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KEY_FIGURES_BIT_PLAYERS

                                             October 17, 2008

                                                          MEN_OF_TOMORROW
A few points in "Men of Tomorrow" -- a history of
the formation of Superman, that ranges widely
through other Golden Age comic characters, and
covers many predecessors and influences -- shows
signs of a tendency to over-simplify the nature
of some of those influences.

It's a trap, maybe an inevitable trap,
to present a kind of stereotyped sketch
of a predecessor, and yet to cover the        The biographer must build up
central subject in detail, and point out      the importance of the
it contains more complexities that might      central subject -- else why
be missed at first glance.                    focus on that subject? --
                                              and if only for reasons of
                                              space, must at least subtly
                                              dismiss the importance of
                                              all others.

                                                       PISTOL_WHIPPED
    Jones in passing talks about
    the sloppy writing of The
    Shadow pulps (ignoring
    that in places it's
    tighter, with a touch of               LONG_SHADOW
    poetry); the thin
    characterization of the
    Skylark stories (ignoring              SKYLARK
    places where it gets deeper);
    he dismisses Wylie's
    "Gladiator" for dull-witted            GLADIATOR
    pretentiousness by focusing
    on it's prefunctory
    conclusion --  rather than the
    main themes visible throughout.


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