comics history

Michael Chabon writes in the New Yorker about his Jewish ethics class as a kid, and how it taught him that

what was found between the covers of a comic book was fantasy, and “fantasy” meant pretty lies, the consumption of which failed to prepare you for what lay outside those covers. Fantasy rendered you unfit to face “reality” and its hard pavement.

Of course, he disagrees. Essay is a great discussion of the superhero costume, with gems such as:

Assemble the collective, all-time memberships of the Justice League of America, the Justice Society of America, the Avengers, the Defenders, the Invaders, the X-Men, and the Legion of Super-Heroes (and let us not forget the Legion of Substitute Heroes), and you will probably find that almost all of them, from Nighthawk to the Chlorophyll Kid, arrive wearing some version of the classic leotard-tights ensemble. And yet—not everyone. Not Wonder Woman, in her star-spangled hot pants and eagle bustier; not the Incredible Hulk or Martian Manhunter or the Sub-Mariner.

Great stuff. (I'd argue that - as per his discussion earlier on capes, masks, helmets, and gauntlets - the type of costume varies with the power level of the hero.)