Yet comics fans ought to rejoice over this book. At a time of transition, with underground comics proliferating on the Web while major companies like Marvel try to pull themselves out of bankruptcy, "Comic Book Nation" offers a much-needed historical perspective. Tracing the industry's rise, Wright gives comics the scholarly attention they deserve, diligently filling in the back story of a medium that has both reflected and shaped American values for generations.

It all started with Superman. In 1938, Detective Comics (DC) bought rights to the caped crusader from a pair of young wannabe comic strip writers, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The purchase immediately paid off. Superman's first chronicles flew off the racks, selling 900,000 copies per issue -- three to four times the sales of the closest competition. And while the nerve the character struck may be difficult to pinpoint -- could it have been the tights? -- Wright gets to the heart of the matter: Superman, like other bestselling characters who would come after him, fit his times perfectly. A tough and cynical wiseguy who fought for the common man, "a progressive super-reformer" who railed against the slums and saved miners from companies that were too cheap to keep their employees safe, Superman was exactly what the public wanted and needed. He was the Depression's wet dream.

Once Superman succeeded, comics took off. Dozens of new publishers entered the game, offering their own costumed crime-fighting heroes. The villains that superheroes attacked, however, shifted with the times. When World War II became the nation's dominant political concern, Superman rooted out fascists at home while G.I. Joe fought for American values abroad. More than a year before the United States declared war, Captain America was slugging Adolf Hitler in the face. Instead of fighting for the common American man, comics started fighting for America itself.

The formula came with problems. Wright smartly points out the moral flaws of 1930s and 1940s comics that encouraged Western imperialism, sexism and especially racism. Comics contained no black superheroes until the '60s, few women who didn't need a good man and, during the '40s, no Asian character who wasn't a "slimy Jap" or a "yellow dog." Americans bought them anyway. In the early '40s, comics became big business --15 million comic books were sold each week. More than 125 titles graced magazine racks. Superman had a regular radio show, and at least 35,000 copies of Superman alone were sent to soldiers each month. By 1943, retail sales of comics hit $30 million, a huge number for a 5-year-old industry.

Looking back, Wright notes that the '40s kicked off a "golden age of comics." But could it last?

Maya Angelou reads from "The Heart of a Woman"