Rise of the Superheroes

by David Tosh

[Quirky Cat]

I received a copy of Rise of the Superheroes from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Rise of the Superheroes is one of many books trying to help sum up the history of superhero comics into an easy to understand novel. Unlike other novels I’ve read though, David Tosh decided to add a more personal touch to his writing; expresses which comics were his favorite, parts he remembered in particular, and even adding context to the publishing time of comics by including larger known pop culture events. That made this a really fun read for me, as well as informative.
Tosh doesn’t delve as deeply into the history of comics or their printing, but instead does more of a surface and pop culture view. It’s a fantastic place to start for new readers or for somebody that was unfortunately not alive during the time to personally experience the growth of the comic book industry. I love this different perspective, and that alone makes this a worthwhile read, in my opinion.
This novel also includes a ton of favorite and popular images from comics, showing their evolution through time as well as just being fun to see (for some of us it’s even for the first time). I think it’d be great if Tosh came out with a follow up in a few years, covering the more recent decades of comics. I’d like to see his take on the modern runs.

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