The above is a quote from one of the characters in "Flyboy Action Figure Comes With Gasmask", a short novel by Jim Munroe, a 26-year old author living in Toronto.

The premise of the story is told on the back cover.

"Ryan is a university student dealing with the normal problems of a 22-year old guy - shyness, virginity, wierd roommates, and a massive crush on Cassandra, a waitress at his local greasy spoon (Oh, and a freakish ability to change into a fly.) When he finally gets up the nerve to ask Cassandra for a date, he learns that the two have more in common than they first thought. (Turns out that Cassandra can make things disappear.)"

"Sharing their secrets for the first time, Ryan and Cassandra realize that they were made for each other...and to battle the forces of evil! Inspired by Sailor Moon, they team up to fight the villains in their own back yard, taking on cigarette barons, right-wing newspapers, and the overzealous local police. But can the Superheroes for Social Justice transform the world in time?"

My friend actually found the book. I didn't get past it's wierd title and went on to look for other books in the Dragonlance series. So, when he commented that the book seemed to involve Sailor Moon, I was immediately interested.

So now I am reading the book. FAFCWG is not a book for the young kids among the Sailor Moon audience. There is a lot of offhand swearing and teen-oriented subjects. There is also quite a few references to sex as well as a sex scene.

But after a few skims through the book, I found some of the references to Sailor Moon. One of the reasons I am now reading the book is to weave all of these references in to the rest of the story to come out with a complete picture. However, here is one such reference, a conversation between Ryan and a girl named Mary...

"What the hell is that on your finger?" Mary asked, ignoring me.

"It's a Sailor Moon ring. I got it for a buck." As if the cheapness of it excused anything.

Mary looked disgusted.

"Look, have you even seen the show?" I appealed, hiding my hand under the table. "It's about Girl Power. She's a bit whiny, sure, but who wants another grim hero?"

"We should go." Mary looked at her watch.

"They almost always beat the monsters without any help from Tuxedo Mask, the boy - they're scary monsters too. They have to overcome their fears and anxieties..."

Mary got up and put on her jacket. "The sexy little kilts are key in stopping the monsters, I suppose."

"All school girls look like that in Japan!"

She smiled and said sweetly, "I prefer girl heroes based on the Amazonian model - women who would cut off a breast so they could draw a bow faster."

"Ahh," I said. Nothing else came to mind. We paid and left. Mary pointed at the streetcar coming to a halt. I nodded and she ran off.

"Bring me the head of Sailor Moon!" She called out and disappeared into the streetcar.

So far, I am finding the pace of the book a bit frantic, but I remember that as a teen, life sometimes seemed as though three-thousand things were happening and six thousand thoughts were happening...and all of this was happening all at once.

The premise of the book is a bit of a reach, but it is entertaining enough to hold a reader's interest.

Plus, it is the first time that I have heard of a book that actually used Sailor Moon as even a portion of its basis, and this is a good thing.

The only real problem I had is that the author takes Sailor Moon and uses the fandom of the show to inspire two people to do things that Sailor Moon would never do. For instance, their acts of "heroism" include defacing a cigarette billboard, disintegrating the newspaper vending machines of the Toronto Sun, and murdering a child abuser (the guy deserved it, but I doubt Sailor Moon would sanction outright murder...) Once I discovered this flaw, I realized that in as much as Sailor Moon is used in the plot, it is used incorrectly. Nowhere in the series does Sailor Moon take on an issue-oriented crusade. She's not out to fight the Negaverse because they sell cigarettes or have right-wing views. She's out to fight the Negaverse because no matter how you construe them, they are evil. Despite what some people believe about cigarettes, they are not universally evil.

While the idea of people with super powers dishing out their brand of justice and taking on the social ills of the world is a pretty good plot thread, the interweaving of Sailor Moon simply doesn't work. The reason: Sailor Moon is too good for Ryan and Cassandra.

Artemis

(comments welcome - please email me at [email protected] and I will post your comments here as well.)