Hench is an engrossing take on the superheroic. It's smart and imaginative; an exemplary rise-of-darkness story, one I won't soon forget ... Hench is funny, full of a matter-of-fact, affectionate despair at everyday economic hardship ... the story turns, and Walschots first reveals how very well she writes devastation and trauma ... Gosh, it's fascinating. Anna is the rage of collateral damage and its revenge; she's sympathetic and horrible. I love a superhero story that shows us common character tropes through a lens of mundanity just as much as I love a superhero story that is high concept, larger-than-life, with thoroughly shining or blighted ideals. Natalie Zina Walschots gives us both of these in Hench, and I lift my metaphorical glass to her.
... witty and inventive ... Walschots is penetrating ... The novel works well as a piece of office satire but loses its way in the last third as it refocuses on the undoing of Supercollider. Dragged down by long action sequences, and without a glimpse of the outer world — no panorama of civilian desperation, no Gotham on the verge — it becomes less a subversive take on power and more a straightforward comic book story ... Still, the pleasure of the novel is the slow rollout of the rules. Creating a universe involves inventing lots of little problems, and the solutions here don’t disappoint.
Part origin story, part revenge drama, part workplace comedy, Hench is a hilarious and frequently bloody deconstruction of the superhero mythos from the point of view of its collateral damage. Anna is a sharply drawn, utterly realistic character, so steeped in the vagaries of 'contemporary existence' as to be almost emblematic of our cultural fragmentation. The novel is also incisively smart, clear-eyed in its examination not only of familiar superhero tropes but of the way those tropes shape and are shaped by society at large ... As smart as it is, though, Hench is also pure reading delight. Walschots clearly knows her comics, and her storytelling is sheer pleasure, from Anna’s defensive snarkiness to the novel’s dynamic handling of scene ... an instant classic, the sort of book you’ll want to protect in a mylar sleeve while you wait – and hope – for the arrival of the second issue.
Hench is similar to the comic book series and recent television adaptation of The Boys, where a corporate conglomeration uses superpowered people as (among other things) a product to sell to the masses ... Great superhero comics have long explored different themes and trends that impact our society. Hench also does this quite well, and uses the existence of superpowered people to show the well-explored comic book premise that superheroes and supervillains are two sides of a coin ... like many good books, reading Hench leaves you with questions and concepts that will linger after the last page is read ... Hench is rich enough to digest on its own, an enjoyable read whether you’re already a huge fan of superhero stories or new to the genre.
Hench is an unstinting delight from start to finish ... a glorious meal of a book, filled with perfect world building, and characters that are both likable and horrifying by turn ... That fascinating character work... helps make this book memorable, but the tech and the worldbuilding—the society that Walschots creates—is what buoys Hench to greater heights ... there’s really nothing like the world Hench sets up for its characters ... engrossing, smart and well-written, and that makes it worth its cover price and a trip to its world of superpowered—and super complex—characters.
Natalie Zina Walschots’ debut novel Hench is both a razor-sharp deconstruction of the superhero genre as well as the best example of prose writing on the subject since Austin Grossman’s Soon I Will Be Invincible ... compelling ... Anna is every one of us that has pushed down our principles to pay the rent in a world that increasingly does not play fair ... Walschots is a marvel, having brought new life into the superhero genre right as the lack of summer blockbusters gives us a little time to pause and consider the medium ... a wonderful allegory.
It is a clever, witty, vigorous, and well-crafted adventure in this mode of superhero revisionism, by turns hilarious and tragic, alternately rudely juvenile or sophisticated. It has some refreshing twists ... Walschots’s accomplishments in this novel are several and impressive. First comes Anna’s character and voice. As narrator, she is onscreen every moment, but never becomes predictable or boring ... The dialogue always has a 21st-century snarky hipness to it, conferring a sense of black humor to all the actions. This is of course fully in line with the traditional comic book quipping and banter.
Anna is smart, and desperate, and I loved being in her head. I highlighted so much of this book I’m sure the file size is larger than when I started ... There’s also a subtle exploration of morality, collective and individual, that I found endlessly fascinating ... I couldn’t put it down. If you start it and you’re thinking that it’s a little plodding, keep at it ... Hench is delicious in its anger and ferocity, chilling in its deadpan snark and arctic clarity of analysis and assessment, and meticulous in its nuance. It’s a villainously wonderful good time.
Fresh and funny, Hench exposes the inner lives of superheroes, villains and sidekicks with all their mundane vulnerabilities ... Familiar tropes are turned upside down in this fast-paced caper, and no one is perfect ... Toronto writer and journalist Natalie Zina Walschots deftly choreographs the dynamic skirmishes between superheroes and villains ... Rousing and irreverent, Hench is an entertaining adventure that challenges the stereotypes of heroes, villains and the humble temp.
Smart, witty, and at times bloody, this book will please comic book fans who wish to take a jab at the superhero tropes, as well as readers who enjoy dark humor with a bit of satire tossed into the mix.
In this refreshing, subversive, and darkly humorous debut novel, poet and journalist Walscholts slowly reveals the nuances of her superpower-filled world, keeping readers guessing. Hench reads like a comic without the illustrations and is packed with subplots and rapid-fire wit. With a diverse and inclusive cast of characters, Walschots’ original tale performs a brilliant and exciting variation on the superhero trope and is not to be missed.
Evocative prose, acerbic wit, and patient yet propulsive pacing complement Walschots’ sophisticated plot, which juxtaposes philosophic profundity with brutal, meticulously choreographed action. Boldly drawn characters of sundry ethnicities, sexualities, and gender identities engage in realistically complex relationships that evolve (and devolve) over the course of the tale, illustrating the relativity of good and evil, the corrupting influence of power, and the necrotic nature of revenge ... A fiendishly clever novel that fizzes with moxie and malice.
Walschots gleefully blurs the line between heroes and villains in this hilarious peek behind the scenes of supervillains’ lairs ... Walschots playfully pokes at both office politics and comic book absurdity while offering gripping action and gut-wrenching body horror. The inventive premise, accessible heroine, and biting wit will have readers eager for more from this talented author.
