Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle

A comprehensive history of the superhero comic book fantasy genre and its influence on American culture.

We learn that comic book history overlaps nicely with the immigrant culture of Jewish and Italian youth in New York, with artists and writers working under sweatshop conditions. From the same neighborhoods that gave us the Golden Age of organized crime, we also got the Golden Age of comics.

We learn the origins of Superman, Batman and the Blue Beetle. Not the characters themselves, but how they were created. Who knew Batman was a ripoff of the Shadow? Or that Blue Beetle was given his name to trip off the Green Hornet? We even get a bit of World War II and Captain America (one of the few big Marvel characters to debut before the 1960s boom).

Episode one touches on "Seduction of the Innocent", and the low point in comic book history. Batman was seen as a sexual deviant and Superman (despite being created by two Jewish men) was symbolic of Hitler's master race. Although only covered in a few minutes (this topic could and should be a full episode), the general point is hit hard.

Episode two jumps up to the heroes of the 1960s, a big boom for Marvel Comics, largely inspired by the wonder and fear of nuclear power. The theme of radiation brought us the Hulk, Spider-Man, Fantastic Four. Solid writing also gave us stories that regular people could identify with (Peter Parker's dating and school troubles). And then there was the start of real diversity, thanks to Luke Cage and Black Panther.

We also hear about Jim Steranko's reinvention of Nick Fury as a spy, and the innovation of writing a story without words. We have the Batman TV series, the Comics Code Authority's limitations, and more.

This is a documentary mainly aimed at the casual fan, and trying to condense 75 years into three hours is always going leave holes. Let's start with the good stuff.

Liev Schreiber is a great host and narrator. He sets the tone well. Not all actors are good narrators, but Schreiber delivers.

The interviews are an excellent cross-section of folks from across the years. In this time where superheroes dominate the culture, it's eye-opening to remember the humble beginnings.

The odd stuff: For a film that seems to want to be an overview for the masses, it does dive deep into the weeds at times, notably with an extended focus on 1986, and the one-two punch of Dark Knight and Watchmen. Yes, those are two utterly pivotal books, but I'm not sure they require as much screen time as they were given. This also leads to one of the omissions: We should at least have a passing mention of Camelot 3000, the 1982-1985 DC maxi series that paved the way for the direct market. Since the documentary spends time talking about the collecting bubble of the '90s, it's surprising to leave out this book.

The omissions: In addition to ignoring the direct market, there is no mention made of the black-and-white indie explosion of the '80s. I think there is one brief glimpse of an Eastman/Laird TMNT cover. Not a mention of Dark Horse comics. In fact, the only modern company mentioned outside of DC and Marvel is Image.

While some mention is made of Black Panther and Luke Cage in the 70s, not mentioning Milestone seems odd. After all, Static Shock brought that universe into the mainstream, and that's kind of the point of the series: comics gone mainstream.

I could go on, but every documentarian has to make choices. Suffice to say this: what's on the screen is superbly done. But there's more to tell. Hey, Ken Burns! I've got an idea for you...

"Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle" is a 3-hour, 3-part program (plus bonus features) from the PBS network, covering a 70-year retrospective of superhero worship in American pop culture.

Through film clips, stills, and interviews - This well-researched documentary offers the viewer a decade-by-decade overview of a cultural phenomenon that stills prevails to this very day.

From comic books, to action toys, to TV, and movies - If you are at all fascinated by the wide-spread history of modern-day superheroism, then, this intriguing presentation should be of some significant interest to you.

I enjoyed this series and learned a lot I didn't know.

However I think the show's creators could have learned a bit too. The show pointed out several things which became staples with comic heroes that supposedly originated with characters like superman and batman (such as skin tight costume, non hero identity, tragic origin story with parents dying etc). Things which in fact appeared in The Phantom which was published 2 years before superman. It did seem that the show was focusing on US comics but The Phantom was huge in places like UK and Australia (and did get a big film adaption a decade before Marvel started dominating the box office) so skipping a character that started so many things that became standard in comic heroes that followed was disappointing.

This is a pretty good documentary that takes a close-up look at the impact and the overall extent of superhero worship in pop culture over the past 70 years.

It covers all the ground - From comic books, to action toys, to TV and movies. Yep. It's all here. And it's presented in a very professional manner that's sure to keep you interested for its 3-hour running time.