What
happens to super heroes when they grow old? I remember an interview from the
late Christopher Reeve where he explained regardless of his own age, he had to
play Superman as 35. Superman was perpetually thirty-five, not too young to be
punk, but not old enough to be, well, old.
With the
five novels of The Black Stiletto author Raymond Benson has given us a glimpse
of what happens to heroes after their prime. The first novel was published in
2011 and the last one only last year. So far, I’ve read the first one and last
one. Right away I can tell you that Mr. Benson did a good job of not spoiling
the previous books, they are one story arc, but self-contained, which is good
since I read them out of order.
The Black
Stiletto is a masked vigilante that operated in New York and Los Angeles in the
late 50’s and early 60’s. Think of a Batman, but without the resources. Judy
Cooper is seemingly ordinary girl, tall and pretty, she’s also gifted with a
marvelous sixth sense. She can feel danger looming close. Also she can tell
when people are lying, pretty much like Wonder Woman, but without the lasso.
She trained in boxing, martial arts, and of course she’s most proficient with a
knife. (You can substitute “proficient” with “deadly” and that sentence would
still hold true.)
The novels
occur in two time lines, one in the present day through the eyes of her son and
granddaughter, and one in the past in the form of diaries that Judy Cooper
filled with her thoughts and escapades.
In the
present day Judy Cooper, now Talbot, lives in a home for the elderly and she
suffers from Alzheimer’s. As I have relatives suffering from the same illness,
I can attest to the novels accurate depiction. It is a heart-breaking disease
and it can bring a grown man to tears. The dual time-line is a neat but
complicated trick, and the author handles it pretty well.
What I
enjoy about the story is the simpler times from days long gone. For example, in
one occasion she shed some blood during a fight, but she was unconcerned later
as the police could, at most, type her blood but nothing else. Yes, those were
the days before DNA tests and caller ID’s so she could phone the police from
wherever she felt without compromising her secrets.
Without his
knowledge, I think the author may have started a trend, or at least he was
ahead of it. In the past few years we have seen aging Rocky / Rambo, an Indiana
Jones with a grown-up son, and even a white-haired Terminator.
Although
the saga is completed in its novel form, a deal for a TV series was recently
announced. The project is attached to Milla Kunis and her production company Orchard
Farm Prods.; so we have Black Stiletto for a while longer.
Oh, and Mr.
Benson, if you happen to be reading this, I bet you a drink at the next
convention where we coincide that the piece Eric Draper was listening to was
Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture.
