Product Description

Critically acclaimed novelist and screenwriter John Ridley (Three Kings) offers a unique vision of U.S. history in the thrilling graphic novel THE AMERICAN WAY!

The 1960s were a decade of incredible change for America. It was a time of innocence. It was a time of optimism. It was a time of heroes.

In the early '40s, the United States government hatched a plan to create the Civil Defense Corps: a group of "super-heroes" who could fight alien invasions, evil super-powered beings and communism, all in front of an adoring public, courtesy of television. But that dream was far from reality by the `60s, as new C.D.C. Marketing Director Wesley Catham is about to discover. How far will America go to protect its dream of a better tomorrow?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #667395 in Books
• Published on: 2007-02-07
• Released on: 2007-02-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

From Publishers Weekly
The operative question with The American Way is, do we really need another Watchmen? An amalgam of Alan Moore's watershed comic and its numerous imitative series, like The Authority and Marvels, this miniseries is a complicated take on the superhero myth seen through the Cold War politics and civil rights upheavals of the early '60s. The U.S. government has created a team of fake (though some are inexplicably real) heroes who fight fake villains so that the government can appear strong to its Cold War enemies. Protagonist Wesley is a just-fired ad man for cars who is called into service to serve as the propaganda man for the superteam. Needless to say, Wesley's ethics and belief in his country are challenged as he becomes embroiled in the politics and realities of the situation, particularly when an African-American hero joins the team. And even more needless to say, the government's superbeings become unhinged and catastrophe follows. Ridley, whose résumé includes both screenplays and novels, is a competent writer with ambitious ideas, but they often lose focus, especially as the story gets more convoluted, and Jeanty's art is energetic but does little to delineate the many characters. Still, fans of superhero revisionism will find much to chew on. (Feb.)
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Customer Reviews

The superheroes were real. The superheroics were not.
It's the early 1960s, and the United States is nervous. Communism is spreading, the Cold War is in full swing, and Russia has put a man in space and missiles in Cuba. On the home front, racial tensions threaten to tear the country apart. It's a time for heroes, and luckily America has some -- a few genuine superpowers mixed with the products of genetic labwork and scientific trickery.

But they're far too valuable as public icons to risk in actual combat with dangerous villains, so -- apart from the occasional mugger or street thug -- the Civil Defense Corps engages in violent, newsmaking battles with ... actors. Yes, actors. The government has created villains to provide foils for the CDC, giving the credulous public something to cheer for. After all, there's no reason to worry about Russia when the likes of Phobos, Freya, Ole Miss, Old Glory and Amber Waves are here to protect us.

And then things start to go wrong. A hero dies. An inconvenient spouse is murdered. A killer is let loose, but fails to follow his programming. And an accidental unmasking reveals a popular new hero to be "colored" -- and America isn't ready for that shocking truth.

Nor, it turns out, are many of the other heroes.

"The American Way" is a tense, gripping story set in a volatile time. Following in the gilded footsteps of Alan Moore's classic "The Watchmen," writer John Ridley gives us heroes who suffer the same failings and bigotries as the "normal" people around them. Some will rise above those failings, while others, of course, will surrender to them.

Destined to be a classic, "The American Way" is an exciting, sometimes heartbreaking tale.

by Tom Knapp, Rambles.NET editor

Government Sponsored Super Team
It is the Cold War and America has a team of super heroes to help protect justice and the American Way. An ad man who lost his job due to bad timing has been recruited to work for the government and handle PR for the super team. It is then that he learns that while the heroes do exist their reputation is false. The minor crime they stop is real but all of the super-villain battles are carefully scripted and acted out. But as tensions build between America and Russia, America is also being subjected to the buildup of racial tensions between blacks and whites. That is when the ad man comes up with the idea of creating a black super hero. He will be masked at first to win the trust of the country and then it will be revealed that he is black.

But an accident reveals the secret too soon and racial tension on the team goes through the roof. How can the situation be diffused? Will extreme sanction be required for all the super heroes? Is there any action that will not make matters worse? All these questions and more make up this fascinating story. Set against real-world events this is a gripping tale of a volatile period in America's history. An interesting new spin on the super hero story but with better grounding in reality than most. Definitely one for fans who like some intelligence in their comics. Check it out.

Nice idea, ham-fisted delivery
The idea is intriguing; in the 60s a government-sponsored team welcomes the first black superhero.

The delivery however is terrible.

The characters tend to be one-dimensional rip-offs of characters like Wonder Woman or Superman. Others are there to be straw men for racism, for example one here is named 'Southern Cross' and has fire powers. Yes, a burning cross. That's the level of subtly in this book.

Sensing the changing mood of the nation the government decides to put a black man on the team. But 'The New American' is first forced to wear an astronaut costume to conceal his race. When it is inevitably revealed the government announces to the world they had no idea he was black. And no one questions this. This is just one of the many plot twists that destroy any sense of logic in the story.

The 1960s were 30 years after Jessie Owens represented America in the Olympics, 10 years after the armed forces were integrated. While a black hero would be controversial (DC comics refused for many years to have any black heroes in their line-up) it would not have to be a secret.

Telling the story of the civil rights movement using superheroes is a clever idea and someday there will be a great story about it.

But this is not it.