Our Gods Wear Spandex: The Secret History of Comic Book Heroes

	Our Gods Wear Spandex: The Secret History of Comic Book Heroes
	by Chris Knowles and Joseph Michael Linsner Sales Rank: 190749	List Price: $19.95 $14.56 At Amazon on 8-19-2011.

Features Cover Type: Paperback with 256 pages Published by: Weiser Books November 1, 2007 Written in: English ISBN 10 Number: 1578634067 ISBN 13 Number: 978-1578634064 Book Dimensions: 8.9 x 7.1 x 0.6 inches Weighs: 1.2 pounds From occult underground to superhero! Was Superman's arch nemesis Lex Luthor based on Aleister Crowley? Can Captain Marvel be linked to the Sun gods on antiquity? In Our Gods Wear Spandex, Christopher Knowles answers these questions and brings to Light many other intriguing links between superheroes and the enchanted world of estoerica. Occult students and comic-book fans alike will discover countless fascinating connections, from little known facts such as that DC Comics editor Julius Schwartz started his career as H.P. Lovecraft's agent, to the tantalizingly extensive influence of Madame Blavatsky's Theosophy on the birth of comics, to the mystic roots of Superman. The book also traces the rise of the comic superheroes and how they relate to several cultural trends in the late 19th century, specifically the occult explosion in Western Europe and America. Knowles reveals the four basic superhero archetypes--the Messiah, the Golem, the Amazon, and the Brotherhood--and shows how the occult Bohemian underground of the early 20th century provided the inspiration for the modern comic book hero. With the popularity of occult comics writers like Invisibles creator Grant Morrison and V for Vendetta creator Alan Moore, the vast ComiCon audience is poised for someone to seriously introduce them to the esoteric mysteries.  Show More Chris Knowles is doing just that in this epic book. Chapters include: Ancient of Days, Ascended Masters, God and Gangsters, Mad Scientists and Modern Sorcerers, and many more. From the ghettos of Prague to the halls of Valhalla to the Fortress of Solitude and the aisles of BEA and ComiCon, this is the first book to show the inextricable link between superheroes and the enchanted world of esoterica.  Show Less Reader Reviews This is a great little book, which certainly puts the history of superheroics into a really new Light and intellectual genealogy. It was at its best when investigating the paradigms of mythological heroes, their influence on the pulps, and the influence of pulp material on golden age comics. There is a definite (and often demonstrable) influence at work here. The book is far less convincing in substantiating some of the claims of a more direct influence of the occult milieu on early comics. One supposition is that Aleister Crowley was the model for Superman's enemy Lex Luthor. This is possible, but the evidence marshalled by Knowles to prove this is circumstancial and slight. The other major claim, that Batman was 'linked to the Kabbalah' is product merely of Knowles' own definition of Batman as a 'Golem' style hero: no direct evidence from the comics or from Bob Kane's biography are cited in order to substantiate this claim. The 'link' is therefore a fabrication. Concerning the earier sections of the book, which read breezily and very well, the research could have been substantially better. Some of the sources emplyed by Knowles to discuss the Golden Dawn, Rosicrucians, etc are rather dubious (Howard's 'The Occult Conspiracy' for example). This leads to some errors: for example Knowles states that both Bram Stoker and Sax Romer were members of the Golden Dawn, which is simply not true. He was here following a fabrication that first appeared in the 1960s (in Pauwels and Bergiers' 'The Morning of the Magicians')and has been repeated uncritically ever since. Also, for readers who are not experienced comic fans (such as myself, a more helpful bibliography could have been included. It is all very well to know that Dr. Doom appeared in 'Fantastic Four #7' (or elsewhere), but is this comic still available today? Has it been reprinted? But these are only minor quibbles, which do not distract from the major argument of the book, which links modern superheros to archetypes established in the mythology of yesteryear. As Knowles demonstrates, these archetypes have been constantly re-formed and reformulated in order to suit the needs of the contemporary reading audience. Good stuff. Back To Top

Our Gods Wear Spandex: The Secret History of Comic Book Heroes Available from Amazon Price: $14.56 Updated on 8-19-2011.

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