Gerald Jones: Men of tomorrow

There could be no higher praise for Men of Tomorrow than the back cover quote by Watchmen author Alan Moore — the best known comic book writer of the past two decades — who declares that Gerald Jones' "history of the superhero ... is also the secret history of modern America", which the author reveals "with all its madness, badness and tragedy intact".

As Moore concludes, Men of Tomorrow is indeed a magnificent piece of work and it is also much more than its sub-title Geeks, Gangsters and the Birth of the Comic Book suggests, as Jones not only details the creation of the first superheroes such as Superman and Batman but also ties their emergence with early pulp-fiction magazines, softcore pornography, organised crime and amateur fanzines.

At the heart of Men of Tomorrow's narrative are two separate but equally important partnerships, both of which blossomed in the 1920s and would go on to play integral roles in the development of the modern comic-book industry.

Jones begins with ruthless hustlers Harry Donenfeld and Jack Liebowitz, who founded National Periodical Publications — later to became D.C. Comics — which he then contrasts with the burgeoning relationship between idealistic Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

Siegel and Shuster famously sold all the rights to Man of Steel, who debuted in the inaugural issue of Action Comics in 1938, to Donenfeld and Liebowitz for a meagre one-off payment of $130 and they never received any royalties for the millions of Superman comic books, television programmes and films that have appeared over the past seven decades, including next year's big screen revival, Superman Returns.

As a former comic book writer himself, Jones knows his subject with great affection and detail, and his professional connections have allowed him to meet and interview many of the field's early pioneers, including legendary Marvel Comics artist Jack Kirby and The Spirit creator Will Eisner, perhaps the much-maligned yet most celebrated comic book writer/artist of them all.

Men of Tomorrow is also an excellent, non-fiction companion to Michael Chabon's impressively epic but almost too reverential The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, which covered much of the same ground in thinly veiled, fictional form.

In fact, Men of Tomorrow's only real failing is that the British and New Zealand edition boasts a garish, comic book-style illustrated cover of a Superman-esque caped crusader whearas the earlier American edition's sleeve was designed by top graphic designer Chip Kidd.

But any comic book completists seeking out the original American version should be aware that the text of this edition has been slightly updated with the correction of a few glaring mistakes.

* Stephen Jewell is an Auckland reviewer.
* Random House, $37.95