Customer Reviews
Great! - By: Paulo Pereira, 11 Dec 2004 
Having an old relationship with superheros comics -I began comnsuming when I was 12 through brasilian (in portuguese) & norte american editions & then abandoning it when I was 14- I found this book quite refreshing. Of course, as a comic or "BD" fan & critic I bought a lot of continetal european production, nevertheless reading some USA hallmarks of comics like Watchmen & Frank Miller's Batman. Now -I'm 47! - I've discovered this book, and, because of it, I went to a battle search to buy & read the titles from the post-revisionist era, like Stormwatch, Authority, Planetary, Tom Strong, Top Ten, Supreme, Astro City, & writers like Morrison, Ellis, Busiek, Millar, Moore (once again), Kirkman & Bendis (to name a few). I loved it & I recommend this book to anyone which is interestedin comics, as well asin popular culture. The discovery. for those which have been ouside this stuff for some years, is astonishing. Worth every penny, for the pleasure of reading it, & for the pleasure of rediscovering superheros (each one with a deepness that is lackingin most of the heros or anti-heros of european "BD" (that has also its post-modern landmarks)).
Good if you like that sort of thing - By: , 10 Jan 2004 
In this book, Geoff Klock attempts to chart the progression of the superhero genrein the comics medium since the 'Graphic Novel Revolution'in the late 1980s. Taking Watchmen & Dark Knight Returns as a starting point, he shows how these two mini-serise asked questions about the genre that the rest of the industry has spent the last decade & a half answering.
The real problem with this book is the language. He seems to have taken Cultural Studies at college & absorbed a great deal of the terminology. I have a bit of a grounding so I didn't mind this too much (even if I still don't know what a mis-reading is as oppossed to a miss-reading!). The casual comic fan (i.e. anyone who hasn't had to read Jung & Levi-Straussin college or University) however might just be put off by the prospect of having to flick back & forth to the explaination for a term every five minutes.
That said, it realy is quite insightfull on the particular comics it takes a look at, it gave me a burning desire to seriously expand my collection anyway. The section on Alan Moore's ABC line was original & informative, I'll never read Tom Strongin the same way again, (though I'm not sure if I neccessarily agree with his analysis, interesting as it is).
So if you're a Cultural studies student, tired of getting your head melted by really boring lectures, or a comics fan prepared to expand your critical vocabulary a little, then this book comes highly reccomended.
