The internet has become the frontlines for innovations in geek culture and comedy.  So when these two things collide on the premier website for supervillainy, only good can come from it right?  And so it is that The ISS (that's International Society of Supervillains) has birthed its first book - an instructional text on how to become a supervillain appropriately titled Hate You Forever.

The fact of the matter is that, at 172 pages (incl. many illustrations) and only $13, the book - full title being Hate You Forever: How to Channel Your Rage Into Effective Supervillainy - is definitely a quick read.  But that's not a negative thing at all.  In fact, it points to the powers of pithiness that King Oblivion, Ph.D. (a/k/a MD Wilson) employs in his writing.  He gets in, establishes various jokes (include some great running gags) and then gets out before the whole thing becomes stale and annoying.  True, some of the humor may be aimed more towards a certain demographic (let's call them the "indoor kids"), but by and large this is a very entertaining read for people who love absurdity and flights of (fearful) fancy.

Oblivion outlines all the various aspects of supervillainy - persona, goals, base of operations, costumes, personnel, and varios other tropes that have cropped up previously.  With a Tony Robbins approach to the outlandish antics of costumed rogues, Oblivion is able to present the absurdity of global domination as another mundane avenue for realizing one's potential.  Combined with the black humor of someone who delights in the pain and anguish of others (especially henchmen), it makes for a hilarious bout of cognitive dissonance.

True, some of this material has been covered elsewhere.  If you're a fan of The Venture Brothers, Frisky Dingo, Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog or Joe Meno's The Boy Detective Fails, then this may seem like well-worn subject matter.  But it doesn't have the melancholy aspects that all of those projects seem to include.  As opposed to realizing the depressing futility of being a constantly losing supervillain, Hate You Forever delights in the prospect of waging war against heroes - even at the cost of a few punches in the face. 

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