Superman on the Couch

What Superheroes Really Tell Us About Ourselves and Our Society

Why are so many of the superhero myths tied up with loss, often violent, of parents or parental figures? What is the significance of the dual identity? What makes some superhuman figures “good” and others “evil”? Why are so many of the prime superheroes white and male? How has the superhero evolved over the course of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries? And how might the myths be changing?

Why is it that the key superhero archetypes—Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man, the X-Men—touch primal needs and experiences in everyone? Why has the superhero moved beyond the pages of comics into other media?

All these topics, and more, are covered in this lively and original exploration of the reasons why the superhero—in comic books, films, and TV—is such a potent myth for our times and culture.

©2004 Danny Fingeroth (P)2022 Blackstone Publishing

Mediocre information and terrible read

The information level is a trivial look at comics. The observations are shallow. The author reads his own work and someone should have told him that's a very bad idea. He simply doesn't speak well and the sloppiness is unlistenable.