Everyone knows the hero’s story. So Barry Lyga has set out to tell the other side in his fifth book, “Archvillain.”
In the young adult novel, Kyle Camden is planning another one of his practical jokes in the cloak of night, running electrical cabling in the field behind Bouring Middle School that would allow him to dump the contents of the old water tower onto the visiting football team.
When the field is bathed in a plasma shower from the sky, Kyle becomes a super genius with vast powers. But the shower also brings Mighty Mike to earth.
Kyle wants to expose the truth about Mighty Mike and show everyone in Bouring that they‘ve been cheering for an alien. To that end, Kyle might unwittingly become an archvillain.
Carroll Gardens resident Lyga, 39, has managed to combine his childhood love for comics with his flair for writing young adult and independent reader books. With “Archvillain” (Scholastic Press, 180 pages, $16.99), Lyga deconstructs the superhero archetype with some adolescent angst and teenage disobedience, and we may finally find out if it’s sometimes good to be bad.
Brooklyn Family: How long did you wrestle with the concept of having the villain being the main character before you were able to work out the plot?
Barry Lyga: It actually took me a few years before I was comfortable with writing this series, believe it or not. I was approached by the publisher shortly before my second novel (“Boy Toy“) was published. They wanted to publish a series about a kid with superpowers, with the twist that the main character was the villain. I wasn’t sure how to approach it, so I said no, but as time went by, I kept thinking about it. And I came to realize that it was really all a matter of attitude, that the kid was a villain, yes, but not in his own mind. And that everything he tried to do that was helpful would backfire, building this villainous reputation he has. Once that clicked for me, the rest of it all fell into place.
BF: Kyle isn’t prototypical world-conquering villain, and he‘s certainly not your squeaky-clean do-gooder, either. What was the key to breathing life into a character who is several shades of grey?
BL: I just had to keep reminding myself that no matter how smart and capable Kyle is, at his heart he’s still 12 years old. So his feelings get hurt, he gets frustrated that no one can understand him, and so on. That made it easy to have him do some horrible things, but still keep him grounded in his essential humanity.
BF: How hard was it to go back and put yourself into the mind of a 12 year old when you wrote “Archvillain”?
BL: Surprisingly, it’s not really all that hard. I think people who write for kids have never entirely grown up, so it’s easy to access that part of ourselves. I know that when I write books for teens — 15 and up — it’s extremely easy to regress to that age and write from that place in my own history. When I worked on “Archvillain,” I was a little worried at first because I’d never tried “going back” as far as 12, but it ended up being just as easy. I guess you could say I never grew up, but I’ve managed to make that work for me.
BF: Was there a fine line between drawing on the Superman/Lex Luthor/Smallville mythos and mimicking or satirizing it?
BL: Fortunately, that line isn’t like those spiked tire traps at some parking lots. In other words, you can go over it and then come back safely. I’m sure I may drift into satire at some times, but as long as I keep focusing on the fun of the characters and their stories, I think it’ll be OK.
BF: We are never told why many villains in fiction — especially comics — make the choices they make. We are to assume they are bad … just because they’re bad. Did you set out to construct a plausible fundamental psychological reason why Lex Luthor, Dr. Doom, Dr. Octopus or other would-be evil scientists and psychopaths have chosen this path?
BL: Honestly, my primary goal is just to have fun. Along the way, I’d like to shed some light on why people seem determined to do wrongheaded things, but that’s not the major thrust of the series for me. There are some bad guys who are just monsters, let’s face it — they do terrible things for meaningless or purposeless reasons. Those people exist, and I’m not out to apologize for them. But there are also guys like Kyle who feel like they have good reasons to do bad things…and sometimes they’re right.
BF: Although Kyle and his rival, Mighty Mike, have these incredible powers, you were mindful that they are teenagers? Do you think Kyle cares about his social status although he often tries to dismiss it?
BL: I think Kyle is absolutely obsessed with his social status. He’s outraged that Mighty Mike has captured the hearts and minds of the people who once admired Kyle, and he’s out to get those hearts and minds back any which way he can. He may pretend that he doesn’t care, but in the end, he is bound and determined to be the most popular kid at Bouring Middle School again, no matter what it takes.
BF: At which points did you reach back into your own middle school years for inspiration? For instance, did you resent authority figures (Kyle refers to his guidance counselor as “The Great Nemesis,” he scoffs at local law enforcement, he destroys the statues of Bouring’s founder and he invents a device that helps him reprogram his parent’s minds)?
BL: Oh, sure, I had a very typical adolescent disdain for authority figures — teachers, administrators, parents, you name it. I think it’s dishonest to write about that age and not nod to that disdain. I know adults may not appreciate seeing that disdain in the books kids are reading, but it’s not like I invented the idea of kids thinking grown-ups are idiots — kids have been thinking that as long as there have been kids!”
BF: In between some of the chapters, there are excerpts from Kyle’s secret journal and from BouringRecord.com. How did these devices help you tell the story?
BL: The secret journal is there because I wanted to be sure to give the reader a look directly into Kyle’s head. He does some unsavory things, so I wanted to be sure that the readers knew why he was doing them. In the first book, the story is pretty much from his point of view, so the journal entries weren’t as necessary, but future books aren’t always from Kyle’s point of view, so I figured I would establish the device early. And the BouringRecord.com bits are there to lend some verisimilitude to the world.
BF: How important for you was it to make a book that not just kids, but their parents, might like?
BL: My primary audience is kids. Honestly, I don’t think about the parents at all when I write. If they like the book, then I’m flattered and happy — and I hear from a lot of adults who enjoy my work, which is cool — but I only care about writing for the kids. If kids like it, terrific. Everything else is gravy.
BF: There will be at least two more books in the “Archvillain” series. Is there a chance Kyle will grow up and move to Brooklyn? After all, Superboy grew up and moved to Metropolis.
BL: You know, there’s very definitely a chance of something like that. Most of my books have, for a variety of reasons, taken place in small towns so far, and I like the idea of one of my kids growing up and moving out to the city. Kyle certainly would find plenty to keep himself occupied in Brooklyn!
BF: What can you divulge about the next installment of “Archvillain?”
BL: The second book is titled “The Mad Mask,” and it involves Kyle meeting another supervillain. Is the town big enough for both of their egos? Probably not.
For more info on “Archvillian,” visit www.barrylyga.com.
