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hollyxbear's review
5.0
This was such a good book. All of these memoirs were astounding and I am so glad I was able to see a little deeper into these authors lives.
matiel72's review
4.0
I really enjoyed this collection of short stories that explore how fictional characters especially Superhero's can affect people. I knocked this down a star as there were 3 stories I didn't really like. Otherwise I really loved this story as I love fictional characters and Superheroes in general.
pantsreads's review
3.0
Much like with any collection of works from a variety of authors, there were some really amazing essays in this book and a couple of duds. Still, super (heh) interesting to read about the effect superheroes have had on other nerds' lives.
Check out my full review on FYA.
Check out my full review on FYA.
blairconrad's review
3.0
An uneven collection. Some extremely touching essays. Others were forgettable or uncomfort-making.
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Berni Phillips says.
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Berni Phillips says.
clare_tan_wenhui's review
5.0
A very reflective book about how the contemporary popular culture of the comic book universe, actually has very far reaching effects into other areas of our lives, apart from mere entertainment. Reminds me of how much 武侠小说 (swordfighting novels) had a very pivotal role in my own character building till this day.
filmcritic23's review
3.0
Some of the stories in "Last Night, a Superhero Saved my Life" were very interesting. You get to read what made authors be inspired by the superhero that save their life. Some however were very simplified, like Neil Gaiman's who was all just "its Batman!" The more inspiring ones that went into detail about how it was escapism from their childhoods and even if they don't still read it today, they remember the issues that saved them from the issues currently disrupting their lives. They still honor it, feel as if they are their characters, and some even view them as a sort of shield that protects them against the harms of the world. Some I will remember, but other stories were very forgettable. It encouraged me to write my own story about my favorite superhero and how she has saved me, so all was not lost. I recommend to those who want to read this.
jagussow's review
3.0
I'm not sure how to rate this anthology. Firstly and as with any collection from various authors, lots of hits and some misses. Secondly, (and I realize lots won't agree with this) there was too much Batman - every other essay tackled the Dark Knight. And yet, only 2 authors brought actual perspective to it (Austin Grossman opened the book with a great essay on how Batman influenced his creative life and Liesa Mignogna closed the book with a great essay on Batman and in particular, The Killing Joke got her past trauma. While I still loathe The Killing Joke, her essay opened my eyes to another way to approach the text). The best essays in the book (Karina Cooper on her love life and how Rogue and Gambit shined a light on her hang-ups; Jamie Ford tackling similar terrain but with Daredevil and Elecktra; Deliah Dawson on the Hulk) actually tackle how a superhero saved a life i.e. how comics allowed them to come to terms with problems in their lives and weren't just mere escape. Some of the middle tier essays position certain heroes or arcs within larger comics history (Jodi Picoult on Wonder Woman and Brad Meltzer on The Judas Contract storyline in Teen Titans). Others simply write love letters to their first experience (Neil Gaiman on Batman [the 4th Batman essay, in an overcrowded field]).
loriz's review
2.0
Like most 'collection of essays' type books, some of these were more interesting to me than others, and I think this would be of more interest to more hardcore comic book fans. Particularly Batman fans, as he's definitely the most frequent figure in the book.
bigbear73's review
5.0
Full disclosure - I didn't read this cover to cover, but rather to get to know some of my favorite authors...but it was a great read, regardless.
bleary's review
5.0
There was a war, and the geeks won.
Even after Tim Burton's excellent Batman movies, and Bryan Singer's very good X-Men movie, superhero comics were still thought of as something for kids or adults who had missed a step in their cultural development. But somewhere between that and the first Iron Movie, everything changed. And what changed is this: a bunch of very smart people who grew up loving comic books had reached maturity. They became the dominant cultural voices of our time. And they used their position to announce that comics were cool.
Last Night A Superhero Saved My Life is a lovely collection of essays that straddles both of these realities. The authors are all successful writers, including luminaries such as Neil Gaiman and Jodi Picoult. In times past, some of those writers may have felt compelled to add caveats about the artistic merit of comics, or justified their love for superheros by talking about how comics led them to proper novels.
The closest we get to that here is an essay by Wonder Woman fan Carrie Vaughn, who releases some pent up rage, first at her fellow pre-schoolers who criticised her inaccurate playtime portrayal of the mighty Amazonian hero, and later at the college professors who told her that all genre fiction is not real fiction. Apart from that, there's no question in this book that DC and Marvel might not be as important as Shakespeare and Chaucer.
Wonder Woman features more than any other hero, which is maybe unsurprising in a genre that generally likes to stuff its female characters in a fridge. A generation of girls learned a lot from her, although there still seems to be some confusion about how she ran around in that bustier without popping out and giving herself a black eye. Jodi Picoult did, we learn, attempt to give Wonder Woman some straps when she was writing the comic, but DC refused.
Wonder Woman, Superman, Thor, and a few other characters like Underdog all appear in the capacity of joy. Because most comics in the 70s and 80s were about joy, starring clean-cut heroes with a simple morality. Some of the writers in this book discuss how these wonderful characters inspired them to believe in their dreams and themselves.
And then there are the other writers. The X-Men fans. The Batman fans. They're the ones who explain why genre fiction is often so important.
It's amazing and saddening how many of them tell the same story: I was a child, and I trusted adults to care for me, and they didn't. Some failed through neglect, others were more malicious. The only thing that kept me going were these stories, tales of heroes who lurk in the shadows and stop the bad guys. Heroes who had messed up childhoods too, and survived, and lived good lives.
The mythology of Gotham or the mutants is every bit as developed as any major text, and has a big advantage over the Bible: it's alive, and being constantly rewritten. These stories might seem like trash to some people, but to others they contain truth, hope, philosophy, insight, humour, catharsis and occasionally a full epiphany.
Sometimes they have been the only source of light when everything else in the world has been dark. The most moving stories in this volume are about how these superheroes have reached out through the garishly-coloured panels and literally saved someone's life.
It's not all gloom, and there are funny and moving stories of how comics have influenced first loves, led to wreckless childhood adventures, acted as imaginary friends, and provided valuable lessons about life and morality. Superhero comics are a multifaceted cultural entity that offer meaning on an archetypal level, adaptive to the reader's internalised contextualised expectations which develop circumstantially.
Or, as they say in comics, superheroes are here when we need them. No matter what.
Even after Tim Burton's excellent Batman movies, and Bryan Singer's very good X-Men movie, superhero comics were still thought of as something for kids or adults who had missed a step in their cultural development. But somewhere between that and the first Iron Movie, everything changed. And what changed is this: a bunch of very smart people who grew up loving comic books had reached maturity. They became the dominant cultural voices of our time. And they used their position to announce that comics were cool.
Last Night A Superhero Saved My Life is a lovely collection of essays that straddles both of these realities. The authors are all successful writers, including luminaries such as Neil Gaiman and Jodi Picoult. In times past, some of those writers may have felt compelled to add caveats about the artistic merit of comics, or justified their love for superheros by talking about how comics led them to proper novels.
The closest we get to that here is an essay by Wonder Woman fan Carrie Vaughn, who releases some pent up rage, first at her fellow pre-schoolers who criticised her inaccurate playtime portrayal of the mighty Amazonian hero, and later at the college professors who told her that all genre fiction is not real fiction. Apart from that, there's no question in this book that DC and Marvel might not be as important as Shakespeare and Chaucer.
Wonder Woman features more than any other hero, which is maybe unsurprising in a genre that generally likes to stuff its female characters in a fridge. A generation of girls learned a lot from her, although there still seems to be some confusion about how she ran around in that bustier without popping out and giving herself a black eye. Jodi Picoult did, we learn, attempt to give Wonder Woman some straps when she was writing the comic, but DC refused.
Wonder Woman, Superman, Thor, and a few other characters like Underdog all appear in the capacity of joy. Because most comics in the 70s and 80s were about joy, starring clean-cut heroes with a simple morality. Some of the writers in this book discuss how these wonderful characters inspired them to believe in their dreams and themselves.
And then there are the other writers. The X-Men fans. The Batman fans. They're the ones who explain why genre fiction is often so important.
It's amazing and saddening how many of them tell the same story: I was a child, and I trusted adults to care for me, and they didn't. Some failed through neglect, others were more malicious. The only thing that kept me going were these stories, tales of heroes who lurk in the shadows and stop the bad guys. Heroes who had messed up childhoods too, and survived, and lived good lives.
The mythology of Gotham or the mutants is every bit as developed as any major text, and has a big advantage over the Bible: it's alive, and being constantly rewritten. These stories might seem like trash to some people, but to others they contain truth, hope, philosophy, insight, humour, catharsis and occasionally a full epiphany.
Sometimes they have been the only source of light when everything else in the world has been dark. The most moving stories in this volume are about how these superheroes have reached out through the garishly-coloured panels and literally saved someone's life.
It's not all gloom, and there are funny and moving stories of how comics have influenced first loves, led to wreckless childhood adventures, acted as imaginary friends, and provided valuable lessons about life and morality. Superhero comics are a multifaceted cultural entity that offer meaning on an archetypal level, adaptive to the reader's internalised contextualised expectations which develop circumstantially.
Or, as they say in comics, superheroes are here when we need them. No matter what.