Larry Tye brings his experience as a journalist and biographer to the behind-the-scenes story of one of the most recognized and popular figures in our modern consciousness: Superman.
He begins with the character's creation in the 1930s by Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster, two Jewish boys from Cleveland with dreams of hitting it big. Superman leapt from the strip to the comic book relatively early, a trend that continues to this day as the character and his stories successfully transition to each new media technology soon after its creation. Siegel and Schuster sold the rights to Superman early on--to pornographers who turned around and made a fortune selling pulp fiction to children--but remain on the periphery of his success across the years, making appeals to the better nature of DC Comics, the current owners of the popular superhero, and filing lawsuits to reclaim their stake in the character.
Superman has led the vanguard of superheroes over the decades, but has somehow always been able to remain true to his universal appeal, even as the comic book, television and film stories change to fit the times. Readers who want to learn the true-life saga of this enduring symbol will thrill to Tye's engaging style as he reveals every detail, large and small, in the extensive history of the most iconic of all modern superheroes. --Rob LeFebvre, freelance writer and editor