Lecturas: Supergods, by Grant Morrison

Superheroes are complex creatures. Not existing beyond the realm of fiction, yet they influence us and our collective behaviour in ways we can’t even fully grasp. This should be said with regard to fiction in general. But the figure of a superhero is a personalization, an analogy, and a condensation of values, feelings, and desires. So strong that, in many cases, the superhero becomes independent and breaks free from scripts.
Grant Morrison wrote this book about superheroes. The idea behind this exploration is simple: superheroes can tell us much about our times, longings and psychology. To explain this point, Morrison navigates through the history of North American superheroes, from 1938 to the present time. He is one of the most renowned contemporary comic writers, and this book navigates through the history of North American comics’ superheroes while telling his personal story and journey as a comic book writer and reader. 
The books promise to be “your definitive guide to the world of superheroes - what they are, where they came from, and how can they help us change the way we think about ourselves, our environment, and the multiverse of possibilities that surrounds us.” (Page xvii); and, it starts with a suggestive analysis of the idea of the superhero in comics and its genealogy. Early in the book, we receive a climax on what can be a sharp analysis of the reason behind the success and unicity of a certain superhero:

“Hercules was always Hercules. Agamemnon and Perseus were heroes from the moment they leaped out of bed in the morning until the end of a long battle-crazed day, but Superman was secretly someone else. Clark was the soul, the transcendent element in the Superman equation. Clark Kent is what made him endure. In Clark, Siegel had created the ultimate reader identification figure: misunderstood, put-upon, denied respect in spite of his obvious talents as a newspaperman at Metropolis’s (sic) Daily Planet. (...) Clark Kent was more than the ultimate nerd fantasy; everyone could identify with him. We’ve all felt clumsy and misunderstood, once or twice, or more often, in our life. Just as everyone suspects the existence of an inner Superman- an angelic, perfect self who personifies only our best moods and deeds- there is something of Clark in all of us” (Page 9, italics belong to the book)

But I was hoping to read a deeper analysis of the idea of the hero, a comparison to the past heroes (Greece, Rome, etc) and their morals and dilemmas. Furthermore, while I understand the book kept the scope within the US, I wanted to see a study analyzing how the rest of the world used the superhero archetype (anyone ever heard of “Captain Iraq?”)

Following the story, the Golden and Silver age of comics are depicted and analyzed. But as soon as Morrison was -chronologically speaking- born, the analytic essay takes a twist, and more and more personal comments are added, to a point where the books shifts to become a biographical tale of his creative experience. Consequently, the second half of the book (Dark Age and Renaissance) has a completely different tone. Nothing against that, but it feels the tone of the book becomes inconsistent.

The book becomes much more intimate, and bias. At some point, Morrison depicts his experience with drugs. Unlike many people upset about it, I enjoyed his psychedelic exploration. While the whole “Trainspotting” style of narrative felt a bit out of place, his findings around the idea of supra-dimensional perception gives us the idea that there’s more than what we see. And superheroes may have been a way to sort that path, to address a world in which we yet don’t fully understand. This was something worth reading. In contrast, there are some pointless and out-of-place stories (especially one that involves David Beckham: What was the point of that?!). While reading, I noted the few pictures present in the book belonged solely to DC comics, and Morrison’s tone has an indistinguishable favouritism towards DC. I didn’t know about his conflictive relationship with Marvel and, with some side reading, I found out that Marvel didn’t allow him to use any of their covers. For this or any other reason, I felt his appreciation was occasionally biased.

The tone of the book is agreeable and easy on the palate of the experienced fan. For the non-expert readers, this could well be an introductory essay, though confusing from time to time. The eye-catching title could be misleading if we are not immersed in the comic universe. There are some second-to-none analysis of comic milestones (like the case of Watchmen), along with some biased judgments. The book was, in the end, a mix between an essay exploring the idea of superheroes, a history of them in the comic media and Morrison’s autobiography. All noble ideas with a first class author to write them, but I feel they could have been developed separately.

Title: Supergods: What Masked Vigilantes, Miraculous Mutants, and a sun God from Smallville can teach us about being human Author: Grant Morrison Publisher: Spiegel & Grau Place/Date: New York, 2011.