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John Chu: If You Find Yourself Speaking to God, Address God with the Informal You (Uncanny Magazine) 4 stars

If You Find Yourself Speaking to God, Address God with the Informal You

4 stars

I read this novelette here: www.uncannymagazine.com/article/if-you-find-yourself-speaking-to-god-address-god-with-the-informal-you/

It takes a lot for me to care about a superhero story, but I quite enjoyed this one in which a Superman-esque character is a queer Asian-American weightlifter. This recasting lets the story reexamine some superhero tropes like monikers, how cops treat superheros, and alter-egos. With this as backdrop, I really enjoyed the foregrounded slow-building relationship, and the superhero/queer closet parallels.

Content warnings: racial slurs, police violence