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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 741.5973
EAN: 9780452295322
ISBN: 0452295327
Label: Plume
Manufacturer: Plume
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 256
Publication Date: April 28, 2009
Publisher: Plume
Studio: Plume
Features:
Editorial Review:
Product Description:
Fascinating and often bizarre true stories behind more than 130 urban legends about comic book culture
Was Superman a Spy? demystifies all of the interesting stories, unbelievable anecdotes, wacky rumors, and persistent myths that have piled up like priceless back issues in the seventy-plus years of the comic book industry, including:
* Elvis Presley's trademark hairstyle was based on a comic book character (True)
* Stan Lee featured a gay character in one of Marvel's 1960s war comics (False)
* Wolverine of the X-Men was originally meant to be an actual wolverine! (True)
* What would have been DC's first black superhero was changed at the last moment to a white hero (True)
* A Dutch inventor was blocked from getting a patent on a process because it had been used previously in a Donald Duck comic book (True)
With many more legends resolved, Was Superman a Spy? is a must-have for the legions of comic book fans and all seekers of "truth, justice, and the American way."
Average Rating: 
Rating: -
This book examines "more than 130" legends about comic book culture. Most of these stories deal with some of the stranger occurances in the comic book industry. The book heavily leans toward DC and Marvel, with much less written about other comic book companies, but that's understandable. I knew a lot of the stories in here beforehand, but there were also a lot that I hadn't heard before. A very enjoyable look at the quirkier side of the comic book industry.
Rating: -
Brian Cronin has expanded the comic book history discussions from his "Comic Book Legends Revealed" column on his "Comics Should Be Good" website into this paperback. The eleven chapters are divided into three parts: DC Comics, Marvel Comics, and Other Comics Creators. Cronin offers brief histories of the major American comic book companies and then groups his trivia nuggets by main characters: Chapter 1 is "Superman"; Chapter 5 is "Spider-Man", etc. Interspersed throughout the text are over 100 ... Read More
Rating: 
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I wish this book was better than it ended up being. It started out fairly interesting but quickly rand out of steam and descended into bland fact regurgitation. It probably could have been better fleshed out and the author's
writing style is utterly forgetable.
Rating: -
A really solid, well written book. Being a lifelong comic book fan/historian myself... I knew a lot of the stories already. But it's always fun to discover again and fnd out new things while doing it.
Sometimes the chapters didn't flow together as smoothly as you'd like... but that fault was made up by the entertaining writing style.
Overall an excellent read! Any comic nut should own it!
Rating: -
WAS SUPERMAN A SPY? is a fun read and the author writes in an interesting manner. There are chunks of comic lore in the book -- i.e., the Hulk's real name? Robert Bruce Banner (and the story behind that name) -- and every segment is provided in a few short paragraphs, allowing for easy reading. Still, too much of the book is dedicated to only a few major comic characters. Superman, Batman, Spider-man and Captain America covered at length, as do the publishers, DC and Marvel...but only a tiny fraction ... Read More
