Barry Forshaw writes:

Subtitled ‘How the US Government Shapes Cinematic Universes’, this is a provocative and intelligent exploration of a massively popular cinematic trend (a trend, in fact, which rules the roost in terms of current popularity — and shows little sign of waning). The premise here is that the US military, the CIA and NASA have influenced (albeit without a specific agenda) the cinematic superhero genre, even presenting a particular perception of how Americans perceive the relationship of the US to the rest of the world. It is, of course, a tendentious premise, but Tricia Jenkins & Tom Secker make a very persuasive case. Inevitably, the Marvel studios and their affiliates afford the authors fertile ground for their thesis, but essays on the prime progenitor of all superheroes, DC’s Superman, makes a particularly persuasive case for Clark Kent’s alter ego as a responsible (but conflicted) citizen-solder, interrogating his own legacy in the context of such films as Man of Steel. Superheroes, Movies and the State is both fascinating reading and a lively, argumentative investigation of a popular subject.

Superheroes, Movies and the State by Tricia Jenkins & Tom Secker is published by University Press of Kansas