Christopher Talbot (and his relationship with Luke) is one of the best parts of this book. I also really liked Cara, surprisingly, and the clever way that the Mattias issue is resolved. Shadow Archetype: Christopher Talbot is one to Luke. Luke recognises this and it becomes a strong point in book 2. Telepathy. Oddly this power seems to be the most draining and is only meant for emergencies. Later in the series, Zach becomes much more skilled with his telepathy and uses it more often, to the point where he gets annoyed at Luke for using it for trivial reasons.

Intrepid Reporter: Lara, for the school paper. Her goal at the beginning of the first book is to discover Star Guy’s secret identity. TARGET AUDIENCE: Cleareyed truth-seekers who’ve had it up to here with Epic Man’s phony, selfless, All-American hero myth. It’s also a timely wake-up for those who drank the Kool-Aid. So, everybody. Good mix of genders in the lead roles, it's not just the boys who wear the capes (or who get to save a day or two).This book series will have readers roll on the floor laughing with tear-inducing giggles! It's also the perfect next step for readers who may have loved the Baby Aliens series and want to up their reading game. What I especially loved about this book was that it was the non-powered ones who eventually saved the day. Everyone can relate to wanting to be a superhero, but it's so nice that it was the knowledge and abilities of the non-powered characters that ultimately triumphed. I think the author did well on the age ranges, too. The younger kids and the older brother were all done well and felt genuine. The adults felt a little ridiculous at times, but I guess since this is from a child's perspective, I can go with it. And I liked the relationship between the two brothers. In the third book, Stellar has a conversation with Zorbon's spaceship, with most of the Techno Babble translated this way.

One day, Mom says, “Conway, have you been smoking weed again in the attic?” “Thanks a lot, D**,” I say. “Using your heightened sense of smell to squeal?” “I had nothing to do with it,” he says. Mom says, “You don’t need special powers to smell reefer, Conway. The house reeks. You have a substance problem.” “Oh, I have a substance problem? It’s ‘my’ problem, is that it?” “Yes,” she says. “Well, could you blame me if I did?” I say. “I mean, I was once the Big Cheese around here, till Wonder Boy showed up. Now it’s like I don’t exist. He’s not even naturalized!” D** gets real earnest, pretends to care: “Conway’s been under a lot of school pressure, Mom. I’ll talk to him.” “Thank you, son,” she says. “Son?” I say, “I’m your son! Me!” I turn to D**: “And why do you call her Mom? Your mom is a dead Martian. Maybe I’ll do some squealing too and call ICE!” Turned Against Their Masters: Servatron, the main villain of My Cousin Is A Time Traveler, is an AI from a future where smart appliances eventually rebelled. I Just Want to Be Special: Luke is understandably jealous about not getting superpowers. Christopher Talbot, too, to a much nastier extent. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Conway W***** (Author’s full name redacted to protect brother’s secret identity.) (Can’t even use my own damn name!) is a freelance dogwalker and life coach, four weeks sober. His explosive blog about brother Epic Man attracts more than 80 unique visits per month and can be converted to a monster publicity machine to sell this book. Book one was a mixture of spotty comedy and surprisingly serious drama. This book is pretty much entirely comedy, but the humor is better and the tone more consistent, so I find that I enjoyed it more during a reread. The character work and themes are also better than I remember, even if the plot is kind of goofy.

The books contain examples of:

Nice open ending that leaves us wanting to know what precisely is going to happen next. Great set of characters set up now for a longer series. Several lines in Chapter 29 of My Gym Teacher is an Alien Overlord hint at the plots of the next few books. Luke thinks of the similarities between himself and Christopher Talbot: "We shared a brain. Not a giant-brain-in-a-jar-with-electrodes sense." In Book 4 he does actually encounter a brain-in-a-jar. Later when he and Serge make up: "I couldn't imagine a universe in which Serge and I weren't best friends." In the alternate universe of book 3 he and Serge aren't friends.