Most readers think that superheroes began with Superman鈥檚 appearance in Action Comics No. 1, but that Kryptonian rocket didn鈥檛 just drop out of the sky. By the time Superman鈥檚 creators were born, the superhero鈥檚 most defining elements鈥攕ecret identities, aliases, disguises, signature symbols, traumatic origin stories, extraordinary powers, self-sacrificing altruism鈥攚ere already well-rehearsed standards. Superheroes have a sprawling, action-packed history that predates the Man of Steel by decades and even centuries. On the Origin of Superheroes is a quirky, personal tour of the mythology, literature, philosophy, history, and grand swirl of ideas that have permeated western culture in the centuries leading up to the first appearance of superheroes (as we know them today) in 1938.
From the creation of the universe, through mythological heroes and gods, to folklore, ancient philosophy, revolutionary manifestos, discarded scientific theories, and gothic monsters, the sweep and scale of the superhero鈥檚 origin story is truly epic. We will travel from Jane Austen鈥檚 Bath to Edgar Rice Burroughs鈥檚 Mars to Owen Wister鈥檚 Wyoming, with some surprising stops along the way. We鈥檒l meet mad scientists, Napoleonic dictators, costumed murderers, diabolical madmen, blackmailers, pirates, Wild West outlaws, eugenicists, the KKK, Victorian do-gooders, detectives, aliens, vampires, and pulp vigilantes (to name just a few). Chris Gavaler is your tour guide through this fascinating, sometimes dark, often funny, but always surprising prehistory of the most popular figure in pop culture today. In a way, superheroes have always been with us: they are a fossil record of our greatest aspirations and our worst fears and failings.
鈥淚鈥檝e been reading superhero comics my whole life and this book made me realize I鈥檇 never known what they were. This is the book that reveals Superman鈥檚 strange cultural DNA and the dark prehistory that shadows Action Comics No. 1.鈥 鈥擜ustin Grossman, author, Soon I Will Be Invincible
鈥淪uperheroes are everywhere now, but Gavaler shows that that鈥檚 nothing new. From Zeus to Zorro, he looks at why we love the superhero, and why maybe sometimes we shouldn鈥檛. Eclectic, entertaining, and surprisingly personal, On the Origin of Superheroes will grant new super-knowledge to scholars, fans, and casual readers alike.鈥濃擭oah Berlatsky, author, Wonder Woman: Bondage and Feminism in the Marston/Peter Comics, 1941鈥1948
鈥淐hris Gavaler has permanently changed the way I think about the emergence of the superhero and bridges the frontier that divides proto-superheroes from superheroes. He innovatively traces the prehistory of the superhero, demonstrating that the superhero鈥檚 roots are planted in the soil of myth and legend and watered by the philosophy of the 眉bermensch with eugenics as fertilizer. The surprising connections that emerge throughout kept me constantly wondering what was going to come next and made the book feel like a detective story.鈥濃擯eter Coogan, author, Superhero: The Secret Origin of a Genre
鈥淭hroughout the book, Gavaler seems less preoccupied with offering a definitive narrative about the origins of superheroes than providing a starting point for further arguments. Ultimately, this what makes On the Origins of Superheroes rewarding. It models an approach to the problem rather than a definitive answer. 鈥淪uperhero research isn鈥檛 like the Chunnel connecting England and France,鈥 Gavaler tells us. Instead 鈥渢here are a thousand ways to access Magneto鈥檚 cavern, some more idiosyncratic than others鈥 (269).鈥濃PopMatters
