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wadebearden's review
4.0
This was an interesting read. I would have to argue that the main subject of this book is not necessarily superheroes, but instead philosophy with superheroes serving as illustrations.
I especially liked the section dealing with morality. A number of deep philosophical questions were discussed. What is morality? What does it mean to be moral? Why should one be "good?" It all boils down to this: if we are just mere products of a number of random chemical or natural reactions, then there really is no such thing as true morality. The only reason to do what we as humans perceive to be "good" is for pleasure or enjoyment. When those things are taken away then there really is no reason to do "good" at all.
This all however, changes when we bring the belief in a gracious and merciful creator into the mix. Then the decisions that we make here on earth carry for more weight than they would from any naturalistic perspective.
This from a book about superheroes. Who would have thunk it?
I especially liked the section dealing with morality. A number of deep philosophical questions were discussed. What is morality? What does it mean to be moral? Why should one be "good?" It all boils down to this: if we are just mere products of a number of random chemical or natural reactions, then there really is no such thing as true morality. The only reason to do what we as humans perceive to be "good" is for pleasure or enjoyment. When those things are taken away then there really is no reason to do "good" at all.
This all however, changes when we bring the belief in a gracious and merciful creator into the mix. Then the decisions that we make here on earth carry for more weight than they would from any naturalistic perspective.
This from a book about superheroes. Who would have thunk it?
clarks_dad's review
4.0
This was a really, really good book. Some of the articles were just okay, perhaps a little philosophically dense for light reading material, especially the ones that have to do with morality and ethical theory (Kantian theory, Utilitarian, and other nonconsequential ethical theories), but this depth is precisely what makes the book worth reading. It lends depth and an element of mythos to the superhero genre that many people assume is absent.
I particularly enjoyed the article on metaphysics and on secret identities. The secret identities article focused on how we as human beings compose our identities and how oftentimes the masks we put on in different social situations begin to affect our core identity.
A great read for anyone interested in superheroes or looking for moral guidance/inspiration in life.
I particularly enjoyed the article on metaphysics and on secret identities. The secret identities article focused on how we as human beings compose our identities and how oftentimes the masks we put on in different social situations begin to affect our core identity.
A great read for anyone interested in superheroes or looking for moral guidance/inspiration in life.
bryce_is_a_librarian's review
4.0
A good book. While I've learned to like comics again superheroes are still kind of a mystery to me. Don't get me wrong I like a spot of Miller and Moore styler revisionism, or a bit of Bendis and Vaughn kickass story telling. But the majority of continuity swamped, staid superhero books just leave me cold. Due to the trillions years of back story I find them kind of incomprehensible at best, and just straight up goofy at worse.
Still this is a fun look at the potent myths and ideas that swarm under these titles (which for the record I'm not denying exist). Sometimes things get a bit self serious for there own good, such as when say you find yourself reading about Batman's relationships via Aristotle's views on Friendship. Which reads like a particularly desperate term paper.
But on the whole a fun and intelligent read.
Still this is a fun look at the potent myths and ideas that swarm under these titles (which for the record I'm not denying exist). Sometimes things get a bit self serious for there own good, such as when say you find yourself reading about Batman's relationships via Aristotle's views on Friendship. Which reads like a particularly desperate term paper.
But on the whole a fun and intelligent read.
zhelana's review
3.0
This book was not as good as the other books in this series that I have read. The primary problem I had with it was a longer "metachapter" on why be good in the first place asking why anyone would become a superhero rather than a super villain. This was a series of about 5 shorter chapters, and by the end of it they were all running together and all seemed to say the same thing. I get it already! We started with a chapter on why be religious and ended with a chapter on needing to be religious to be good, even though, as the first author argued, superheroes are largely not religious. It was a bit odd. It was also a little harder than usual to follow this book because they only rarely touched on superhero movies, and rather discussed the comics more. Also, I am strictly a Marvel girl, and they spent a lot of time on minor DC characters, but not as much on minor Marvel characters. Also probably half the book was either Superman or Batman, and again, I'm really pretty strictly a Marvel girl. I know the basics of Superman and Batman, of course, but not a lot of the details. Anyway, if you like DC, and especially if you like Superman and Batman, you might rate this book higher than I did, but if you really like Marvel, this probably isn't the book for you.
moonlightmoths's review
3.0
I very much enjoyed reading this book and the perspectives it brought about the superhero world. Certainly a great read for anyone who is interested in learning more about philosophy and how it relates to our awesome superheroes.
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