perspective of the supervillain Dr. Impossible, superheroes live in "a dumb, hackneyed world". Characterization of the supervillain Dr. Impossible is used as an archetype or stock character supervillain. He is characterized as an evil genius or mad scientist who continually attempts to take control of the world's population. This is seen as a sub-type of the hero's journey and his calm deconstruction of his own futile, repetitive and self-destructive behaviours is compared to existentialist literature. The supervillains, especially Dr. Impossible, are portrayed as sympathetic characters afflicted with "Malign Hypercognition Disorder", a psychological condition which makes highly intelligent people use their advantages to perform non-virtuous, or evil, actions. Grossman explained that from Dr. Impossible's point of view, he is not inherently evil but rejects societal norms: "it's a matter of integrity — he's sticking to his principles, doing science his own way, pursuing his goals — even if it means the entire world is against him, even if he looks ridiculous in his costume, even if he knows he's going to lose. The superheroes are taking the conformist path, and getting all the applause." From the literary point of view, Grossman believes the supervillains are more interesting characters, "they are usually the most dynamic characters and the most creative. ... Their plans usually start with a great invention, which gives the story all its color and energy. The hero just has to come in and smash it up." Grossman admitted that much of the Dr. Impossible character was inspired by his feelings as a graduate student, "On the one hand, you're supposed to be really smart, and on the other hand, it's a humiliating experience. You're psyched about your intellect and kind of arrogant, but at the same time, you're [insignificant] in the eyes of the world." Genre Soon I Will Be Invincible takes characters, settings, and storylines generally associated with the comic book format and re-casts them using the novel's prose format. This use of superhero fiction in an alternate format was compared to other similar, successful attempts, like Sam Raimi's Spider-Man films, Brad Bird's The Incredibles, and the TV serial No Heroics. Several reviewers contrasted the novel's elements of realism with Alan Moore's Watchmen and Rick Veitch's Bratpack which portrayed a darker side of more realistic superheroes. Novels cited as being similar included Donald Barthelme's Snow White, Robert Coover's Stepmother, and the works of Michael Chabon and Jonathan Lethem.