JK Parkin
04-16-2004, 06:38 PM
Superfolks by Robert Mayer
Published by About Comics
This was a novel (i.e. non-comic) written in the 70s that "started it all" according to Kurt Busiek's introduction. The cover reads "Before Watchmen! Before Authority! Before Astro City! There was ... Superfolks!" over a very nice Dave Gibbons cover. It was recently re-released by About Comics, the guys who keep re-releasing really cool collections (Liberty Project, DNAgents) and are behind 24-Hour Comic Day.
(I hope a novel review is ok for the new review section ... it's about super heroes, is packaged in the same format as a comic book trade paperback and was published by a comic book company ... it's kind of a comic book without the pictures.)
Overall I found this to be a pretty good book, but also pretty weird. At times it approached the level of some of the material it "pre-dated," but at other times I felt like I was reading someone's fan fiction. For instance, most, if not all, of the characters in the book are named after real people. Indigo, the Superman-like hero who is the main character, is named David Brinkley. Martin Van Buren works for the FBI. Muhammad Ali shows up as a cab driver. Our hero came from the planet Cronk. His one weakness? Cronkite.
The names created some interesting visuals; I think my favorite was a stripper named Bermuda Triangle.
Then there are the fictional characters from other stories or TV shows who pop up in the book. Indigo was the defender of NYC, but the book also makes several references to other heroes protecting their homes: Superman protecting Metropolis, Batman in Gotham City, Wonder Woman in Paradise Island and the Lone Ranger in New Mexico. The Marvel family is parodied as the Mantra family (Captain Mantra, Mary Mantra, and a crippled kid who has a pretty twisted past and actually puts the "junior" in Captain Marvel Jr. ... man, the chapter describing where he came from was one of the most twisted and disturbing things I've read), even though there are references to Captain Marvel existing. Meanwhile, our hero lives across the street from Kojak, and gets an assist from Peter Pan later in the book.
Oh, and Snoopy pops up as well. I almost forgot that one. I guess the book is considered a parody, because I don't know how else they could get away with all the blatant references they make.
But despite all the weirdness (and maybe eevn because of it), this was a good book. The overall plot against our hero isn't revealed until the end, and it's very, very clever (too bad the Superman writers didn't think of it first).
And I guess in 1978 the entire book would have been fairly groundbreaking, but of course I've been jaded by everything that has been published since it came out, so a lot of "holy crap!" moments were probably spoiled for me. I'm sure the scene with Indigo and his tailor would have meant more to me if I hadn't just seen the same story in Amazing Spider-Man ... the difference being that Superfolk predated that comic by a few decades.
BTW, this book is definitely not for kids, as it includes some fairly mature material and several sex scenes, so be warned if you're easily offended. But if you are interested in something that's pretty clever and very off the wall, check it out.
I give it a B+.
Published by About Comics
This was a novel (i.e. non-comic) written in the 70s that "started it all" according to Kurt Busiek's introduction. The cover reads "Before Watchmen! Before Authority! Before Astro City! There was ... Superfolks!" over a very nice Dave Gibbons cover. It was recently re-released by About Comics, the guys who keep re-releasing really cool collections (Liberty Project, DNAgents) and are behind 24-Hour Comic Day.
(I hope a novel review is ok for the new review section ... it's about super heroes, is packaged in the same format as a comic book trade paperback and was published by a comic book company ... it's kind of a comic book without the pictures.)
Overall I found this to be a pretty good book, but also pretty weird. At times it approached the level of some of the material it "pre-dated," but at other times I felt like I was reading someone's fan fiction. For instance, most, if not all, of the characters in the book are named after real people. Indigo, the Superman-like hero who is the main character, is named David Brinkley. Martin Van Buren works for the FBI. Muhammad Ali shows up as a cab driver. Our hero came from the planet Cronk. His one weakness? Cronkite.
The names created some interesting visuals; I think my favorite was a stripper named Bermuda Triangle.
Then there are the fictional characters from other stories or TV shows who pop up in the book. Indigo was the defender of NYC, but the book also makes several references to other heroes protecting their homes: Superman protecting Metropolis, Batman in Gotham City, Wonder Woman in Paradise Island and the Lone Ranger in New Mexico. The Marvel family is parodied as the Mantra family (Captain Mantra, Mary Mantra, and a crippled kid who has a pretty twisted past and actually puts the "junior" in Captain Marvel Jr. ... man, the chapter describing where he came from was one of the most twisted and disturbing things I've read), even though there are references to Captain Marvel existing. Meanwhile, our hero lives across the street from Kojak, and gets an assist from Peter Pan later in the book.
Oh, and Snoopy pops up as well. I almost forgot that one. I guess the book is considered a parody, because I don't know how else they could get away with all the blatant references they make.
But despite all the weirdness (and maybe eevn because of it), this was a good book. The overall plot against our hero isn't revealed until the end, and it's very, very clever (too bad the Superman writers didn't think of it first).
And I guess in 1978 the entire book would have been fairly groundbreaking, but of course I've been jaded by everything that has been published since it came out, so a lot of "holy crap!" moments were probably spoiled for me. I'm sure the scene with Indigo and his tailor would have meant more to me if I hadn't just seen the same story in Amazing Spider-Man ... the difference being that Superfolk predated that comic by a few decades.
BTW, this book is definitely not for kids, as it includes some fairly mature material and several sex scenes, so be warned if you're easily offended. But if you are interested in something that's pretty clever and very off the wall, check it out.
I give it a B+.