This was such a fun addition to this series. I feel that this book has given the series a fresh coat of paint. The crossover characters from other Phipps works are big part of that. While this would be an entertaining book if you haven’t read his other series, I found extra humor in the tale with Agent G, Jane Doe, and Cassius Mass. There’s always been a few nods here and there throughout Phipps works to other series (like the whole Supervillainy series is a comic book series in Jane Doe’s tales), but this takes it to the next level.
Once again, Gary is at the center of everything. He’s got to save the universe and his only way to do that is to go through this tournament. There’s few to no rules, depending on how evil organizer sees it. People die, unexpected characters pop in for an assist, and Gary has to make some tough choices.
Gary missed the orientation, which had all sorts of great info about the tournament and their venue, like how to get into your hotel room. For some reason, Cindy (Gary’s girlfriend and baby momma) knows the answer to that and it involves a panda. Ha! Cindy cracks me up because she is casual evil and not ashamed of it. She breaks rules all the time just because they are there, not because she’s malicious… not always…. And I love her comments about sexuality and her outfit. At one point, another female character tells her she’s embarrassing their gender, yanking it down into the 1950s or such, and Cindy doesn’t care.
Wise cracks, pop culture references, and action all compete for your attention in this book, in balanced doses. I love all the pop culture references even if I haven’t played Mortal Combat. I especially liked the reference to Mechani-Cal, a character from another superhero/supervillain series by Jim Bernheimer. Yay!
By the end, we finally have some answers about Mandy (Gary’s wife who now is a vampire). This has been a little bit of mystery to me and I was glad to see we got some solid resolution on that. It was also great to have a cameo of Gizmo (aka Leia – Gary and Cindy’s daughter). She’s still a bit young to join in a Tournament of Evil (or is she? being the braniac she is). The end leaves us with a hint of what may come for the series. 5/5 stars.
The Narration: Jeffrey Kafer continues to be one of my favorite narrators and he doesn’t disappoint here. His accent for Cindy is perfect (because it so matches her sass). I also like his voices for Jane Doe (who takes everything in stride). Kafer has distinct voices for all the characters, delivers the humor with perfect timing, and you can tell he enjoys narrating this series. 5/5 stars.
I received a complimentary review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are truly my own.