Superhero comic books are traditionally thought to have two distinct periods, two major waves of creativity: the Golden Age and the Silver Age. In simple terms, the Golden Age was the birth of the superhero proper out of the pulp novel characters of the early 1930s, and was primarily associated with the DC Comics Group. Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, and Wonder Woman are the most famous creations of this period. In the early 1960s, Marvel Comics launched a completely new line of heroes, the primary figures of the Silver Age: the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, the X-Men, the Avengers, Iron Man, and Daredevil. In this book, Geoff Klock presents a study of the Third Movement of superhero comic books. He avoids, at all costs, the temptation to refer to this movement as "Postmodern," "Deconstructionist," or something equally tedious. Analyzing the works of Frank Miller, Alan Moore, Warren Ellis, and Grant Morrison among others, and taking his cue from Harold Bloom, Klock unearths the birth of self-consciousness in the superhero narrative and guides us through an intricate world of traditions, influences, nostalgia and innovations - a world where comic books do indeed become literature.
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"A book like this is way overdue. I’m just glad someone finally had the balls to write it."—Joe Casey, writer of Wildcats and Automatic Kafk
"Exceptional"—Today's Books
"...a fascinating exegesis of superhero comics, outlining how the main movement of the genre since its inception has been toward self-cannibalization, which some have chosen to call metafiction...he does a pretty good job explaining why they are what they are and why they're never likely to really ascend to anything else. An entertaining read...it's nice for a change to see comics taken seriously as subjects of literary criticism. We could use more of it."—Comicbookresources.com
"The strengths of the book are the many [...] connections made to literary and psychoanalytical figures, the attempt to explain the metamorphosis of a new type of superhero comic, and a close reading of the comic books used to support the book's thesis. The book does add new dimensions to the much-overworked subject of superhero comic books."—Choice, May 2002 & May 2003
"Klock's strength lies in his commitment to looking at comics in a novel way, through the lens of literary analysis. He melds his encyclopedic knowledge of the superhero genre with the language of literary theory so as to join seemingly disparate worlds and to better inform the reader how comic book narratives have built upon and referenced one another throughout the history of their development." -Children's Literature Association Quarterly
"The strengths of the book are the many [...] connections made to literary and psychoanalytical figures, the attempt to explain the metamorphosis of a new type of superhero comic, and a close reading of the comic books used to support the book's thesis. The book does add new dimensions to the much-overworked subject of superhero comic books."—Choice, May 2002 & May 2003
"Exceptional"—Today's Books
"...a fascinating exegesis of superhero comics, outlining how the main movement of the genre since its inception has been toward self-cannibalization, which some have chosen to call metafiction...he does a pretty good job explaining why they are what they are and why they're never likely to really ascend to anything else. An entertaining read...it's nice for a change to see comics taken seriously as subjects of literary criticism. We could use more of it."—Comicbookresources.com
"The strengths of the book are the many [...] connections made to literary and psychoanalytical figures, the attempt to explain the metamorphosis of a new type of superhero comic, and a close reading of the comic books used to support the book's thesis. The book does add new dimensions to the much-overworked subject of superhero comic books."—Choice, May 2002 & May 2003
"Klock's strength lies in his commitment to looking at comics in a novel way, through the lens of literary analysis. He melds his encyclopedic knowledge of the superhero genre with the language of literary theory so as to join seemingly disparate worlds and to better inform the reader how comic book narratives have built upon and referenced one another throughout the history of their development." -Children's Literature Association Quarterly
"The strengths of the book are the many [...] connections made to literary and psychoanalytical figures, the attempt to explain the metamorphosis of a new type of superhero comic, and a close reading of the comic books used to support the book's thesis. The book does add new dimensions to the much-overworked subject of superhero comic books."—Choice, May 2002 & May 2003
About the Author
Geoff Klock is the author of How to Read Superhero Comics and Why (Continuum, 2002) a study guided by Harold Bloom's poetics of influence. After getting a Masters degree in English he spent two years studying literature as a night security guard. He was then admitted to Balliol College, Oxford. His doctoral thesis there, Imaginary Biographies: Misreading the Lives of the Poets, focuses on Romantic poetry and its extensions through the 20th century- specifically poetry's bizarre and idiosyncratic portrayals of historical writers (e.g. Virgil in Dante's Divine Comedy). This work will be followed by a complementary study of the same device in popular culture, (e.g. Johnny Depp's portrayal of William Blake in Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man).
Geoff Klock is twenty-seven years old, and was raised in Texas, where he attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. For more information visit his website at www.geoffklock.com
Geoff Klock is twenty-seven years old, and was raised in Texas, where he attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. For more information visit his website at www.geoffklock.com
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Criticism Beyond Campbell,
By "heiligkuh" (Santa Cruz, CA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: How to Read Superhero Comics and Why (Paperback)
I devoured this book in a day, supremely happy to find a text that took superhero comics seriously as a topic for detailed literary criticism. Klock's central premise, that contemporary super hero comics survive and reach great heights in how they interrogate and relate to the bewildering history of superhero comics, is well-argued through the poetic analysis of Harold Bloom. It is a thrill beyond words to see the arm-chair analysis of Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, or Ellis' Wildstorm work be given such a rigorous academic treatment, and to find it all so readable. This is a fantastic find for any comic fan who has come through a liberal arts program and can handle a few chunky quotes.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Superheroes fighting their own past,
By A Customer
This review is from: How to Read Superhero Comics and Why (Paperback)
This is a terrific book, but the title is somewhat misleading. It's not a general overview of superhero comics or how to read them. Instead, it's a specific (and fascinating) look at how recent comics writers have dealt with the issue of continuity in the face of decades of tangled comics history. Klock analyzes this using Harold Bloom's tools for discussing how poets interact with the history of poetry -- and the result is pretty mindblowing. He offers insights that I guarantee will have you going back to your comics and finding stuff you never knew was there. My favorite moments were his analyses of Joker's dialogue in "The Killing Joke," and of fascist politics in "Tom Strong." Other comics analyzed include "Batman: The Dark Knight Returns," "Watchmen," "Marvels," "Astro City," Alan Moore's whole ABC line, Grant Morrison's "JLA," "The Authority" and "Planetary." There are no illustrations, and Klock uses some dense academic language, but he defines his more obscure terms and the book is clear and well-written. A serious look at a strange phenomenon: how superhero narratives became self-conscious of their past and started to behave a lot like literature.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superhero's and Bloom,
By A Customer
This review is from: How to Read Superhero Comics and Why (Paperback)
This book puts together superhero comics and Harold Bloom's theory of poetry. Its called Anxiety of Influence - poetry is in a love/hate relationship with earlier poetry that it is influenced by and also has to outdo. Most of academic criticism nowadays is deconstruction and postmodernism and its cool that this does something else - Klock comes up with a strange idea to put these subjects together. Harold Bloom HATES all forms of pop culture and all his writing is on poetry and Shakespeare, and its bizarre to see how well comics and Bloom go together. (Maybe he should get another job!). You cannot believe all the stuff in your superhero comics that you never knew about. Its really really bizarre but after you read the book its hard to say it doesn't work. Klock makes his points well and its very very smart intellectual writing that uses some big words, but isn't insane academic writing that makes no sense. Some writers don't make any sense to cover up the fact that they have no idea what they are saying. Klock isn't one of them.
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