In many ways, twentieth-century America was the land of superheroes and science fiction. From Superman and Batman to the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, these pop-culture juggernauts, with their "powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men," thrilled readers and audiences--and simultaneously embodied a host of our dreams and fears about modern life and the onrushing future. But that's just scratching the surface, says Jeffrey Kripal. In Mutants and Mystics, Kripal offers a brilliantly insightful account of how comic book heroes have helped their creators and fans alike explore and express.

Orientation: from India to the planet Mars -- Alienation: Superman is a crashed alien -- Radiation: metaphysical energies and super sexualities -- Mutation: X-men before their time -- Realization: reading the paranormal writing us -- Authorization: writing the paranormal writing us -- The third kind: the visitor corpus of Whitley Strieber -- Toward a soul-sized story.