{"id":7077,"date":"2025-12-04T08:38:24","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T13:38:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.laserfarm.com\/?p=7077"},"modified":"2025-12-04T08:38:25","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T13:38:25","slug":"book-review-its-superman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.laserfarm.com\/?p=7077","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: It’s Superman"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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It\u2019s Superman<\/em><\/strong>, by Tom De Haven<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This book isn’t a few things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This isn\u2019t a comic book. It\u2019s a book book. No pictures. No speech bubbles. No problem!\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This isn’t a non-fiction history of the hero. It’s a novel — a genuine, wordy-word book about make-believe people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And most important, this isn’t bad. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The book is a more realistic, depression-era version of the iconic hero. The story follows Clark Kent as he moves out of Smallville, gets a job at the Daily Planet, meets Lois Lane and fights Lex Luthor. Sound familiar? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The book doesn\u2019t stray far from the source, but when it\u2019s told in novel-form, it feels fresh and new. This book doesn\u2019t read like a big blockbuster movie, but feels more like a low-key Coen Brothers film that also includes some action. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I read this a long time ago, when the thought of a new Superman movie was met with eyerolls and shrugs. But I loved the recent James Gunn movie, which added much needed fun and wackiness to the story. Superman\u2019s back, baby! This book doesn\u2019t include much wackiness, but it\u2019s also not stuck in a dark \u201cI wish I was Batman\u201d mopey tone. It\u2019s its own thing, and I appreciate that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Would this approach work for other superheroes? Sure! In fact, this would work best for the wilder, sillier heroes \u2013 characters like Plastic Man or Speedball that are goofy on the comic book page, and would be tough to pull off in a feature film, but would benefit from a novel treatment and the theater of the mind. I wouldn\u2019t want to see the film, but I would read a 500-page novel about Matter Eater Lad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you like to read? Do you think reading is important to our culture and species? Donate to my Reading is Fundamental campaign and help improve America\u2019s sluggish, awful, no good, very bad literacy rates.<\/strong> Click her to donate! <\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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