Customer Reviews

Superfolks

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Having just discovered Superfolks almost 30 years after its original publication, I'm mystified that I'd never heard of this book before, because this is a must-read book for any hard-core superhero junkie. It's an insanely funny parody of superheroes, but also has a genuine emotional heart. You feel for the plight of David Brinkley, the novel's protagonist, once the world's greatest hero, now just a middle-aged suburbanite nobody with only the faintest echo of his once mighty powers. He's an alien, feeling all alone, yet somehow this makes him even more human. A good example of something that is at once funny and terribly human is, as a teen, David develops "gamma-eye vision" that lets him see through walls and also, if he concentrates, girl's clothes. He tries to resist the temptation to use the power, not just because of the dubious morality of being a peeping tom, but also because when he's using this superpower, he can't see where he's going with his normal eyesight. You know he's given in to temptation when under David's photo in his yearbook, it reads, "Clumsiest Boy in School."

The only reason I'm not giving it five stars is that the book is filled with 1970's pop-culture references that haven't aged terribly well. Bella Abzug jokes were probably funnier in 1977 than they are now. On the other hand, some of the political satire still feels dead on. In the book, the people who really run the country are based out of Dallas and steer the country via the vice-president, while the president is left out of the loop on many of the nasty schemes being cooked up by his administration.

I understand they are going to reissue this. It is well worth hunting down.

Copywrited in 1977 the author, Robert Mayer, deconstructs the super hero mythos that in many ways paved the path for such books as Watchmen and Miracleman. Sometimes the book can be serious and at other times comes close to Kurtzman's Mad Magazine.

Superman, Batman and the Mavel Family are dead (the last killed by a lighting strike. A man named Brinkley (last survivor of the planet Cronk, parents Archie and Edith, told you there was some Madesque satire) was once the world's most powerful hero, now he wanders around, middle-aged, his dreams unfufilled, ala Moore's Miracleman.

Civil unrest in the streets and a super-powered menace show up, gradually he gains back his god like powers, only to be forced to make a choice that may destroy him and his family.

Don't let the sometimes silly tone distract you from one of the great superhero novels. As with all great stories you will find this to be equal parts tragedy and comedy.

If you like superhero comics, or if you liked them back in the day and remember the feeling fondly, you will enjoy this book enormously. Robert Mayer's writing is clever, funny, and humane-- as witty as the book is, as much as it plays (havoc) with the genre, it never veers all the way toward parody; in fact, its protagonist is more painfully human than any of his avatars ever were. I won't assume that all of the current greats (besides Morrison, obviously) have read this, but it's easy to imagine the humanity of some of Moore's, Bendis's, Morrison's, Robinson's and Gaiman's "flawed" gods to have been inspired by Mayer's book.
There's also a bonus for readers over 40, especially New Yorkers and those who came of age in the New York metropolitan area in the countless sly references to people and events that made up the fabric of the early 1970s here in Metropolis. But don't be put off if you don't fit that profile-- those particular pleasures of recognition aren't in any way crucial to the reading experience, and there's a whole lot to savor besides them.

Fun, twisted, hip. This little book's got it all. Written twenty years ago, but fresh as new born razor blade. SUPERFOLK was a fast enjoyable read. I'm old enough to get a lot of the pop culture references, and I can see where this little book might have sparked Grant Morrison's budding imagination. Fans of THE INCREDIBLES, pop culture, political humor, human nature, and just plain good writing will want to snap this baby up. I applaud St. Martin's for resurrecting this sleeper hit. Up, up and a way up yours, Hollywood, this is the movie you should have made!

I understand they are going to reissue this. It is well worth hunting down.

Copywrited in 1977 the author, Robert Mayer, deconstructs the super hero mythos that in many ways paved the path for such books as Watchmen and Miracleman. Sometimes the book can be serious and at other times comes close to Kurtzman's Mad Magazine.

Superman, Batman and the Mavel Family are dead (the last killed by a lighting strike. A man named Brinkley (last survivor of the planet Cronk, parents Archie and Edith, told you there was some Madesque satire) was once the world's most powerful hero, now he wanders around, middle-aged, his dreams unfufilled, ala Moore's Miracleman.

Civil unrest in the streets and a super-powered menace show up, gradually he gains back his god like powers, only to be forced to make a choice that may destroy him and his family.

Don't let the sometimes silly tone distract you from one of the great superhero novels. As with all great stories you will find this to be equal parts tragedy and comedy.

I found the book to be cute at first, but it just keeps on piling up the fiction references. Imagine a world where everything fiction in our world existed, that's what this book is.
Cute to begin with, but ultimately boring.

I was lured into reading Superfolks by the cover, and throwing caution (and the old adage) to the wind, I gave it a go and was quite pleased that I did. This is a wonderful satire of the hero-genre, a humorous tale of a super mid-life crisis written long before The Incredibles made animation history. Mayer skillfully creates a fantasy-pulp world chock full of pop culture's infamous and iconic, with enough cameos to make any child of the 60's and 70's grin with wicked delight. But overall, he is able to transform the stuff of comics - that brilliant combination of noir and sensationalism - into a delightful yet adventurous novel.

I'll try not to repeat too much of what everyone else here has said. Yes, this is a wonderful and groundbreaking book. It's also a very quick read. I naturally read most books, even fiction, very slowly. Not this book. I found myself turning pages so fast that I had to intentionally slow myself down so it wouldn't end too soon. The author draws you into his world very easily in all the right ways.

A bit of advice: I recommend stopping every so often to remind yourself of context. How would this book be seen by someone reading it back when it was written -- before The Watchmen, The Tick, The Incredibles and just about everyone else has re-done the genre of placing superheroes into the everyday world. The satire is that much funnier when you see it from this perspective. Also, there are tons of contemporary pop-culture references which are funnier when you remind yourself of the era in which this was written.

If you think my advice is over-analyzing what should just be fun pop fiction, ignore me. It's still a great book on its own merits.

After an over two year search I finally located and read Superfolks. The book was worth every minute of the wait. I read the book in one night. I urge all comic book readers and lovers of good fiction to find and read this work, they won't be disappointed. The book was funny, full of satire and a good commentary on modern life, and it also had a good a unique plot. Even though the story took place in the seventies the points made in it are relevant to today.

I just finished reading Superfolks. After a long search for it I found it worth every minute of the wait. It was full of good humor and satire, with an equally good plot. I urge all comic book fans and readers or anyone interested in good reading to find and read this book.