FREE SUPERGOD: V. 1 PDF Garrie Gastonny,Felipe Massafera,Warren Ellis | 128 pages | 24 Aug 2011 | Avatar Press | 9781592910991 | English | Rantoul, Il, United States Supergod - Wikipedia I started out thinking this was going to be a fantastic book. The well-reasoned critical discussion of comics history for example, I had never thought to do an in-depth artistic analysis of the Action Comics 1 and Supergod: v. 1 Comics 27 covers and its relation to the contemporary culture that influenced it is terrific for many chapters. Everything was going smoothly Once Morrison reaches an era where he can access his own memories, he immediately inserts himself. Once Morrison reaches an era where he can access his own memories, he immediately inserts himself into the story as he famously did during his run on Supergod: v. 1 Man. The book becomes comics history as autobiography, relying too heavily on the books Morrison read and liked, the work he did, and the work his friends created. Once Morrison starts telling us about his experiences with psychedelic drugs, the book delves into the questions of philosophy alluded to in the subtitle What Masked Vigilantes, Miraculous Mutants, and a Sun God from Smallville Can Teach Us about Being Human. At this point, the book becomes a weird hodgepodge of sociology, history, and Eastern philosophy. Though not Supergod: v. 1 what Supergod: v. 1 expected, Supergods is still well worth reading. I could almost forgive Morrison for the merely half-brilliant book if he hadn't been so loose with his description of the multimedia rundown of Supergod: v. 1 end-of-the-century escapades. He claims the mulleted version of Superman "hung on grimly until ," but Clark actually got a haircut in time for Supergod: v. 1 wedding in He also carelessly says Superman Returns came out innot It might seem like I'm nitpicking, but it's a detail like that that makes me wonder if there are any other typos or misrememberings I'm not picking up on. I'm not claiming this to be true, but I'd believe that Morrison would rely on his vast knowledge of comics for facts and dates instead of rigorous Supergod: v. 1 checking. Though he is clearly grateful for the opportunity to be in the comics business, it's fairly evident that his healthy ego is the lens through which the entirety of comicdom is viewed. I wonder if Morrison felt this was really the only way to tell his life's story, by showing early comics to be his ancestors in a de facto family tree, and his ideas, comics, and predictions as his descendants. Morrison has woven himself into the fabric of comics, the medium that birthed him, as the ultimate product of the masters and the driving force of Supergod: v. 1 and predictor of future trends from the '80s onward. Goodreads helps you Supergod: v. 1 track of books you want to read. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Other editions. Enlarge cover. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Details if other :. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. Preview — Supergods by Grant Morrison. In a matter of years, the skies of the imaginary world Supergod: v. 1 filled with strange mutants, aliens, and vigilantes: Batman, Wonder Woman, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, and the X-Men—the list of names as familiar as our own. But what are they trying to tell us? In this exhilarating work of a lifetime, Morrison draws on art, science, mythology, and his own astonishing journeys through this shadow universe to provide the first true history of the superhero—why they matter, why they will always be with us, and what they tell us about who we are. Get A Copy. Hardcoverpages. More Details Original Title. Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Nonfiction Supergod: v. 1 Other Editions Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about Supergodsplease sign up. Lists with This Supergod: v. 1. Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 3. Rating details. More filters. Sort order. Jul 19, Stephen rated it really liked it Shelves: history, non-fictionbooks-about-bookshistory-usaaudiobooksigned-first-or-limited-editionmythstories-and-legendspop-cultural. Scottish madman Grant Morrison deploys a slickwitty, rock-n-roll style to his narrative while providing a brilliant, insightful examination of the creation and evolution of the superhero as both mythical archetype and as a reflection of societal mores, attitudes and aspirations. Good, good stuff. They came to save us from the existential abyss, but first they had to find a way into our collective imagination. This book was just a wonderfully pleasant surprise as I didn't have Supergod: v. 1 expectations going into it. The man should be crafting novels and I seriously hope he does so because his use of language is addictive and exactly the kind I like. The man is Supergod: v. 1 encyclopedia on the comic Supergod: v. 1 and its history and I would love to take a course in which he taught the subject. Definitely worth the price Supergod: v. 1 admission. These sections read like a rock star biography full of large doses of drugs, sex and rebellion against the status quo. Also, Morrison spends some Supergod: v. 1 maybe a tad too much discussing his own personal meta-physical, pseudo religious philosophy born of his brush with death. This is supremely entertaining and there are some philosophical insights that are really mind-blowing. However, again the inclusion of these segments and the length of time Morrison spends on them make the overall narrative seem a bit stream of consciousness. To his credit, Morrison does tie both his personal journey and his philosophy back into the history of comics and the superhero and his discussions of those points do add flavor to the main subject. However, it would be disingenuous to say that everything he discusses on those two topics is on point. Personally, I found all of it interesting and the book could have been twice as long and I would have been just ducky with it, but I still felt the need to make a minor downgrade for lack of subject matter focus. Despite the segues and narrative regressions that Morrison indulges in, the amount of information and analysis he provides on the comic art form is staggering. From there, Morrison takes us through the reasons for the decline in the Golden Age heroes and the birth of the flawed, problem-prone hero of the Silver Age typified by characters like Spider-man, the Hulk and the X-men. When Morrison focuses on these works, discusses the context of their development and analyzes the impact they had on both the industry and society, he is simply masterful. This is as good as it gets. He saw superheroes as emblematic of regressive reactionary forces and disastrous foreign policy. If superheroes were the face of mythic America, Mills planned to rub their noses in the shit of real-life America—which he exposed with meticulously researched, coldly delivered info-dump Supergod: v. 1 detailing a world of CIA dirty tricks, torture camps, denial, vivisection, corrupt politics and ruined lives. Supergod: v. 1 gives you an idea of both Morrison writing chops and Supergod: v. 1 thoroughly he breaks down the comic form as reflected by some of its most iconic artists and writers. Okay, I feel like I have been waxing on a bit long so I am going to wane this up. My minor gripes aside which really are minor in retrospectthis is the best single deconstruction of the superhero as archetype, role model, and societal mirror that I have encountered and is definitely a worthwhile read. View all 15 comments. Dec 01, Riku Sayuj rated it it was ok Shelves: r-r-rs. Does he live up to that promise? If you take up this book expecting moral philosophy or some kind of analysis on how the values in our fiction will help us be better humans, boy, are you in Supergod: v. 1 a disappointment. So with a serious sounding title and an alluring subject matter, Morrison proceeds to happily serve up a brew of 75 years worth of comic book history, his own bildungsroman and literary criticism on his colleagues and praise for his favorites. The history that he presents is thoroughly colored by his own biases, but at least he never makes an attempt at projecting a Supergod: v. 1 observer persona. The book is cursory and without focus for the most part; the history is too superficial for an ardent fan and would be way too detailed to serve as an introduction to comics. The analysis that he attempts to bring to the art of story-telling has already been done in much better fashion by Scott McCloud and the evolution of ideas and causal connection to real historical events could also have been better handled by a historian or in conjunction with one. Almost half the book is about the Golden and Silver ages which saw the birth of Superman and was followed by a burgeoning pantheon of copy-cat heroes like Batman and soon by original and radical version like Captain Marvel. He gives a detailed analysis of how this grew in him and of his experiments in sending a 2D version of Supergod: v. 1 into the comic world to interact with the characters and this makes more and more sense as he himself blends into the narrative of the book in the last two-thirds and the book becomes more an autobiography than a history.