According to Supergods, Superman comics say less about Superman than
they do about Clark Kent. Superman was conceived as a symbol of strength
and individualism for the Depression-era middle class--perhaps a more
compelling portrait of the era than much literature of the time. But this
is just one of the many superhero mythologies author Grant Morrison unpacks
to give colorful historical and cultural context. Morrison, a prolific
comics storyteller with a career spanning 20 years writing for both Marvel
and DC Comics, may be the world's most qualified superhero scholar.
(Morrison's reinvention of the Man of Steel, the All Star Superman series,
is arguably the best comic of the past decade.) But Supergods isn't a book
that appeals strictly to fanboys. Like his comics, Morrison's prose is
swift yet powerful, and it's the broader strokes of the Supergods narrative
that resonate most. The book succeeds at being a great history of comic
books over the past century, but it's an even more convincing exploration
of humankind as a whole.

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