It’s becoming a common occurence to listen to the latest Andrea Vernon audiobook during long trips. So this time ain’t no different. The 9h audiobook was perfect for the 11h round trip to Europa-Park.

Story

In true flashback style, Andrea regales us with the events that follow directly after the end of Andrea Vernon and the Superhero Industrial Complex, where she and The Big Axe get separated by the forcefield that CUP erected around New York to keep the supervillains-turned-legit out.

It’s a good story, not overly complex, relying more on the characters to be funny than big events, but it manages to hold the attention with some minor twists.

Characters

We have our, now familiar, cast of superheroes, complemented by an android version of Andrea and an evil mastermind who wants to “take over the world”. Each superhero is even more ridiculous than the last one, with names that defy the imagination, but luckily are very descriptive.

The cast is big, and most superheroes only get a few lines here and there, so there isn’t much in the way of character evolution, but I like how they aren’t carbon copies of each other.

Writing

The writing is a bit of a double-edged sword. It’s all funny and lighthearted, and the author is consistent in using people’s full superhero names every time they are referenced (often preferring them to pronouns). This adds to the ridiculousness of it all and makes for a funny note, however at the same time, it does tend to get a bit old if the same person is referenced 6 times in 3 sentences. This is exacerbated in the audiobook because it draws everything out needlessly.

Audiobook

The narrator does a great job with finding unique voices for every character and the delivery is snappy and clear. There are however a few superheroes that shout out their name EVERY DAMN TIME they refer to themselves (cough GLARE cough) and even though it’s funny, the narrators rendition starts to grate on your nerves after a few sentences.

Conclusion

It was OK. It was funny and light and got me through a long drive. There’s nothing special or profound here, but if you’re looking for a fun diversion, this is a great choice.