Supergods
Our World in the Age of the Superhero
- Published: 1 August 2011
- ISBN: 9781409040262
- Imprint: Vintage Digital
- Format: EBook
- Pages: 480
Supergods is a rather astonishing piece of work that leaves you feeling pretty much as those first readers of Superman in 1938 must have felt: slightly more aware of our place in the universe and cautiously optimistic about the future
Independent on Sunday
Supergods is perhaps the most satisfactory potted history of the American comic book industry I've ever read (and I've read just about all its competitors) while also offering a brilliantly incisive, if very personal, appreciation and analysis of the most important comic books or graphic novels - call 'em what you will - to be published in the past 30 years
Guardian
As a writer for Batman and Superman, Grant Morrison is in the perfect place to analyse the rise and fall of the superhero
Sunday Times
Authoritative overview of the genre...detailed and thoughtful
Spectator
If this were just Morrison's story, the reminiscences of an original Scots thinker who works in a medium that silly people scorn, it would be worth your time. The sections detailing the writer's relationship with his father are especially touching. What makes this book exceptional is the history of comics that comes with the history of Morrison... As a superhero fan, I found this a diverting read. As a people fan, I found it unputdownable
Scotsman
It is stunningly good on the utopian dream that Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster kick-started when they invented Superman, and the dark twin that Bob Kane created for the Man of Steel in Batman. As one of the best writers of both characters, Morrison knows what he is talking about...essential without being definitive
Independent
It offers the same switchback exhilaration as Morrison's comic books
Sunday Herald
Magnificently idiosyncratic new history of the genre... Supergods is packed with intriguing nuggets of insight, and it will be fascinating to see how the trends it discerns play out... What was it they said about the geeks inheriting the earth?
Daily Telegraph
Morrison makes a passionate and knowledgeable tour guide through comics' golden age
The Times
Morrison's analysis of how comic books have reflected and influenced mainstream culture is never less than intriguing, and his turn of phrase is often a joy
Robert Colville, Daily Telegraph
Part manifesto, part memoir, part idiosyncratic spiritual/philosophical tract... Morrison knows the genre and loves it deeply, and both that knowledge and that love shine through... an often funny and sometimes very moving account of Morrison's life as seen through the lens of his relationship with superheroes, which began in childhood
Katherine Farmar, Irish Times
The author shows a deft turn of phrase while appraising his fellow creators...Supergods proves an entertaining introduction to newcomers
Metro
Whatever your views on Grant's own creative output which I find both dazzling and, on occasions, daunting, no one can deny the man's blistering intelligence and throughout his career he has never ceased from innovation. Each new project makes readers sit up and think and I imagine many of his peers have felt the same way. Similarly this 400-page history of and tribute to this medium's meta - humans will give you much to ponder, and I don't think any true fan of the genre, as I have been since five, can afford to be without its illuminating torch
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