"Capes and Masks," by Richard Helms, Mystery Weekly Magazine, June 2021.
This is the third time in ten years of weekly reviews that I am featuring a story by the same author two weeks in a row. (Mat Coward and Terrence Faherty were the others).
And except for quality, they couldn't be more different. Last week I critiqued a war-and-crime story. Today we have a quirky tale of a superhero, Captain Courageous:
"You know the story. Stolen by aliens who crashed my fourth birthday party. Returned when I was seventeen, but I was somehow... different than when I left. Well, duh, I was thirteen years older, had all this weird hair growing where it never had, and my voice sounded like I was shaving a cat with a cheese greater."
If that sounds a bit... hardboiled... for a superhero it is no accident. His cover identity is Eddie Shane, private eye. He mostly deals with divorce work but when a caped dude named Sunburst is found mysteriously dead, this is no job for a superhero. We need a detective to save the day.
Very funny and clever.
Loved the voice, loved the story, wanted to read more when I read the first little blurb in a previous announcement about the book, ordered the book, received the book, read all the stories, a first-rate issue but yup, “Capes and Masks” is what drew me in, a fabulous quirky tale, well done.
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