Lois Lane: Fallout by Gwenda Bond

Marvel might get all the kudos for it's numerous titles starting female superheroes, but it is DC whose making strides in recruiting the next generation of new girl readers. Last month DC launched the DC Superhero Girls line on their website. With weekly minisodes, activities, and a toy and comic book series coming up next year, the message of DCSH Girls is clear- girls can save the day as well as any boy!

   But 'Girls' isn't what I am reviewing for this post. No, what I am reviewing today is another series geared towards young girls, though boys could enjoy it too! What I am talking about is the Lois Lane mystery series for young adult readers.

    This series is written by author Gwenda Bond and is a reimagining of Lois Lane's days in high school. Lois is an army brat whose been all around the world thanks to her dad's military career as a general. The Lanes have finally settled down in Metropolis, hopefully for good. Things at Lois' new school should go great for the 16-year old if she can follow her dad's advice to not rock the boat. But in typical Lois fashion, her pursuit for justice and truth will make her instant enemies with the Principal when on her first day the young lady sticks up for a fellow student whose being bullied.

    This spunk will put Ms. Lane on several other party's radar. Her anti-bullying cause will make Lois the target of the bullies collectively known as 'The Warheads' who spend all their time playing a virtual reality game and eerily act and talk as if they were of one mind. Lane's attitude also garners the attention of a certain editor of the Daily Planet as well. It will also land the young lady a new job!

   Now a cub reporter for an online reporter for The Scoop, online sister publication of the Planet aimed at teens, Lois will use her new clout to expose the wicked ways of the Warheads. When the attacks start getting personal, the young reporter will need the help of her new friends at the Daily Planet including cyber genius Devin and indy rock fashionista Maddy. But can she trust her new colleagues or is the only person she can truly rely on a budding reporter from the MidWest that she only knows from chatting with on the Internet with the screen name of SMALLVILLEGUY?

    Fallout was an interesting read. I really wanted to get to the bottom of the mystery and I really wanted the bad guys to get what was coming to them. For a young adult mystery novel, it was pretty fresh and new. There were a few cliches, like the ubiquitous evil principal and Lois' parents being the kind that just don't understand what it's like to be a kid anymore.  Overall, the book was quite good and I'm looking forward to the next book which drops early May 2016.

    Before I go, I want to talk to the established fans of DC for a minute. I know you will hate that in this book Lois is a young girl, that she got her start on a kid's feature at the Daily Planet, and that the book takes place now and not during the 90s or even the 80s. The book is geared toward young readers- readers who might one day want to pick up a comic book about Lois Lane and maybe start collecting them. These are the very same potential readers that could one day save the print industry because they got hooked on superheroes thanks to a novel such as this. 

    I was willing to overlook the modern twist. In fact, I like that Clark Kent is involved in the story without physically being a part of Lois' life. I am sure that his presence will send some purists into a fit of rage. But what won this book over for me was that Lois Lane, for how hip and modern she was presented, still was a curious sort who got herself into trouble and is a terrible speller. ('How many 'P's in Rapist?') Take away her iPhone, her plaid skirt, and love of video games, boiled down this is the same Lois that we (and Superman) fell in love with over the past 77 years and that makes this young adult book WORTH CONSUMING!

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars