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Mayer, Robert

Entry updated 12 September 2022. Tagged: Author.

(1939-2019) US journalist and author best known for his first novel, Superfolks (1977), a gonzo Satire of Superheroes as they featured in Comics before they began to be depicted, from the early 1980s on, in darker and more ambivalent tones – a change that can be partly laid down to the influence of Mayer's novel, whose protagonist, David Brinkley, is unmistakably based on Superman. His powers have waned over the years, and other superheroes have died or abandoned New York; in conjunction with an intense midlife crisis, his powers reawake just in time. The influence of Superfolks on Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons is clear – Gibbons drew the cover for the otherwise unaltered 2003 reprint of the tale. Mayer's second novel, I, JFK (1989), an Afterlife fantasy [see The Encyclopedia of Fantasy under links below], had less impact. He should not be confused with Bob Mayer. [JC]

Robert Mayer

born New York: 24 February 1939

died Santa Fe, New Mexico: 23 July 2019

works

  • Superfolks (New York: The Dial Press, 1977) [hb/Jack Ribik]
  • I, JFK (New York: E P Dutton, 1989) [hb/Jack Ribik]

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