Alex Segura's agile and sinewy Alter Ego, his sequel to Secret Identity, pits the lo-fi world of comics against high-octane forces like corporate greed, Hollywood machinations, and big-screen superhero franchises. This premise may not have made a great comic, but it makes a rollicking good thriller.
Alter Ego begins in 2018, when journalist Laura Gustines dies in a carjacking in Queens, having just conducted an interview with Carmen Valdez. (The name will be familiar to readers of Secret Identity.) The interview was to be the hallmark of Laura's planned book about forgotten female comics creators--after all, Carmen had a hand in making the 1970s series The Legendary Lynx, not long after which she seemed to vanish. From the carjacking, the novel skips around in time and place, the narration now courtesy of spunky-slovenly comics artist and, later, filmmaker Annie Bustamante, whose fortunes are tied to the whims of the movie industry and, truth told, to her alcohol consumption. A Legendary Lynx fan, Annie has a tantalizing opportunity to revamp the comic, but at what price? And what, she's determined to learn, did happen to Carmen Valdez?
Alter Ego is front-loaded with exposition, but once Segura has set the scene, the story takes flight. The plot boasts a handful of tasty reveals that will inspire reader responses ranging from "Hnnnh?" to "WHAT?!," to quote from the comics excerpted throughout the novel. If Alter Ego ultimately has what can be described as a comic book villain, then that's arguably the point. --Nell Beram, author and freelance writer