Gary Karkofsky is an ordinary guy with an ordinary life living in an extraordinary world. Supervillains, heroes, and monsters are a common part of the world he inhabits. Yet, after the death of his hometown’s resident superhero, he gains the amazing gift of the late champion’s magical cloak. Deciding he prefers to be rich rather than good, Gary embarks on a career as Merciless: The Supervillain … Supervillain Without Mercy.
But is he evil enough to be a villain in America’s most crime-ridden city?
Gary soon finds himself surrounded by a host of the worst of Falconcrest City’s toughest criminals. Supported by his long-suffering wife, his ex-girlfriend turned professional henchwoman, and a has-been evil mastermind, Gary may end up being not the hero they want but the villain they need.
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I was fully ready for another predictable superhero origin story. That isn’t this. This is a villain better than most heroes, heroes worst than most villains, and women that have depth, and I’m not talking cleavage. If you want to snort, roll your eyes, and wish that you had a cloak, give it a try. If you regret it, well not my fault you aren’t ready for Gary.
Set in the imaginary Falconcrest City, superheroes, monsters, and supervillains clash and clatter together. Gary Karkofsky has delusions of grandeur, specifically of becoming the lead supervillain for the city. He was given a magical cloak that gives him formidable powers. With this new wardrobe and a small group of henchpeople, Gary has big plans for the city.
First and foremost, there is humor everywhere in this book. I love that much of the humor is told in a straight manner, the characters taking the plot seriously even as they come up with corny supervillain or superhero names. For instance, Gary’s alias is Merciless: the Supervillain without Mercy. Now wouldn’t that make you quiver in your boots?
What a difference four years makes. When I first read this book back in 2017, I enjoyed it a lot, but I only gave it 3 stars. I went on to read the next two and always intended to go back and read the rest, but it wasn’t until recently that I decided to act on it—this time in audio format. Perhaps it’s the narrator, but this opening novel in the series struck me as much better than I thought it was the first time around. It’s just so dang well thought out—a tribute-through-parody to the superhero comics I’ve loved all my life.
Gary gets a package in the mail that turns out to be the magical cloak of the recently deceased superhero, Nightwalker. Gary dons it and instantly decides to fulfill his lifelong dream of being a supervillain. He names himself Merciless—which really proves to be a terrible name because Gary is filled with mercy and concern for those around him even as he pretends not to care.
As one would suspect of a superhero story, Gary’s life is filled with melodrama and bizarre coincidences. His brother was a “c-grade” retired supervillain murdered by one of the new “tougher” heroes, starting Gary down his “villainous” road. Apparently every woman he’s ever dated is on the path to being a supervillain or superhero as well—and of course he runs into all of them. He’s constantly stuck between his desire to be “evil” and his hatred of the idea that the innocent get hurt which leads him to become what he calls an anti-villain with hilarious results.
Hilarious is a good word to describe the whole series. Many of the villains feel like they could fit in well on the set of the 1960s Batman series. The cloak is sentient and talks to him. His henchwoman (ex-girlfriend) thinks he’s the best boss in the world because he doesn’t want sexual favors. (Gary is happily married to a woman who wants to be a superhero.) His henchman and villainous mentor is a strangely honorable Satanist. And it gets weirder and weirder from there.
What comes through most clearly as you read or listen to this novel is how much C.T. Phipps knows about the superhero genre and how important it is to him. If good parody truly comes from love of your subject, I think Phipps has been engaged in a torrid romance with superhero comics for the last forty or fifty years.
This review is for the audio book.
I really enjoyed this book and downloaded the next book before it even finished. It is a lot of fun with snarky dialog and plenty of action, it’s the type of book that doesn’t take itself to seriously and is all the better for it. Lots of cool names for both the good guys and the bad guys that would give the Avengers a run for there money. Loyalty doesn’t matter when you have super powers and sided can be switched when you are fighting to the death, as long as you do it with style and a quirky catchphrase. I don’t normally listen to the next book in the series straight away (preferring to space out the enjoyment) but with Zombies taking over the city (the next book) I can’t just leave it there.
When someone leaves a cloak on his doorstep Gary Karkofsky picks up the mantle and becomes the supervillian he has also was wanted to be. He is no ordinary villain though, he only kills bad guys and people that need killing like people that annoy him (kidding). He tries to follow the super villain handbook and the 1st rule is not to kill super heros. But what happens when the super hero themselves aren’t to worried about killing innocents to get there target. What happens then? Gary is about to find out. He stops the ice cream man from robbing a bank, only to turn around and rob it himself (well I said he was a villain) a long will his sidekicks, ex girlfriend Cindy and Diabloman. The city that hired him (well okay he blackmailed the city into paying him) to take out the ice cream man turns on him and sends anti hero’s to take him out. With the death of the anti heros Gary is sent to the moon where he stirs up a whole lot of new trouble for himself. What does it take, to take over the world?
I like the narrator and think he is a big part of why I enjoyed the book so much. I hope he sticks with the series
When Gary Karkofsky receives a mysterious package containing a magical cloak he uses it to be Merciless: The Supervillain without Mercy™ and starts making plans to take over Falconcrest City.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book in exchange for this review.
The Rules of Supervillainy plays with a lot of the tropes common to comic books; secret identities, lairs, the seeming inability of characters to recognize heroes in their civilian attire and the tendency of characters not to stay dead. But where this book is objectively better than many comics is that the world in which it takes place remains consistent throughout. You get the impression that there has been a great deal of history mapped out for this world and that most of it is still to be explored.
One of the things that helps hold the book together is the first person narration from Gary. He comes across as a reasonably average person, maybe a little more fanboy-ish, but he still reacts to many of the events in a believable manner. He also has a tendency not to take things too seriously, even in moments of extreme danger. To link back to what I presume is one of the author’s inspirations, the way Gary acts and talks often reminded me of Peter Parker from the Spider-Man comics.
The supporting cast is entertaining too. Gary’s ex Cindy, now a semi-profession hench-person is the sort who says the things everyone thinks but doesn’t usually voice. But I think my favourite was Diabloman, a former A-list supervillain, now past his prime physically and mainly just trying to a good father to his daughter. His new role as Gary’s majordomo offers equal parts salvation and irritation, being a conduit for some of the history of the world.
While the humour of the book may not suit everyone, as a long time comic book fan and someone who enjoys a good in-joke, this was a great book for me. I found it hugely entertaining. One warning though, since this is the first book in a series, it does end on a fairly major cliff-hanger.
When I saw the cover of this book I knew I had to have it. The rules of supervillainy? I wanted to know more.
And what I got was a hilarious action packed romp with the main character of Gary who reminds me of the Monarch from the Venture Brothers and obviously has some issues bu manages to become a supervillain that actually does heroic activities.
The supporting characters were excellent as well and it makes for a fun book that you just can’t put down. I couldn’t until I got to the end and I was glad that I already have the rest of the series, so I can binge read the other books.
This book is great if you are looking for a comical view of super villains,heroes. There were many times that I would laugh at loud with the humor in this book. Perfect for a light listen. Will definitely be listening to the next!
I’ve heard a lot about this series, and have sampled CT Phipps works before. Besides, who doesn’t like superheroes?
This was a quick, fun read with lots of situational humour and fast paced action. Recommended to fans of the genre – if you’ve enjoyed Deadpool, The Boys, and the like, you should add this to your reading list.
*** What to expect
A superhero story like the comics, with mind-bending twists and hilarious humour. As Phipps says in the introduction, this is born out of love for the genre, with plenty of tropes and no attempt at logic — just like the comics.
While not as dark as The Boys or as explicit as Deadpool, I still think it would appeal to their fans. Gary aka Merciless(tm) isn’t quite the super-villain he likes to be. He *doesn’t* suffer from a cliche heart-of-gold, nor is he an anti-hero like the punisher. He’s definitely a supervillain… he just likes the world to survive the space monsters and zombies long enough for him to rule it.
*** What I liked
The humour is in line with Phipps other works, with plenty of situational jokes, slapstick, snide commentary, and fanboi jokes.
The characters are amusing, and if they aren’t exactly deep and emotional that fits well with the genre. It’s more about the insane plot twists anyway.
*** What to be aware of
This book is more about chaotic humour than sensible plot, always going for the cheesy jokes. Then again, it’s why I like it.
*** Summary
If you like the super-powered genre, if you enjoy comics and would like a quick laugh-out-loud read, this is a book for you.
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Assaph Mehr, author of Murder In Absentia: A story of Togas, Daggers, and Magic – for lovers of Ancient Rome, Murder Mysteries, and Urban Fantasy.
Very interesting idea and great execution. Never knew being a super villain was such a taxing job. Definitely going to check out the others in his series.
Phipps and Kafer make a great team. I really enjoyed The Cthulhu Armageddon series narrated by Kafer and this is turning out just as good, but this series is quite a bit more humorous.
Gary Karkofsky has wanted to be a supervillain his whole life. Once the magic cloak of a former superhero shows up as his door, he finally has his opportunity. The only problem is, he sucks at it. He’s trying to be bad but keeps doing good things as well. His villain name is Merciless, but he seems to show quite a bit of mercy.
I can’t wait to enjoy the rest of the series. I’m sure it will bring many laughs.
Full disclosure… I am now the PUBLISHER of this series, but I was not at the time I read this book. In fact, reading this book is why I made contact with the author and became his publisher. I simply love it. It’s the first series I’ve encountered about an “anti-villain” – a Super Villain who does what he wants, and ends up doing good accidentally as often as not. His surrounding cast of characters is wonderful, everything from Diablo Man and Little Red Riding Hood (his henchfolk) to the cloak that gives him his powers (and the ghost of the previous owner that resides in his head). The works are littered with pop-culture jokes and references, and yet, despite all of the silliness of it, the stories are real, you care about the characters, and you are definitely ready for the next book when you finish one. The audio is also wonderful, thanks to the very snarky performance of the narrator, Jeffrey Kafer. Highly recommended for super-hero and fantasy lovers alike.
The Rules of Supervillainy by C.T.Phipps is an unusual superhero book. The supervillain is not super bad and married to someone who wants to be a superhero. Come to find out, the cape was suppose to go to her and not him. There are lots of crazy drama of trying to cause crime but stopping crime in the process. Having to decide to give his wife the cape or not. He has ‘teachers’ to teach him how to be a villain. It is all good silly fun. The dialogue is clever and plot fun. Characters unique and likable, even the ‘bad’ ones. A good read overall.