The novel format allowed for more character development, which Grossman took advantage of by portraying them as "real, human characters, with all of the foibles that come with the territory" in what one reviewer called a "hybridization of character and genre". Grossman described it as "a book about real people who happen to be or supervillains" and that if it were a comic, it would be "page after page of thought balloons". Compared to comic stories, the reviewer for the Richmond Times-Dispatch wrote "The common denominator for most superhero comic books is that they don't make fun of themselves - the believability of their stories is never called into question. They take the heroes seriously. Not so in literature. When a novel appears with comic books as its focus, its author will undoubtedly believe that his or her theme is far more important - far more serious - than the comic books that inspired them. ... tries to do it all, combining humor and comic-book adventure with a literary sense of character. ...The result is a postmodern, inventive, comic-book plot with literary aspirations, and its only problem is that it isn't entirely successful as either humor or as straight adventure." Publication and reception Soon I Will Be Invincible was published by Pantheon Books, an imprint of the Knopf Doubleday division of Random House, and released on June 5, 2007, as a hardcover. In the UK it was published by the Penguin Group imprint Michael Joseph. An audiobook was released at the same time featuring the voices of J. Paul Boehmer and Coleen Marlo. Grossman promoted the book by attending book signings in major American cities. In the UK it was promoted by wrapping telephone booths in advertising, in reference to Superman changing outfits in such booths. The cover art, which features photos of stereotypical comic book character clothing like a mask and gloves, by Chip Kidd was called "excellent...[and] sure to attract readers". By contrast, Bryan Hitch's cover art on the British edition, which features hand-drawn illustrations of the book's characters, was called "counter-productive...[or] unnecessary" due to its graphical interpretations of characters that were deliberately written in prose only. The book was short-listed for the 2007 John Sargent Sr. First Novel Prize. Work on a film adaption began in 2008 through Strike Entertainment with scripts being written Dan Weiss and Grossman. Several reviewers described book as clever, well written, engaging,