Read Alex Grand’s Understanding Superhero Comic Books published by McFarland Books in 2023 with Foreword by Jim Steranko with editorial reviews by comic book professionals, Jim Shooter, Tom Palmer, Tom DeFalco, Danny Fingeroth, Alex Segura, Carl Potts, Guy Dorian Sr. and more. Now available in audiobook, click:
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Robert Mayer deconstructed superheroes in his novel Superfolks (1977), possibly more effectively—and earlier—than the writers at 2000AD (Alan Moore et al.) did in the 1980s. Before Marvelman and Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow, Mayer described a world where Mxyzptlyk trained assassins to eliminate JFK, RFK, and Martin Luther King, effectively demoralizing the world and inducing superheroes to retire en masse in disillusionment.
Wonder Woman becomes a feminist, abandoning superheroics to become the new Gloria Steinem, while the real Steinem marries police detective Kojak to become his housewife. Meanwhile, through his connections in the military-industrial complex and various free-enterprise companies, Mxyzptlyk incorporates molecules of kryptonite into food, water, plastics, and plumbing supplies to slowly age and depower Superman. Now, Superman works in the copy department at the Daily Planet, devoid of ambition to report the news, and lives as a mostly retired, married father of two.
Shazam’s Captain Marvel and sister Mary Marvel engage in forced coitus producing a crippled and abandoned son, Freddie. He grows up to become Demoniac, a corrupt and vicious twist on Captain Marvel Jr. Demoniac, hired by Mxyzptlyk, teams up with Plastic Man, the CIA, the vice president, and the Russian ambassador to orchestrate a denuclearization agreement. Their true goal? Use the mafia to draw out and murder Superman while assassinating the president (and possibly his assistant, Bugs Bunny) in a plot reminiscent of Seven Days in May (1964). This is all part of a larger plan for the U.S. to use a secret atomic bomb stockpile to conquer Russia and the world.
Captain Marvel is nowhere to help—disillusioned by the death of his sister, he has sworn off humanity. Most of the other superheroes in this story are similarly absent or apathetic. Enter Peter Pan, who frequents the local gay nightclubs and just might have what it takes to turn the tide—though he might need to cop a feel first, or last.
Most names were changed to protect the innocent, but the novel’s biting satire shines through. Superfolks is a provocative and subversive read, possibly an influence on a young Alan Moore, who brought this type of energy to British and American comics. It’s a masterpiece of superhero deconstruction, way ahead of its time.
10/10.
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