Super-History: Comic Book Superheroes and American Society, 1938 to the Present

by Jeffrey K. Johnson

In the less than eight decades since Superman's debut in 1938, comic book superheroes have become an indispensable part of American society and the nation's dominant mythology. They represent America's hopes, dreams, fears, and needs. As a form of popular literature, superhero narratives have closely mirrored trends and events in the nation. This study views American history from 1938 to 2010 through the lens of superhero comics, revealing the spandex-clad guardians to be not only fictional characters but barometers of the place and time in which they reside.

Genres: Comics, History, Superheroes, Nonfiction

230 pages, Paperback

First published April 3, 2012

Reviews

[Diz · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an odd book. It presents an overview of American history from the 1930s up until the beginning of the Obama presidency. Alongside this narrative, the history of comics over this time period is also covered. Strangely, these two overviews are presented in parallel, but there is little connection made between them.

[Ege Eren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I agree with most of the comments, especially towards the later chapters arguments and ideas become more difficult to understand and less coherent with each other. However, almost always you can connect to dots and see the relation between what the author tells you about the superheroes and the 20th-century American politics/history. Despite these issues, the ideas presented here are so interesting and original in my opinion that it is definitely worth a read. After I finished this book, I could not believe how closely related the superhero stories and the society itself are. It could have been more academic and carefully written with better coherence, but it is still a very good read in this form. I really believe it deserves a chance.

[Christine Ko · Rating 2 out of 5]

The historical background information is redundant, but it's great to see the correlation between super heroes (and thus American culture) with the events happening at the time.

[Sineala · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really excited to read this... but it was a disappointment. It reads like someone's dissertation hastily formatted as a book, with the same conclusions stated multiple times. The prose style is very, very simple. And what I was really hoping for, which was actual theories backed up with argumentation about how superheroes and history intertwine... pretty much wasn't here. It was more or less alternating "here's what happened in history in this decade" with "here are some comic books (mostly DC) that came out then" and that wasn't what I was looking for.

Also, there were a lot of typos. I get that character names are hard and whoever edited this probably didn't know it wasn't "Norman Osborne" or "Scarlett Witch" (both of whom show up multiple times, always with those spellings) but that doesn't excuse "Captain America, a WWII solider" or "Baby Bombers."

[Mlk Tehrani · Rating 4 out of 5]

ابر قهرمان
انتشارات امیرکبیر
ترجمه محمدحسن یادگاری

کتاب از طریق بررسی کمیک‌ها، به این سوال پاسخ می‌دهد که ابرقهرمانان آمریکایی چگونه ساخته می‌شوند؟
این کتاب، نیم قرن از تاریخ اجتماعی، سیاسی و اقتصادی آمریکا را روایت می‌کند و به این نکته می‌پردازد که تمام آنچه در داستان‌های کمیک ساخته و پرداخته می‌شود حاصل جو حاکم بر فضای جامعه است. ابرقهرمانانی همچون سوپرمن، بتمن، مردعنکبوتی، کاپیتان آمریکا و بسیاری دیگر متناسب با شرایط کشور روحیاتشان تغییر می‌کند، ازدواج می‌کنند، می‌میرند و سپس زنده می‌شود. از داستان‌های هر دوره می‌توان فهمید فضای جامعه چقدر ملتهب یا آرام است. این کتاب به نحوی از نظریه بازتاب، که هنر را آینه جامعه می‌داند پیروی می‌کند.
یک ستاره کمتر به علت اغراق‌آمیز بودن اهمیت شخصیت‌های کمیک در این کتاب.
هنگامی که کتاب را خواندم هنوز کمیک ایلیا در ایران منتشر نشده بود. الان دوست دارم هرچه زودتر ایلیا را بخوانم و ببینم چقدر بازتاب جامعه ایران است‌.

[Christian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ever since Superman, a power-fantasy created by the two young Jewish men Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, super-hero comics have been a reflection of its time. Historian Jeffrey K. Johnson examines how the genre as adapted to changes in the American society from 1938 to 2009.

it is an interesting book that is blemished by a few unfortunate proofreading errors. Johnson also has a tendency to "cherry-pick" and shoehorn facts to fit his narrative, something that diminishes my enjoyment of the book. My general opinion of it, however, is that it's an enjoyable and fascinating read.

[Gianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

had to read this for my comic bk heroes class and it was quite repetitive TT interesting to see the correlation between american culture and superheroe creation but bro was just yapping to fill up a page count sometimes

[Brad Austin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was super excited to get this book, that changed quickly as I started to read. The book tends to read as if it is comprised of separate lectures, which includes restating a point just made. The book also contains grammatical and spelling errors outside of my comfort zone.
Johnson does a decent job of covering US history (although he writes as if he is addressing young children). He runs into real trouble with the superhero aspect. I think he relied to frequently on DC characters throughout the book. I also did not find his use of the evidence very compelling, rather, he would make a broad statement, cite one instance, and move on. I found his best work in combining history with the comics came during the final chapter (2000-2009). If the entire book had been like the final chapter, then this would be a much more positive review.
I will say that I am glad that I read the book. It provides some understanding and very much shows the need for further work.

[Heather Nonaca]

As a teacher of United States History, I've been enjoying sharing the contents of this book with my students as we move through our course. Organized well by themes and time periods, this book explores how the comics and comic book characters we love were created and how those characters have reflected the times that they were created in. The book also explains how these characters have evolved and adapted to readers interests, fears, and events of the times. Lovers of history and comics alike will be more than satisfied with this book