Ryan Davidson

I picked this up as research for a possible book. I guess if you were going to read any fun “accessible” book about law, this would be it. But be prepared because these guys are lawyers first and writers second. There are times even Batman’s vigilante justice can’t save all the prose (i.e. long paragraphs, high vocabulary, and plenty of adverbs). But how else are you going to find out if Superman has to pay taxes on the coal he squeezes into diamonds?

There’s quite a lot of content here, from constitutional law to criminal to privacy to property. At least everything has a tone of humor, so it’s not a dry legal document. I think if you used to watch The People’s Court (Wapner forever!) and read comic books at the same time, this is for you. It’s for a specific audience, but hey, you might be that audience!… (meer)

Super heroes are not above the law, but they do bring up a lot of questions about the law and it's application. In this book, Daily and Davidson explore how different areas of law might impact super heroes. The results is an entertaining introduction to constitutional law, criminal law, evidence, criminal procedure, tort law, contracts, business law, administrative law, intellectual property, travel and immigration, international law, questions of identity, and questions of what it means to be human.

Anyone who has opinions about the application of law and is at all interested in comics or super heroes would get value from reading this book. One of the things it helps emphasize is that law is very much about precise interpretation, and it doesn't matter what you think the "right" conclusion for a particular case is if it can't be expressed as a legal argument. That doesn't mean laws are unambiguous -- far from it -- but that ambiguity comes from that same slicing and dicing of meaning. Or to put it another way, the details of laws matter. It's not enough to feel like you know the gist of a law when making a conclusion. You need to be able to make a precise case.… (meer)

In general, I found this to be a good study of the possible implications the law might have for superheroes. The law language may be a little dense for people who haven't had practice reading it before. There are some topics that are examined in good detail and I really enjoyed the humor and insight the authors brought to the work. However, there are some articles or chapters later in the book that seem to be a little rushed and short. Specifically the chapter about nonhuman intelligences -- I think this chapter should have either been left out entirely or developed a lot more.

Overall, it's an enjoyable and fun read offering fresh perspectives on superheroes.… (meer)

Much like [b:Invisible Hook: The Hidden Economics of Pirates|5999777|Invisible Hook The Hidden Economics of Pirates|Peter T. Leeson|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1348691621s/5999777.jpg|6174599] used piracy as a method for an introduction to economics, this book uses comic book and movie superheroes as a vehicle for an introduction to US Law. Each chapter covers a different aspect of the law (constitutional, torts, etc.) and attempts to somehow tie it in with either some superhero in particular or some story of a superhero. (The authors have an encyclopedic knowledge of comic books and comic book movies.)

As an introduction to the law it was pretty good--I definitely learned some things. My only real complaints are that sometimes the superhero connection seemed forced and the book was not always as interesting as I'd hoped it would be as a result.

Still worth the read.… (meer)