Book Review: Alter Ego

Annie Bustamante is a cultural force like none other: an acclaimed filmmaker, an author, a comic book artist known for one of the all time best superhero comics in recent memory. But she’s never been able to tackle her longtime favorite superhero, the Lethal Lynx. Only known to the most die-hard comics fans and long out of print, the rights were never available—until now.

But Annie is skeptical of who is making the offer: Bert Carlyle's father started Triumph Comics and has long claimed ownership of the Lynx. When she starts getting anonymous messages urging her not to trust anyone, Annie’s inner alarms go off. Even worse? Carlyle wants to pair her with a disgraced filmmaker for a desperate media play.

Alter-Ego by Alex Segura will be published on December 3, 2024. Flatiron Books provided an early galley for review.

Back in 2022, Segura did his first novel set in the world of comics - Secret Identity. I was glad to see that he is taking us back into that world for this new novel. Interestingly enough, both books' titles are two sides of the coin when it comes to a super-hero - the two faces one would have, public and private.

Annie is an interesting, complex character with some very strong choices by the author. The narrative bounces around her life - from her childhood to the most current time in her adulthood as a creator. Segura knows the industry, so all of the interactions ring very true. The characters in her world have many layers, some very secretive.

Throughout, the reader also gets a ton of comic book and related movie references which (as a lifelong comic reader) I really enjoyed. I also too liked the occasional glimpses of artwork from the Lynx comics, presented to the reader as if they actually existed. This is a nice touch that was done in the first book in the "series" as well.

Just as the first novel was very much a period piece for the industry in the 1970's, Alter Ego had a lot to say about the industry in the 21st Century.