Antiheroes

The most interesting characters are almost never the good guys. Doing the right thing is great and all, but a little bit of darkness—or a lot of it—often makes for a more engaging story. Antiheroes: Heroes, Villains, and the Fine Line Between is dedicated to the dark heroes and sympathetic villains we love.

Find out why William McKinley High's agonist Sue Sylvester is essential to Glee. Discover where your favorite comic book character falls on the continuum of good and evil. Weigh in on Twilight's very dangerous boy Edward Cullen: romantic, sparkly hero, or sociopath suffering from Antisocial Personality Disorder? Plus other essays on:

• The Vampire Diaries' most antiheroic antihero, Damon Salvatore

• America's favorite serial killer, Dexter Morgan, and the nature (and nurture) of evil

• The curious appeal of Alias' Arvin Sloane

• Supernatural's vampire hunter-cum-vampire Gordon Walker

• The shared monstrosity of Spider-Man, Doc Ock, and the Green Goblin

• Gun-slinging necromancer Anita Blake, and the benefits (and pitfalls) of embracing the monster within

This brand new, e-book only collection of essays—"remixed" from previous Smart Pop series titles—gives a funny and thought-provoking in-depth look at the antihero, from the villains just a little too good to be unequivocal bad guys, and the heroes just a bit too bad to be truly good.