Super Soldiers, a deep and loving dive into superheroes and the military

After reading Super Soldiers, A Salute to the Comic Book Heroes and Villains Who Fought for Their Country by Jason Inman; I challenged myself to think of one superhero that didn’t have direct ties to their country’s military.  I did come up with a couple like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Spider-Man. However, even in trying to think of them I could see some fan circles thinking that they were part of the military, either per their definition or by them assisting in dire times. That’s a topic for another book. Super Soldiers is a respectful, well researched book about a variety of superheroes, their relationship to the military and parallels that they have in common with real soldiers in the military.

Super Soldiers works because Inman shares some of his real stories from his experience in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Military service changed Flash Thompson in a way that profoundly impacted the manner in which Venom bonded with him. According to Inman, surviving a conflict situation provides one with such confidence that it impacts every aspect of your life in an ongoing way. Granted, as a civilian I would assume that, but to hear it from a veteran and have it then compared to fictional characters is fun to hear.

The book looks at characters that you’d expect, like Captain America, War Machine, Green Lantern and Sgt. Rock; but also some that you would not have expected, like Batwoman, Beetle Bailey and Captain Atom. I had forgotten that Batwoman, Kate Kane used to be a soldier and was more damaged than her bat brethren. The book provides a great background into Kane, her work in the military and how it impacted her work as Batwoman.

While Beetle Bailey might be a bit unknown for some younger audiences it’s a comic strip that I grew up on. The relationship between Camp Swampy, Bailey, Sgt. Orville and the rest of the company have been drawing up light elements of the military since 1950. The strip is still being produced today by creator Mort Walker’s granddaughter, Janie Walker-Yates and her husband Mike. While Bailey is a slacker, the necessity to blow off steam in the military is real and Inman shares a great story about his company’s relationship with one of his commanders in Iraq.

Super Soldiers was brought about by Inman’s re-discovery of his love of comic books. As a soldier he realized that there were many parallels between his experience and those of the fictional characters that he enjoyed reading about. The resulting book is entertaining and surprisingly light. By light I don’t mean dismissive, rather, I mean it’s easy to read and relatable. Its background look into various superheroes is deep, but not intimidating. While superhero fans will certainly know more about their backgrounds, the book makes it so that it’s not mandatory to know anything about them.

Super Soldiers is written by Jason Inman and for readers who are 12 and up.

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