The Supervillain and Me

The Supervillain and Me is a book by Danielle Banas. It is scheduled to be released on July 10, 2018. It is the first book in the Morriston Superheroes trilogy. The book occurs in the perspective of Abigail Hamilton, a teenage girl.

Description
In Abby Hamilton’s world, superheroes do more than just stop crime and save cats from trees—they also drink milk straight from the carton and hog the television remote. Abby’s older brother moonlights as the famous Red Comet, but without powers of her own, following in his footsteps has never crossed her mind.

That is, until the city’s newest vigilante comes bursting into her life.

After saving Abby from an attempted mugging, Morriston’s fledgling supervillain Iron Phantom convinces her that he’s not as evil as everyone says, and that their city is under a vicious new threat. As Abby follows him deeper into their city’s darkest secrets, she comes to learn that heroes can’t always be trusted, and sometimes it’s the good guys who wear black.

Plot
Abigail Hamilton starts out in her Morriston High School's, her school's, gym, where the famous Red Comet is visiting her school. Everyone, excluding Abigail, is ecstatic because he's come to the school. Abigail, however, knows who he really is: her annoying, prankster older brother, Connor Hamilton.

While her best friend, Sarah, swoons over the Red Comet, Abigail just waits until she can practice singing the songs in Hall of Horrors, the musical she's auditioning for the following week. The Red Comet gives a speech, gives some autographs, the whole nine yards, then leaves quickly and mysteriously, as he always does.

In the next chapter, Abigail walks into a deserted house. She does homework for a while until Connor comes home, when she finally gives up and talk to him. He tells her that there was a robbery at Morriston Bank, which brings up painful memories for them both — their mom, Elizabeth Hamilton, died in a similar robbery two years before that.

Later that night, their father, Mayor Benjamin Hamilton, comes home, as stressed as his kids about the hostage situation downtown, though Abigail notes that he hides it as well as Connor hides his real identity. For the rest of the night, they pass back playful banter like a normal family would.

Over the next week, records amount of rain come to Morriston. Auditions for Hall of Horrors draw closer, and Sarah announces that she'll be auditioning, which Abigail thinks is a bad idea. She goes along with it anyway, hoping her friend will get on the chorus. Sarah, in the process of spreading her hand to emphasize what she's saying, accidentally punches Rylan Sloan in the nose. They chat for a little bit, but Rylan is very shy and the conversation ends abruptly.

Mrs. Miller, the theater teacher, passes out the song, which Abigail feels confident about. The first volunteer to sing is a guy named Isaac. Abigail says that even though he's awkward while talking, he's has an amazing voice. After he sings, Abigail is the only one brave enough to volunteer. Abigail says that the rest of the auditions go really well.

That night, when Abigail is walking home, she finds herself being followed by a creepy guy. She expects — or, moreso, hopes — that Red Comet will come soon, but finds herself brother-less. Instead, she finds a new super helping her — one without a name nor a symbol on his chest. He telepathically tells her to run, then deals with the guy after she does.

After the guy is dealt with, the superhero shows himself to Abigail. He wears an all black costume, with no symbol. When asked his name, he says that he hasn't picked one out yet. He is shown to be snarky yet kind, and he heals a cut on Abigail's head, which demonstrates yet another power that Abigail didn't know existed.

He offers to walk Abigail home, but Abigail declines, still rather intimidated. Abigail walks home with no problem after that.

The next morning, a video circulates of the super that Abigail ran into the evening before helping people. Abigail is on a phone call with Connor before school starts. She asks Connor if he knows anyone with a plain black suit, and Connor says no. After they hang up, Abigail sees the TV, which is on the news. City Hall is shown on fire, and though the camera quality is poor at best, there's footage of the same super that saved Abigail the night before dousing the building in gasoline. This mysterious super is dubbed Iron Phantom for the way he appears and disappears, which is really him teleporting.

Abigail, to say the least, is unsettled. The new super in town is now burning down the place her dad works in? Abigail was under the impression that he was a good guy, but now she's sure of the opposite. Later that day, in the library, Abigail has a short conversation with Rylan about the video. They both admit that they're scared.

When she goes home, she watches her dad's press conference. He talks about new safety precautions he's putting in place against this villain, but he doesn't say anything specific. Abigail asks Connor what he thinks they are and Connor says that it's probably just to bring in new supers.

Connor brings up the fact that Abigail actually saw the Iron Phantom, and Abigail denies it, saying that it was probably just some guy in dark clothes despite the fact that she knows full well that it was actually him. Connor then makes her promise that if she does see him, she'll tell someone.

When she goes into her room later that day, there's a note from the Iron Phantom. He left a chocolate bar on it, signed it only with his initials, and says that he'll need Abigail's help.

That night, Abigail sleeps with a butter knife under her pillow because she wants to be able to protect herself if the Iron Phantom visits. Sure enough, he does, coming in the room with a snarky comment as always. Abigail tries to pretend to be asleep, but when the Iron Phantom goes in and touches her, she freaks out on him. The Iron Phantom lays out some points on why she shouldn't be scared, and though she does almost believe him, she tries not to show it.

The Iron Phantom insists to her that he isn't the bad guy, and Abigail tells him to prove it. He says that he was trying to send a message, and when Abigail asks who to, the Iron Phantom just lays out his hand in reply. A small silver box lays on it, though at first Abigail can't tell exactly what it is. The Iron Phantom walks forward, and while Abigail feels uncomfortable, she doesn't object. He shows her the inside, which is empty, saying that it's supposed to have something in there. He tells Abigail to keep an eye on her brother.

Abigail ignores all thoughts of him and goes to school on Monday only thinking of her audition and what part she got. Sarah excitedly hurries her to the board, where she sees that she got Angeline, the main female characters, and would be working with Isaac Jackson as her Arthur.

Later that day, Isaac seeks Abigail out during study hall. He introduces himself and Sarah, who is a huge romantic, assumes that she needs to give them privacy. Abigail, attempting to make small talk, asks Isaac if he's into superheroes, and Isaac responds that he doesn't know much about them because there are none where he came from. When Abigail asks him where he came from, he answers vaguely, and when Abigail asks why he moved, he says that he came to live with his uncle. Abigail drops it.

When Isaac asks if Abigail likes supers, she snorts and says that they all have their moments. When Isaac says that she must meet a lot of them with he dad being mayor, she denies it, saying that the only super she's ever met is Red Comet during the assembly the previous week. Isaac leaves quickly afterwards. Abigail takes note of the fact that he called her Abigail, not Abby, and that the Iron Phantom is the only other person who does that. She starts to draw parallels between them, but stops because she thinks that it's not possible.

Sarah comes back and asks Abigail how it went, and Abigail is unsure of how to answer the question. She says that it depends on how much she believes in coincidence.

Trivia

 * Before being published, The Supervillain and Me was named Men In Tights.