Does Superman violate privacy laws when he uses his X–ray vision? Does the Second Amendment protect Iron Man’s suit? Is the Joker really legally insane? If you’ve ever wondered about any of these questions—or if they just sound awesome—then this is the book for you.
The Law of Superheroes grew out of the blog Law and the Multiverse, which applies real-world law and legal principles to comic book stories and characters. We, your coauthors, are both lawyers and comic book nerds, and this book blends those interests.
So why comic books? Well, for one thing, they’re both interesting and popular. The main problem with a lot of legal educational materials is that they are boring. Examples include such thrilling stories as “A sells Blackacre to B, who then gives a life estate to C,” and right there, before we even get to the law, the audience is asleep. But who doesn’t like Batman? More to the point, who doesn’t know who Batman is? Even someone who hasn’t read any comic books—and you needn’t have to in order to enjoy this book—will probably know that Batman’s alter ego is Bruce Wayne, billionaire industrialist. So rather than making up people who may not even have names, or using cases involving people you’ve never heard of, The Law of Superheroes uses characters you already know and love.
Second, comic book authors have been creating new stories for decades, which gives us an enormous supply of material. Action Comics, home of Superman, hit issue #904 in October 2011, part of an almost uninterrupted run since 1938. While this is the longest-running comic in history, there are plenty of others with hundreds and hundreds of issues. Comic book authors have created incredibly detailed worlds with their own histories, so detailed that the authors have felt the need to simplify things on a number of occasions. But continuity snarls aside, this means that comic book stories are ideal for this kind of analysis, because their longevity has given them the opportunity to cover a variety of legal situations that most other works simply don’t reach. As a matter of fact, these situations often hold up remarkably well under legal scrutiny, which is a testament to the ingenuity of their authors, who have created such enormous yet cohesive and consistent worlds.
But most important, comic books are fun and invite good-natured overthinking. Like all comic book fans, we love wondering about how these richly detailed worlds would work in all sorts of ways, whether it be the physics of Superman’s flight or his immigration status. We’ve certainly had fun doing the research for this book—tax-deductible comic books!—and we hope to share that with you.
—James E. Daily, J.D., and Ryan M. Davidson, J.D.