Customer Reviews

Our Gods Wear Spandex: The Secret History of Comic Book Heroes

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is a great little book, which certainly puts the history of superheroics into a really new light and intellectual genealogy.

It was at its best when investigating the paradigms of mythological heroes, their influence on the pulps, and the influence of pulp material on golden age comics. There is a definite (and often demonstrable) influence at work here.

The book is far less convincing in substantiating some of the claims of a more direct influence of the occult milieu on early comics. One supposition is that Aleister Crowley was the model for Superman's enemy Lex Luthor. This is possible, but the evidence marshalled by Knowles to prove this is circumstancial and slight.

The other major claim, that Batman was 'linked to the Kabbalah' is product merely of Knowles' own definition of Batman as a 'Golem' style hero: no direct evidence from the comics or from Bob Kane's biography are cited in order to substantiate this claim. The 'link' is therefore a fabrication.

Concerning the earier sections of the book, which read breezily and very well, the research could have been substantially better. Some of the sources emplyed by Knowles to discuss the Golden Dawn, Rosicrucians, etc are rather dubious (Howard's 'The Occult Conspiracy' for example). This leads to some errors: for example Knowles states that both Bram Stoker and Sax Romer were members of the Golden Dawn, which is simply not true. He was here following a fabrication that first appeared in the 1960s (in Pauwels and Bergiers' 'The Morning of the Magicians')and has been repeated uncritically ever since.

Also, for readers who are not experienced comic fans (such as myself, a more helpful bibliography could have been included. It is all very well to know that Dr. Doom appeared in 'Fantastic Four #7' (or elsewhere), but is this comic still available today? Has it been reprinted?

But these are only minor quibbles, which do not distract from the major argument of the book, which links modern superheros to archetypes established in the mythology of yesteryear. As Knowles demonstrates, these archetypes have been constantly re-formed and reformulated in order to suit the needs of the contemporary reading audience. Good stuff.

The histories of American comic book heroes and who defined them considers both the social and mythical impact and influences on these heroes, arguing that fantastic characters aren't just entertainment, but deities for modern technological society. From the occult origins of such characters to the attraction magic and the occult has held over all, this analysis earns a place not only on the shelves of New Age libraries, but for any collection strong in social issues, myths, and the needs of modern society.

This is a very well rounded tome for the subject matter. It is very interesting to consider the parallels between the gods and goddesses of ancient times, pulp icons, real life heroes, and the modern spandex clad superhero. My favorite part of the book is the connections made between Alex Ross's epic graphic novel Kingdom Come and the rise and very welcome fall of the comics industry during the early 90's due to massive prints of garbage comics. This was a interpretation that I have never heard or considered, and as I indulged myself by reading the book again I felt a sense of enlightenment. The artwork was simple and cliche, which was the point, but it definitely illustraded the points being made within the text. Thank you for writing this book Mr. Knowles.

As a long time student and lover of both comics and the mystic arts, I was happy to see a treatment of both topics together. I don't wanna sound like a know-it-all, but unfortunately, I mostly did know all this stuff already. To be fair, I did learn a couple of things; I didn't know that he term "horizon" is derived from the idea of "zones of Horus", the Egyptian sky god (um, assuming that's actually accurate). (Note: I've since checked my American Heritage dictionary and it doesn't say anything about Horus in tracing the origin of the word.)
But for the most part, the book is just a bunch of disconnected facts with their own sub-headings. It's like, "here's a brief description of key mythological characters", and I'm thinking, "Yeah, that's right..." and then, "Here's some brief descriptions of key comic characters and comics creators", and again, I'm thinking, "Okay, right...." and then it's, "Here's a quick review of some of the biggest, most well known ideas on the arcane, and brief reviews of the biggest, most well known figures in the history of magic" and once again, I'm thinking, "Uh-huh, yeah, right -- and??!"
But that's about it. The author traces some themes but the problem for me with all this is that he mostly never really ties it all together. He's essentially correct, as far as he goes, it's just that he doesn't go far enough (at least not for me). The vast majority of treatments are superficial, which would have been okay IF he had gone on to weave it all together, to theorize, to create, to give us something new! But no. Mostly it's just a light going-over of facts which anyone well versed in these subjects is likely to know already.
Despite this, I still give the book three stars ("good") and endorse it. I'm impressed with the effort made to combine two topics which really are related on some level, and I suppose most people reading the book are indeed unfamiliar with lots of the information.
What I'd really like is for the author (or someone) to do a follow-up book that builds on this first one. Maybe the book I want couldn't have been written until after this one; we can't build an argument based on facts not in evidence. Well, now that we've established the evidence, let's have someone go on and combine these ideas into new models and techniques.
I's a good start. But c'mon! More! More!!
-- Whattaya mean, I oughtta write it myself?! YOU write it! ... somebody'll write it....

This is a great book for anyone interested in comic book mythology! There are some very interesting links between classic mythology, and comic books. It also has lots of great illustrations from Joseph Michael Linsner throughout. Great stuff!

The second (as far as I know, anyways) book from Chris Knowles (the first being a collection of writings on The Clash, a different subject but tackled with the same enthusiasm and mad genius as this one), Our Gods Wear Spandex is a fantastic book. I should make a couple of notes right away here: in cases of both the fantastic/occult and comics I have some historical knowledge but am not an in-depth scholar of either. I like reading comics and I like reading about wild stuff, but this was a great journey into the world of both (a world which is very much interconnected a Knowles makes clear in his book).

Our Gods Wear Spandex takes a well ordered approach to making connections between our contemporary comic heroes and the ancient world, the occult, literary figures, and so on. While one doesn't need to be on board with every single element of Knowles' master hypothesis, the connections and parallels he draws are always compelling and thought provoking. Despite my admittedly meager knowledge of some of the topics covered, I never felt lost and my knowledge of both comic history and the esoteric expanded considerably by the end of the book.

Knowles' writing style also helps bring the whole book together. The author is a gifted storyteller, and does a great job weaving together his master narrative on the nature of our comic heroes. I entered the book somewhat skeptical, but was drawn in from page one and felt some disappointment definite disappointment when the book ended.

As I said earlier, one doesn't need to buy into every single moment of the book but Knowles does a great job keeping you wrapped up in the whole darned thing from the front of the book to the back. A must have for anyone interested in what lays underneath the surface of their favorite superhero comics.

This is a really fun book. Sure, it's not a doctoral thesis or anything, so it's not terribly deep or scholarly. Think of it as a History Channel special. It gives a pretty entertaining overview of how superheroes have been around as long as stories, in one form or another. The author spends a lot of time examining the evolution of hero-fantasy literature from the Victorian times to the present, without as much in-depth analysis of the mythological roots as I would've liked. That's the only reason I gave it four stars instead of five. Whether or not his facts are 100% correct all the time in certainly debatable, but like I said, it's still interesting and above all entertaining.

This book is like a Transformer - MUCH more than meets the eye. First impressions from the title and cover art would lead you to believe it is some sort of parody of comic superheros. Flip thru the pages in a bookstore and you'll note lots of white space, frequent large-text headings each followd by a scant few paragraphs of text, and campy full-page black-and-white full-body character art studies. The overall impression from a cursory thirty-second glance at this book is one of a fluff piece.

Then you actually read the Knowles' words and on every page you learn something new and interesting... usually VERY interesting indeed. Between the pages, you start to realize that these seemingly random facts are starting to connect some dots you never even knew existed. By the end of the book, you realize that Knowles is addressing what is truly the most important subject of all - humanity's place in the universe itself. His vantage point is a unique intersection of the myths of yore, the religions of today, and the comic books of yesterday. In a stunning riff on the "theory of relativity", he shows that myths, religions, comic books, superheros and saviors are all manifestations of the exact same thing - the deepest yearnings of the human soul.

As a fifty-something man who grew up on Silver Age comics and then let them drop from sight upon reaching college age, Knowles' book has been invaluable to me in providing a starting point on where to reenter the world of modern comic books and having a much greater appreciation of why I should. Knowles is very opinionated, stating what (and especially who) he thinks is right and wrong with comic books today. No problem - I can tell I agree with both his logic and his emotions.

Thanks, Chris, for a great re-introduction into a world that truly matters and that I never should have left behind.

Well documented & pleasant reading for all comics fan, especially those like me who stopped reading them around 1994. Some "behind the scene" heroes concept came as a surprise !

Joe Linsner's illustrations are by the way hilarious.

You'll realize how much comics reading influenced you...and how much comics were influenced by past events... may put souvenirs in perspective...

Thanks Christopher.

An interesting yet somewhat uneven examination of the evolution and transformation of mythic heroes from ancient cultures to the present, with a focus on how the hero archetype has been interpreted and depicted in popular culture and media.

The thesis that comic book heroes are in many cases reinterpretations of archetypal heroes and superbeings is a natural one. This is examined through mythical and mystical themes explored in late 1800/early 1900 spiritual and occult societies, as well as in popular fantasy literature and the pulp magazines of early 20th century, which then led into the advent of the comic book heroes in the 1930's and 1940's.

The accompanying artwork by Joseph Michael Linser, although certainly super-heroic in style, was in some cases a bit twisted and kinky, which did not always mesh well with the content.

Knowles provides a wide-ranging and high-level romp through the heroic memes that have woven their way through our heroic story-tellings. I would have enjoyed a more in-depth examination of these themes, which Knowles excels at in his online output on his various blogs.