters have unlikeable and very human moments. For example, Will has a particularly poignant fight with his best friend Jordan.
At times, Ellis got a little clunky when describing characters' diverse backgrounds or the oppression they faced. As a trans person, I was also curious on a deeper level about Will's relation with gender and drag; Ellis brought up Patrick's masculinity and physical shape in contrast with Will, and the two play with drag as a disguise for Patrick, but no more is done with it.
Having been in a comic book fandom for many years, I found it near impossible to believe that no obsessed Captain Kismet fans had found out anything previously about the Omega Issue and the queer origins of Captain Kismet and his original creators. As a huge Wonder Woman fan, I know so much about the Marstons and how their personal lives informed the foundation of Wonder Woman.
If you're wanting a romance full of queer joy and community, We Could Be Heroes is a great read.
Patrick plays Captain Kismet, and the two come together in search of the Omega Issue, the last issue of Captain Kismet's original run. Ellis weaves the contemporary romance in with bits of the past about Captain Kismet's actual creators, their queerness, and how times are both wildly different and the same. Faye (Will's drag mother) gives a speech at a counterprotest when their drag queen story hour is attacked, which made me cry, especially as her character, due to age, links the past to the present.
The couple's major conflict revolves around Patrick's closeted status and fear that he won't get A-list roles if he comes out. Hollywood (with a capital H) has done a great job at propagandizing itself as a liberal bastion. However, it still is true that LGBTQ+ actors (even cis white gay men) get less prestigious roles than their cishet counterparts. Will and Patrick have a delightful cast of characters and found family surrounding them. Ellis doesn't shy away from having these side characters have unlikeable and very human moments. For example, Will has a particularly poignant fight with his best friend Jordan.
At times, Ellis got a little clunky when describing characters' diverse backgrounds or the oppression they faced. As a trans person, I was also curious on a deeper level about Will's relation with gender and drag; Ellis brought up Patrick's masculinity and physical shape in contrast with Will, and the two play with drag as a disguise for Patrick, but no more is done with it.
Having been in a comic book fandom for many years, I found it near impossible to believe that no obsessed Captain Kismet fans had found out anything previously about the Omega Issue and the queer origins of Captain Kismet and his original creators. As a huge Wonder Woman fan, I know so much about the Marstons and how their personal lives informed the foundation of Wonder Woman.
If you're wanting a romance full of queer joy and community, We Could Be Heroes is a great read.