False panels

For some reason, comic book history has captured the interest of the general public, as laid out in David Hajdu’s recent The Ten-Cent Plague, or fictionalized in Michael Chabon’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. With Was Superman a Spy? (Plume, $14), Brian Cronin has written a history for the non-general public, specifically the fervent fandom curious about the industry’s many urban legends, like whether Wolverine was originally supposed to be a wolverine. For the hard-core mutant maniacs only.

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