Thursday, July 17, 2014

Superman versus the Ku Klux Klan: The True Story of How the Iconic Superhero Battled the Men of Hate

Author: Richard Bowers
Stars: 4
Review by: Mandy Apgar


 Admit it - you want to read this for the title alone.
 
Back in the 30s when Superman was created by Jewish teenagers Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, they mixed a lot of their heritage into the character. Hints and nods to Moses and other individuals are in his backstory so things seemed appropriate that he should be chosen a half generation later to take on the KKK. Concerned by increasing Klan recruitment of youngsters, it was decided to do a 16 part storyline on the Superman radio show about how Jimmy Olsen (alias the world's worst sidekick) attempts to infiltrate the KKK and gets caught immediately, necessitating a timely rescue. The series was written by and done in cooperation with numerous individuals including a muckraking journalist who the Klan had already threatened multiple times for doing the simple task of making them look like idiots. But the series was completed to near universal acclaim and won multiple awards, as well as to be marked later by several organizations as a key part of declining enrollment in the years after it was released. A very good book for comic enthusiasts, although many will probably agree with me in saying Jimmy Olsen should've just been bumped off. Would've saved Superman so much stress in the future.
 
 

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