Superfolks

I'll try not to repeat too much of what everyone else here has said. Yes, this is a wonderful and groundbreaking book. It's also a very quick read. I naturally read most books, even fiction, very slowly. Not this book. I found myself turning pages so fast that I had to intentionally slow myself down so it wouldn't end too soon. The author draws you into his world very easily in all the right ways. A bit of advice: I recommend stopping every so often to remind yourself of context. How would this book be seen by someone reading it back when it was written -- before The Watchmen, The Tick, The Incredibles and just about everyone else has re-done the genre of placing superheroes into the everyday world. The satire is that much funnier when you see it from this perspective. Also, there are tons of contemporary pop-culture references which are funnier when you remind yourself of the era in which this was written. If you think my advice is over-analyzing what should just be fun pop fiction, ignore me. It's still a great book on its own merits.

This is a great novel. I didn't find it funny so much as clever, interesting and involving. Many of the plot elements have been taken from this novel and incorporated into later comics work by Alan Moore Frank Miller and Rick Weitch, to name just a few. Sexual content may make this inappropriate for younger readers, but it's intended for an mature audience by design. I've reread SUPERFOLKS many times - if you grew up on the idealistic heroes of yesteryear (especially Superman), you will too.

I read this book almost 3 decades ago & have been looking for it ever since. If you're a comic book / superhero fan, then this book is a MUST-READ! Miller, Moore, Busiek, Byrne... all those who've "recreated" the myth of the superhero for "our" age owe a huge debt of gratitude to Robert Mayer & this incredibly funny & sardonic skew on the superhero genre. Even if you're not particularly a fan of comics or superheroes, this book is still as hilarious & biting today as it was back in 1977. Thank goodness someone had the decency to reprint this book (it should never have gone out of print to begin with!). The scathing social commentary alone is worth the price of admission. Now, as then, David Brinkley is my hero! Just watch out for that Cronkite...

I understand they are going to reissue this. It is well worth hunting down. Copywrited in 1977 the author, Robert Mayer, deconstructs the super hero mythos that in many ways paved the path for such books as Watchmen and Miracleman. Sometimes the book can be serious and at other times comes close to Kurtzman's Mad Magazine. Superman, Batman and the Mavel Family are dead (the last killed by a lighting strike. A man named Brinkley (last survivor of the planet Cronk, parents Archie and Edith, told you there was some Madesque satire) was once the world's most powerful hero, now he wanders around, middle-aged, his dreams unfufilled, ala Moore's Miracleman. Civil unrest in the streets and a super-powered menace show up, gradually he gains back his god like powers, only to be forced to make a choice that may destroy him and his family. Don't let the sometimes silly tone distract you from one of the great superhero novels. As with all great stories you will find this to be equal parts tragedy and comedy.

After an over two year search I finally located and read Superfolks. The book was worth every minute of the wait. I read the book in one night. I urge all comic book readers and lovers of good fiction to find and read this work, they won't be disappointed. The book was funny, full of satire and a good commentary on modern life, and it also had a good a unique plot. Even though the story took place in the seventies the points made in it are relevant to today.