Author Larry Tye is non-fiction author and journalist. With this book he delivers a history of the Superman character from his creators, the major changes to the character in the comics, the people that have played him in various forms of media and his biggest fans. It's entirely possible to write books on all of these subjects but Tye weaves through the topics giving new or at least recently revealed information where he can. While it's known that Siegel and Shuster grew up during the depression, Larry gets some details on how poor the two families were down to which sibling they had to share a bed with while growing up. Some specific details of the bullying Siegel endured in school also gets told as well. Some information about the publishers are given too, but not to the same depth. With the exception of Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, Gerard Jones's Men of Tomorrow has more details on the early life of Harry Donenfeld and Jack Liebowitz. Some of the new information in regards to Siegel and Shuster and the creation of Superman come from the public court documents that have come out as a result of the ongoing copyright case. One interesting bit of information to come out was a change in stories as to why Shuster got angry and tore up his first Superman work (only saving the cover). In interviews it was said Shuster was angry that their work was not published by Humor Publications after they had accepted it. In Jerry Siegel's memoirs he reveals the artwork was torn up because Shuster found out Siegel was working with another more successful artist to try and get Superman published. They also get into the influences on Superman and Philip Wylie's reaction to Superman and his thoughts on suing Siegel/Shuster/DC Comics for plagiarism. The book doesn't shy away from some of the flaws of the creators or their family members. Joanne Siegel (now deceased) does not come off looking very good, particularly towards the end of the book. Much is written about the Superman radio show, some information on the Fleischer Cartoons, Kirk Alyn Superman, George Reeves Superman, Superman/Super Friends cartoons, Christopher Reeves Superman Movies, Superboy live action show, Shaq's Steel movie, the Paul Dini/Bruce Timm Superman cartoon, Lois and Clark TV show, Smallville and Brandon Routh's Superman Returns. Some of these get more details than others. The Christopher Reeves Superman movie gets a lot of coverage in regards to the producers, directors and actors. Some, like Steel get minimum mention. Tye also follows the actors particularly if they end up doing cameos in other Superman media or something else significant happens to them. The characters history is told in chronological order of events, but one continuity flaw is writing about John Byrne's Man of Steel reboot, then later talking about a Crisis on Infinite Earths story. Those events happened the other way around. The real shame in this book is I don't believe the Siegel family was involved in it, but that's par for course as they are in the middle of a lawsuit. Coming out of this DC looks relatively clean and the creators not so clean. I suspect Siegel's side would have had some stories of their own which would explain their long standing rage against the company. I found the book a bit sparse on details in regards to the Superman related lawsuits. The suites against Fox over Wonder Man, Fawcett over Captain Marvel, and the creators vs. DC in 1948 and 1966 get a mention and their results, sometimes a little more. The ongoing one gets more details out there including some information that explains why a settlement talk between DC and the Siegel family fell apart. Also mentioned is what is likely to be the upcoming Shuster family legal battle against DC. I did enjoy the book a great deal and do recommend it to anybody with even a passing interest in Superman. It's an entertaining and informative history of the character and the important people that had a hand in shaping him.   Regards,       Jamie Coville JamieCoville.com

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Text Copyright © 2012 Jamie Coville About the Author E-mail: jcoville@kingston.net