Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters and the Birth of the Comic Book... where do I begin with this book? It encompasses far too many elements to be simply defined as a book about the history of comics and superheroes. Truth be told, it aspires to do far more than tell that story, and it succeeds in doing so. It rolls the tales of impoverished immigrant Jews hoping to strike it big in the Land of Opportunity, fatherless and geeky young men expousing power fantasies, and the progress of society and history that influenced and shaped their work along the way, all into a neat 340-page package. In fact, early parts of Men of Tomorrow could easily be mistaken for personalized narratives of the various Eastern European Jews who, in escaping from the plight of persecution in their homelands, landed on Ellis Island, New York City, to fit in and eventually strike it big, with only their wits and sheer gumption to guide them. The book doesn't even begin to really give spotlight to comics (and the pulp magazines that preceeded them) until a good two or three chapters in.

While the history of comic books and heroes are easily fascinating to the average geek, the stories of those behind them, what influenced and drove them, are honestly far more interesting, and Men of Tomorrow doesn't squander the opportunity to tell their tales. Aside from learning about the painfully awkward and gangly teen years of Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joel Shuster (which are written in the most detailed and psychoanalytical manner possible), you'll also read about Harry Donnefeld, the publishing magnate whose created a barely-legal empire of cheap sleazy pulp magazines full of lurid adventure stories helped usher in the popularity of comic books, and Jack Liebowitz, his strong-arm accountant. Interwoven into the narrative are the stories of comic book greats such as Will Eisner (The Spirit) and Bob Kane (Batman), seamlessly adding to the publishers' race to create the next hit superhero.

The book doesn't pull any punches and ever resort to overtly enthusiastic hero worship of these Golden Age of Comic book pioneers. The publishing world has always been fraught with plagiarism, unwarranted pride and an oft-unhealthy sense of one-upmanship, and despite their nerdy exteriors, these writers and artists were demonstrably no strangers to such competition. Men of Tomorrow doesn't grant them immunity for what their amazing creations, and in fact delves into examination of how their deep-seated flaws, whether it be broken homes, unattentive families, or simple lapses of morality shaped the creations of their fantastical circus strongmen. After all, the desire for better things is what drove them to create characters so out-of-this-world and flawless.

After reading MoT, you'll be surprised that comics have even survived intact to this day, let alone evolved into a medium as widespread and complex as it is. From the early days of the comic book's precursors, the pulp magazine, being engaged in a constant battle with holier-than-thou censorship groups, to the moral panics of objectionable comic book content in the 1950s, every step of the way, you'll learn the trials and tribulations endured not only by the medium, but by the people who attempted to keep it afloat, whether the trials they faced were either political or economical. Every essence of the medium's rough patches are captured without fail from the Great Depression through the Second World War and beyond. While readers might find the comicverse of the '60s and '70s glossed over too quickly, the sheer amount of hard-to-find golden-age- era history provided in enthusiastic detail makes this shortcoming easily forgivable.

The sleazy and diverse cast of fast-talking personalities in the book makes it take on an atmosphere much like the very pulps it mentions. Fast-talking hucksters, meek and timid writers, cigar-chomping womanizing entrepreneurs, corrupt politicians, they're all there in this book, and they very much existed. Men of Tomorrow works well as both an entertaining narrative and as a frank, psychological exploration of how the inadequacies of the self spawned these cultural staples.

Reading Between The Lines explores books that you may have missed out on that are worth your while. If you have a book to suggest, email Eshaan at e_gupta@fanshaweonline.ca.