Tag: Comics

I thank the deals service BookBub telling me about this one, as it came up  on sale a couple of months ago.  The book takes place very soon after the end of the events of the first Tim Burton Batman movie (1989). If you are familiar with what DC has done with the rebrand of the property as “Batman ’89” (to distinguish from Adam West as “Batman ’66”) this book is adjacent but not related to the comics works published by DC using the Burtonverse.

Miller is a skilled tie-in author (I’ve enjoyed his Star Wars books) and I think he got the vibe of the characters and performances from the movies. This was not hard to read and better than many of the prose superhero novels I’ve consumed.

The best thing about the telling here is that Batman is still pretty new and he is still testing out some of his “wonderful toys”.  That’s not a side that we often see, and as a long time fan I enjoyed it immensely.  Miller is filling in the space between the  movies Batman and Batman Returns.

The book went on sale because he wrote another one, so I will be looking for that one to also go on sale once it’s been a while.  Worth picking up.

I was aware of this book when it came out, but as a niche publication in hardcover it was pricey. I’ve been watching used prices for about a year and finally decided now was the time to pick up a copy while they were still sold in good shape.

This is a very detailed history of the forerunners to the comics superheroes. The first Seven of Nine chapters break out various eras before the publication of Superman in Action Comics #1, 1938.  Discussed briefly are a wide range of heroic characters from Gilgamesh to Robin Hood to Long Meg, Spring-Heeled Jack to John Carter, the Scarlet Pimpernel to the Domino Lady.  I had never heard of many (most) of them and quite frankly glossed over much of the descriptions as much as I read some with interest.  However, I think the value of having one place that discusses all of these hero/adventure characters in one place is interesting.

What Nevins does is react to these characters against a “formula” of his own devising.  By his reasoning you don’t need all of these to be a ‘superhero’; the two main types he establishes as “Costumed Avenger” (without powers) and “Ubermensch” (with powers).  Since it’s not an all-or-nothing checklist, it’s hard for anyone else to disprove his reasoning, either.

His list of criteria:

• Unusual origin story
• Superpower
• Extraordinary skills and abilities
• Extraordinary technology
• Distinctive weapon
• Distinctive appearance
• Code name
• Dual identity
• Heroic mission (which must be “selfless”)
• Extraordinary opponents
• Lives in a world in which there is law enforcement and government
• Operates in a world in which crime/oppression/evil is clear cut and obvious
• Operates in a world in which law enforcement/the government is not capable of controlling or defeating crime/oppression/evil
• Operates under the assumption that law enforcement/the government is capable of holding and confining a criminal once they are apprehended
• Operates under the assumption that vigilantism is welcome or at least tolerated by general society as well as law enforcement and the government
• Is finite and can be killed (otherwise the figure is not a superhero, but a “superbeing”)
• Does not kill

Once you get to the last two chapters, the discussion of ‘evolution’ is largely put aside and the book becomes a fairly standard recitation of comic book history and publishing, delving into movies and TV as well.

The last part of the book that I will highlight is that that Nevins breaks the comics eras down in 15-year cycles:

• The Golden Age (1935-1949)
• The Atomic Age (1949-1956)
• The Silver Age (1956-1970)
• The Bronze Age (1970-1985)
• The Modern Age (1986-2001)
• The Metamodern Age (2001-2015)

As I was reading the book I was put off by the notion of an Atomic Age sandwiched in between Golden and Silver Ages, but with a little investigation I found this is something that is readily discussed if not universally accepted in comics fandom and scholarship.  I don’t really like the distinction but it does fit well.

Since the book was published in 2017 Nevins noted that a new Age had started but didn’t attempt to name it. I will cheekily suggest that this is the IP Age (2016-2031) given the shift to digital publication where it’s now possible to completely read comics without owning them permanently.

I think if you are a serious fan of comics scholarship that this is a useful book to have on your shelf. Time will tell if, or how often, I pick it up again for reference.