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Rating:  -
This book is mediocre at best. Except for a handful of urban legends and conspiracy theories, it is just a brief history of the two major comic book companies with some extras thrown in. This wouldn't be such a bad thing on it's own, but there are at least four other reasons to avoid this book:
1. Other books have tackled the exact same subject matter.
My personal favorite was Les Daniels' "Five Fabulous Decades...", but the book recommended by another reviewer may be great as well. Daniels' book contains about 75% of the information in this book, but in much greater detail. Plus, despite being a coffee table book about Marvel Comics, Daniels' book actually contains about as much DC lore. That just shows you how well-researched and exhaustive Cronin's book is.
Where Michael Mallory's book "Marvel: The Characters and Their Universe" struck me as a well-structured book by someone who disliked the material, Cronin's book strikes me as a poorly written book report by a hard core fan.
Neither is any good.
2. This book is poorly organized.
Other reviewers have already spoken to this point.
3. This book is pointlessly repetitive.
Sure, you sometimes you need to restate ideas to keep the reader on track, but that's completely unnecessary when the entire section is only a few paragraphs long! For example, on page 118, the author points out that "Tales to Astonish" was retitled "The Incredible Hulk" in 1968. Then, on page 120, he again tells us that "Tales to Astonish" was retitled "The Incredible Hulk" in 1968.
It's even more pointless to do it in the same paragraph, as on page 96:
"As noted earlier, comic companies tried to do everything they could to avoid raising prices. They would reduce the size of the comics, they would cut the page count, but what they tried not to do was to raise the price of comics..."
Get that, folks? "As noted earlier..."
How about this literary gem from page 108:
"Steve Ditko's departure from The Amazing Spider-Man is one of comic's greatest mysteries while being at the same time not so much a mystery at all. The mystery is, why did Steve Ditko leave Amazing Spider-Man?"
No, the real mystery is what happened to your editor.
4. This book is poorly written.
With all the run on sentences, typos, poor use of parentheses, and the Wikipedia-level banalities, if I were one of the English teachers listed in the Acknowledgments I'd be embarrassed.
Instead of wasting $14 on this, try to find a copy of Daniels' book or the book mentioned by the other reviewer. Though out of print, I still see Daniels' book hidden on the back shelf of some book stores for under $7.
Or, just buy more comics.
Rating:  -
This book is not only informative, but fun to read. There are stories in this book that I haven't heard before and truths are told that make me look at things differently now. For example, Bob Kane is the undisputed creator of Batman, but how much of Batman did he actually create? "Was Superman A Spy" really shines a light on some things that were left in the dark. Another cool thing about the book is that it not only talks about certain comic strips, but the strips are actually included! I love it and I think every person that is or was a comic book fan should pick up a copy
Rating:  -
Brian Cronin's book, "Was Superman a Spy," purports to be an overview of urban legends and myths throughout the comics industry, with the intent to confirm or debunk them. Instead, it's an overview of the history of superhero comics, with the majority of its attention given to the Big Two, Marvel and DC.
That doesn't make it bad. Many chapters are thorough, and have enough new and interesting facts and factoids that keep the reader interested. However, certain problems arise from either a writing or an editing perspective, or possibly both.
First of all, Cronin includes chapters on "DC Comics Miscellanea," "Marvel Comics Miscellanea," and "Various Comic Book Companies." While the information contained in these chapters is interesting, there seems to be little or no attempt at organization. While I understand that these chapters are intended to focus on miscellanea, there are no subheadings to sections, simply a lurch from topic to topic, seemingly at random. The chapter entitled "Various Comic Book Companies," in particular, has elements regarding a lot of the litigation between companies and could have been an interesting and focused discussion about intellectual property while maintaining the interest level. Instead, it just...lurches.
Second, the tonal shifts are disconcerting. The overviews of DC and Marvel, as well as the chapters on major characters, tend to be interesting and entertaining, with a touch of the scholar about them. Other chapters seem slapdash, written from a highly opinionated perspective that jars with the rest of the book. In addition, Cronin loves exclamation marks the way metal bands love umlauts. It's kind of sloppy.
Finally, Cronin seems preoccupied with Hollywood and film versions of characters. Sometimes the discussion is interesting (The Incredible Hulk), other times it seems pointless (does anyone care that Jonathan Frakes was once paid to dress up as Captain America for a Comic Convention?).
I think that, to a degree, Cronin suffered from an inattentive editor.
I somehow get the impression that this was rushed to meet a printing deadline, since parts of the book seem so unpolished. However, it's still worth reading. The content and information provided gets 5 stars from me. The slapdash nature of many of the chapters and the tonal shifts/writing style get about 2.5 stars.
My advice is to pick up Scott Tipton and Chris Ryall's Comic Books 101: The History, Methods and Madness first, for a better overview of the history of the industry. If you're still interested, come on back and read Cronin's book. It's decent.
Rating:  -
I was under the impression that this book would be like a "mythbusters" for the comic world. While it wasn't exactly what I thought it would be, this book was full of interesting anecdotes about the creations and important milestones of many different comic characters. I consider myself a comic fan, but there was so much I didn't know. This would be a great gift for any collector.
Rating: -
Brian Cronin is best known as a writer for the blog Comics Should Be Good, most notably for the "Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed" column. Was Superman a Spy is a mix of half old columns and half all new material written specifically for the book. I've read the column from time to time, but I still found most of the info new to me. It acts as a sort of barman's guide to comic book arguments and legends. Ever wonder who actually created Batman? Or that Venom was intended to be a women? Or why The Human Torch was replaced by a robot in the original Fantastic Four cartoon series? Well than this is the book for you.
You also learn about some of the biggest foibles in comic book history such as why some print runs were pulped and what happened to the mysterious Warlock issue left in the back of a cab. Split into 3 sections (DC, Marvel, and Other Comic publishers) it is a light read you can pick-up at any point. Overall it was a fun read and look into the history and mysteries behind comic books. Recommend for comic and pop culture enthusiasts.
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