Review: An example of why anti-heroes don't make good characters
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 07 24, 2012
The anti-hero has long been a much beloved character in science fiction and fantasy.  The idea of a horribly flawed character somehow being important to a storyline seems to send out a siren call to writers who then try to show that they too can make readers interested in some almost villianous persona.in "They Tell Me I'm the Bad Guy", the status of the character is open from the beginning.  He's a retired villian who at least in his internal monologues appears determined to avoid returning to his previous life of crime.***warning spoilers***A story that starts from that premise could go many directions, but this one quickly jumped on a single plot thread and dragged the anti-hero back into villianous company and into a world of crime that he passively resists.  But that was where my issues with the story began.The "hero" never appears to use his power constructively.  He uses it in a few fights, and a couple times to try to mildly influence others, but despite his apparently great power he's bullied time after time by the other powered characters.And worse, the hero just insint likeable or interesting.  He's a depressed, drunk, chain smoking jerk who looks down on the other characters at the same time he appears intimidated by anyone willing to demand action from him.  There was no real reason for me to empathize with the character.the supporting cast is just as bad.  Full of dark secrets, massive amounts of anger, and no redeeming qualities.  In many cases the death of a character simply brought relief from the annoyance of reading about them.This was simply not a very good story.  The writing was technically sound, and the author can definitely create and sustain a narrative, but the story itself was impossible for me to really get into.  I'm sure some people might like it, but the dislikable main character ruined this story for me.