Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Info on Guys Who Wear Underwear Over Their Pants
Review: This is an excellent book for those who are not obsessed with superheros but find things like their origins of some interest. For the full on superhero fans who know every episode inside and out of their favourite comic book character I do not think this book would suffice though. It just doesn't go to those depths of research to satisfy them and they would probably know all the stuff inside here anyway. For people like me who have read one or two comics and seen the odd television show as a kid this book more than meets our needs.An excellent introduction by Dean Koontz starts this book and then the reader is taken to specific chapters on specific superheros which also makes this an easy to use reference book for assignments or something. There are sections on Superman, the Incredible Hulk, Fantastic Four, Batman, Aquaman, Sub-Mariner, Spiderman, Green Lantern, Ant Man, The Flash, The X-Men and for some reason Donald Duck. Time travel, doomsday, super science and other major parts of superhero comics also have their own chapter. Like I said this book will not satisfy full on fans of guys who wear their underwear over the outside of their pants but for those with a slight interest in the subject this will more than satisfy.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Info on Guys Who Wear Underwear Over Their Pants
Review: This is an excellent book for those who are not obsessed with superheros but find things like their origins of some interest. For the full on superhero fans who know every episode inside and out of their favourite comic book character I do not think this book would suffice though. It just doesn't go to those depths of research to satisfy them and they would probably know all the stuff inside here anyway. For people like me who have read one or two comics and seen the odd television show as a kid this book more than meets our needs. An excellent introduction by Dean Koontz starts this book and then the reader is taken to specific chapters on specific superheros which also makes this an easy to use reference book for assignments or something. There are sections on Superman, the Incredible Hulk, Fantastic Four, Batman, Aquaman, Sub-Mariner, Spiderman, Green Lantern, Ant Man, The Flash, The X-Men and for some reason Donald Duck. Time travel, doomsday, super science and other major parts of superhero comics also have their own chapter. Like I said this book will not satisfy full on fans of guys who wear their underwear over the outside of their pants but for those with a slight interest in the subject this will more than satisfy.
Rating: 
Summary: Okay - but fairly light on actual science.
Review: This was a fun read - but it had several problems. When the man (Dean Koontz in this case) writing the introduction says he doesn't read comics, I began to get worried. It would seem to spell trouble if a book on comics couldn't get an intro writer who was at least knowledgeable about the subject matter. Second - the section on Mutants talks about mutation in general, but enre really applies it to actual mutant powers in the comic books - there is no attempt to talk about the plausibility or implausability of mutations causing super powers. Then, that same chapter ditches science for an all out attack on creation scientists. Now, creation scientists deserve most of what was said here, but this book seemed an odd soapbox for that attack. I was expecting yet another brief, amazingly general and popular explanation of science as it relates to another comic book concept - and instead we get a "Creationists [are bad]..." diatribe. It was out of place and inappropriate. Overall, it's an okay book, but I doubt it will ever be a classic.
Rating: 
Summary: Biased against superheros...
Review: Wow, do I have some qualms with this book.
First and foremost, boy was I surprised to find out the whole point of this endeavor was to say, basically, superheroes are crap but science fiction and Uncle Scrooge is awesome. Because that's what the last chapter says. I mean, its not like its a surprise or anything, considering the fact that the authors admit that they grew up reading those types of comics, and one assumes, not superheroes. I don't have the bios in front of me, but Lois Gresh, one of the co-authors, is a science fiction writer who did some Star Trek work or something.
Second of all, for all the scrutiny they put superheroes up to, the science fiction they briefly examine isn't held to the same standards. Sometimes the stories they talk about get a free pass because they don't attmept to explain the science at all, but go ahead with the central conceit that it exists for the purposes of the story and now look what happens. So... if you don't attempt an explanation, its okay? Also, they talk about how Uncle Scrooge comics have "good" science in them, which makes them perfect examples of great comic books. I guess because its not a superhero comic, they don't need to go into a lengthy explanation of how it fails to explain TALKING DUCKS. I mean, that's central to it, isn't it? If Donald wore a cape, I don't think things would be the same all the sudden.
Third, in discussing the actual science behind superheroes, the authors are rather... dismissive? I think that's the word I'm looking for here. Everything is all 'this is impossible' and 'you shouldn't be enjoying this.' Thanks, but no thanks. Unlike the authors interviewed in the back, the authors of this book don't seem to understand that the point of the story isn't the science. Its, surprise, the story. Every fantastical story asks the reader to suspend some degree of disbelief, even Star Trek, even Uncle Scrooge. I'm not saying superhero comics are some great repositiory of scientific knowledge, far from it, but jeez.
I think I would have liked the book more if there were some indication BEFORE page 170 or so that the authors were exhibiting a very specific bias against superhero comics, rather than simply deconstructing them. [...]
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