In a New York City filled with egotistical superheroes who fight for endorsement deals with more ferocity than they battle the bad guys, Magno Girl does all she can to fight crime and save humanity. She has a standard package of superhero powers, but her specialty is the Gaze of the Guilt. With one look she can bring a hardened super-villain to his knees. Unfortunately, her super-powers will never help her mother accept the fact that she doesn't want to marry an attorney, move to the suburbs, and have children.
When Magno Girl discovers an evil plot to subvert society, she enlists the help of her current love interest, Ron, a trained biker ninja. The owners of Americamart and Pie Hole Pizza have allied to create a popular new pie that fills people with an urge to purchase consumer electronics. But the plot eventually backfires, because when people eat too much pizza they begin to loot, riot, and steal.
Solving this mess is challenging enough, but things get worse. Sandra the Sure, an evil soccer mom witch, puts a curse on Magno Girl. She takes away the Gaze of the Guilt, and Magno Girl's other super-powers are fading fast. The only way for Magno Girl to regain them is to marry and have a child. Sandra the Sure also curses Ron with an overwhelming desire to marry Magno Girl.
In her final battle with Sandra, Magno Girl, desperate and near defeat, forces Sandra to confess that she was a bad mother to her late son. This destroys Sandra’s power, and restores Magno Girl’s own abilities. Magno Girl goes on to defeat the evil scheme, save the word, and fly off into the sunset. She also tells Ron she might just marry him—but not today.
Magnolia is a little known super hero flying above the streets of New York fighting petty crimes when she hears that someone just killed Joey the Round Man down at The People’s Pizzeria. She has suspicions that this is part of a larger plot and asks her friend Ron to help out by infiltrating the home of Thaddeus Stone, the founder and CEO of Americamart. Ron and Magnolia attempt to unravel a mysterious evil plot while encountering dangerous villains along the way. Magno Girl’s fame increases with every bad guy she takes down and every evil plot she foils. Now she must avoid the paparazzi, endorsements, and movie deals all while dangerous super villains plot to destroy her. Will Magnolia and Ron save the day? Even when the good guys are working for the bad guys, and the bad guys control the materialistic masses.First thing, if you’re going to take this book seriously, you’re not going to enjoy it. But if you’re in the mood for a lighthearted and whimsical super hero story then this this will be a fun read. The writing is quick and the wit is sharp. The action scenes are cheesy, but it works because it’s supposed to be cheesy. The dialogue is quirky and silly in a way that makes it endearing:He’s been burned and covered with pizza dough. They turned him into a man-sized Stromboli!” My jaw dropped. “Those dirty bastards.” Most of my family was in the pizza business, and while Joey was not a relative, I hated to see a good tomato soldier go down.The writing was good, the jokes were decent, and the story line was entertaining, but what I really couldn’t get through was the interspersed moments of bickering between Magnolia and her mother. It really dragged the story for me. It was good enough the first time to show the relationship between her and her mother, but then it’s replayed over and over again through the story to the point where I literally felt Magnolias frustration. This is really the only disappointing element of the book. The world and back story are well built. The world, or at least New York, is filled with super heroes that fight crime, sometimes alongside the police, and star in commercials and sell their merchandise. There are low level heroes and famous super heroes. Magnolia doesn’t care for fame, but Ron does and they’re constantly fighting the urge to make easy money and stay true to their core belief of doing good for the greater good, not to cash out like many of the archetype super heroes. The story and it’s characters were absurd, but that’s where this book shines. This is a genuinely fun book to read. Don’t take the book seriously, go in ready to laugh and you’ll have a good time. I guarantee it.
If you've ever enjoyed an episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold, you'll probably enjoy the story here. It involves the titular Magno Girl and her biker ninja boyfriend Ron trying to foil a potentially world-ending plot revolving around poisoned pizza. It's full of the sort of weirdness that will be familiar to fans of Silver Age superhero stories, and as long as you can get on the book's admittedly zany wavelength, it's an extremely enjoyable read.
A deftly crafted and unique story populated with memorable characters and a wealth of unexpected twists and turns, "Magno Girl" by Joe Canzano is a fun read from beginning to end. A solid entertainment that will leave Magno Girl fans looking eagerly toward novelist Joe Canzano's next foray into print.
THE RECOMMENDATION
Filled with cheesy puns, cartoonish fight scenes, and a lot of tongue-in-cheek sight gags in prose, Magno Girl could easily fall flat. Done to intentional excess, the whole of this adult comic book masquerading as a novel is greater than the sum of its parts. If you expect sophisticated humor in satire, leave this on the shelf. For readers willing to go along for the silly ride, there's plenty of wit and sarcasm. The truth and teeth in this biting satire make it worth a look into the hidden depths beneath the surface buffoonery.
Joe Canzano Talks About Magno Girl on the Tom and Doug Show. This is a new television show that is broadcast in the Princeton, NJ area.
