Rise of the Superheroes – David Tosh

They Could Be Heroes

Rise of the Superheroes–Greatest Silver Age Comic Books and Characters is a visual and entertaining adventure exploring one of the most popular and significant eras of comic book history. From 1956 to 1970, the era gave us Spider-Man, The Avengers, X-Men, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man and a flurry of other unforgettable and formidable characters.

The Silver Age redefined and immortalized superheroes as the massive pop culture titans they are today.

Lavishly illustrated with comic book covers and original art, the book chronicles:

• The new frontier of DC Comics, with a revamped Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman, and new characters including Hawkman
• Marvel’s new comics featuring Thor and The Fantastic Four
• The pop art years that saw Batman’s “new look” and the TV series
• Independent characters, including Fat Fury and T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents
• Spotlights new and re-imagined superheroes, like Wonder Woman, who have become central to modern pop culture
• Includes values of these comics, which are popular with collectors

Thanks to the Silver Age, superheroes are bigger and badder than ever.

 

My thanks to Quirk Books for the chance to review this book.

It seems that Superheroes are cool again.  Marvel comics have set a high bar in our cinemas over the last 10 years as they build up a cinematic universe beyond the wildest dreams of the more mature comic book fan.

DC Comics may not have fared quite so well in the cinema (though Wonder Woman was a notable exception), however, they are ruling the small screen.  From Smallville to The Flash, Arrow and Supergirl they are showing the way forward at producing hours of fan pleasing content which keeps the comic book readers hooked.

But before the heroes had their rise to fame on our homes and in movie theatres they first had to Rise from anonymity in the original comic books.  Why should Spider-Man, The Flash and Thor have been the successful stories while Luke Cage, Cloak and Dagger or Hawkman maybe just didn’t capture the public imagination in the same way?

In the gorgeously illustrated Rise of the Superheroes David Tosh looks at the Silver Age of comic books and charts how the action heroes of their day became the megastar crowd pullers that they are today.  By focusing on the events of the time, the stories which became character defining and by drawing on his own observations a story is built around the names we know so well.

I have been reading comic books since I was about 8 or 9 years old – that is over 30 years of being a Spidey fan (long before it was cool to be a comic nerd).  I love a book which will tell the back stories, look at pivotal moments in the evolution of characters and (one day) I may even understand why there are so many different X-men groups and factions!  This book is very much aimed at readers like me – fans who want to read more about their favourite characters and possibly even learn about the heroes which feature in comics I don’t read.

Let’s face it – there are just too many comics out there to try to read them all.  Some just don’t get an opportunity to shine and some titles just don’t get picked up by readers for reasons which will seem ridiculous to other readers.  For example I have never read a Green Lantern comic, nor have I ever been a fan of Iron Man.  Hulk is great (but not when he is in space) and the X-Men are just too complicated to know where to start.  But I still claim to love comic books and I use books like Rise of the Superheroes to try to make me WANT to read Iron Man or Green Lantern.

David Tosh has done a good job of making his book very accessible.  I was surprised that it was not 100% factual and that some of her personal opinions and observations creep in – unusual for this type of reference book. But his writing style is easy to pick up and put down (we are in coffee-table book country here) and I loved the time I spent pouring over the pages.

If you are discovering comics through the recent influx of film and tv shows then books like Rise of the Superheroes are a great way to understand better where the characters first found their feet. Seasoned readers may find this one a little light on new information, but that does not stop it being a fun read.

 

Rise of the Superheroes is published by Quirk Books and you can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rise-Superheroes-Greatest-Silver-Characters/dp/1440248168/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1529270776&sr=8-1&keywords=rise+of+the+superheroes