Where was this when I was studying American history?
One of the most fascinating projects to come out of D.C. in the late 1990s was The Kents. It was a Western revival, which is unusual in itself given that, aside from perennial favorite Jonah Hex, the genre had been deemed dead for about a quarter century. And then there's the fact that it's about the Kent family. While Superman's Kryptonian heritage has been examined from nearly every conceivable angle, suprisingly no one before had looked at his human heritage. The reason that's important is that, Superman, more than any other superhero, derives his motivation from values that were taught to him. But where exactly did those values come from?
This is not some hackneyed horse opera, though. Writer John Ostrander and artist Timothy Truman really have done their research. Everything from the debates of the era to the look of firearms and dress has been meticulously researched. It includes historical personages like Senator Atchison, Charles Robinson, Harriet Tubman and John Brown. In a particular stroke of genius, it even ties Jim Lane to the Superman mythos as an ancestor of Lois Lane.
Brilliant, and definitely recommended.