From Fanboy to Superman Historian: A Woman’s World Editor’s 60-Year Love of the Man of Steel Makes History

Having a father who’s a karate champion is not an easy thing to deal with when you’re a horn-rimmed-glasses-wearing nerdy kid less concerned with the martial arts than reading comic books, watching horror soap opera Dark Shadows, fascinated by Star Trek during its original run and thrilling to the adventures of Superman. While admittedly the 1960s were long before the embracing and celebration of all things geek in The Big Bang Theory, one can look at that same nerdy kid, track him through the decades and watch those pop culture obsessions and many more evolve into a 40+ year career as an entertainment journalist, his authoring numerous books exploring the subjects he grew up with and, today, finding himself actually heralded as a Superman historian.

Sorry, dad. Not sorry.

That kid — lets call him Ed, since that is my name — has spent his writing career focusing on films, television, music and comic books for a variety of publications, currently serves as Senior Entertainment Editor of womansworld.com and firstforwomen.com and has indeed been deemed an expert on the Man of Steel. That latter point comes from the fact that in 2023 he wrote what’s considered to be the definitive unofficial book on the character in the form of the oral history, Voices from Krypton. And December 10th marks the arrival of the official tome on the subject, Superman: The Definitive History (co-written with Robert Greenberger). Two books that chronicle the character’s 86-year history in a way that no previous books have, each offering distinct tellings of the story and both representing the culmination of a lifetime passion. To say that Ed’s proud of this accomplishment doesn’t do the feeling justice.

One of the most special aspects of all of this is that in the world of publishing, there are very few instances of someone having written an unofficial history of a subject then being invited to tell the official story based on the creative success of the former. It’s a unique kind of honor.

Birth of a Super-obsession

Ed was five years old in 1965, living in a Brooklyn, New York apartment with his parents, younger sister, Fuzzy, a black German Shepherd; and a black and white television set that he was already obsessed with. One day he was on the floor, playing with his toys, when he became mesmerized by some guy in a costume with a cape, who actually flew. It was, of course, a rerun of the 1950s TV show Adventures of Superman, with George Reeves in the title role, and his young mind was officially blown. An instant connection was formed, enhanced by the fact that show was airing five days a week!

But there’s another part of the story in that his father — the aforementioned karate champion — had a single comic book, which did not feature any superheroes. Next to karate, the man loved dogs more than just about anything else and his (now Ed’s) comic book was The Illustrated History of Dogs, published in 1958 and costing a whole quarter. Money well spent considering that when young Eddie came across it, there was another immediate connection. He had not seen a comic book before, but found the format amazing. The next revelation was that this guy on TV — Superman — had his own comic book adventures, as advertised at the end of each episode.

Flash forward to 1967, and Ed’s family moved to a different apartment building, which led to his making some friends who were as crazy about superheroes and comic books as he was. They all became collectors, Ed buying back issues of every comic that featured the “S” on it (a total of eight different titles a month at the time). He simply couldn’t get enough, which may explain the 330,000 words making up Voices from Krypton. 

Leaving Brooklyn behind, but not the Man of Steel

By 1972, Ed’s family was on the move again, this time from Brooklyn to Long Island, where he would spend the rest of his life (so far), the love for Superman staying with him as he got older — to the point where his wife gifted him a “Superman Room” to place all of the knick-knacks she’d given him over the years. When it comes to his continuing fascination with the character, it’s probably best summed up anytime he’s asked who his favorite version is: “Christopher Reeve,” Ed replies without hesitation, “but the truth is, I follow the ‘S.’ Whoever is wearing that costume, that’s where you’ll find me.”

And that’s held true from Superman: The Movie‘s Reeve, Superboy‘s John Haymes Newton and Gerard Christopher, Lois & Clark‘s Dean Cain, Smallville‘s Tom Welling, Superman Returns‘ Brandon Routh,  Man of Steel‘s Henry Cavill, Superman and Lois‘ Tyler Hoechlin, the various animated series and movie versions from over the years and he’ll be there on opening day in July 2025 for Superman‘s David Corenswet. Again, he follows the “S.”

But why Superman?

The initial appeal of Superman for Ed was the cool factor, in the sense that when he was a kid, the fascination stemmed from this guy flying around with those amazing powers, helping everyone he encountered and keeping the world safe. But the feeling evolved along with the Man of Steel himself, moving from “this guy is cool” to the fact that he has come to symbolize hope, serving as a beacon of light in the darkness and is a character that’s both inspirational and aspirational. Not that we can hope to fly, but the idea that we can make a difference in the lives of other people, even in the smallest of ways.

Some years ago, in the aftermath of a snowstorm, Ed was wearing one of many T-shirts emblazoned with the “S” symbol, and he and one of his sons were driving down the street when they saw an elderly man manipulating a walker with one hand while using a shovel in the other to gradually clear the pavement in front of a house. They got out of the car and offered to help (his son more reluctantly; he was young at the time). Initially resistant, the man finally acquiesced, and they went to work. As they shoveled, he leaned against his walker and said, “Thanks so much, fellows. My neighbor’s sick, so I wanted to shovel his sidewalk for him.”

Ed and his son shared a look as they got back into the car, Ed pointing to the “S” on his shirt and commenting, “There’s meaning to it. You do what you can.” Not a bad life lesson.

The transition to Superman historian

From the start of his career as an entertainment journalist, Ed has been lucky to be able to write about all of his childhood passions either retrospectively or in terms of new versions, all of which in recent years manifested in the form of a series of oral history books on such subjects as Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, James Bond, Star Wars and more. And through it all, he pushed to write an oral history of Superman, which, as noted, finally came true in 2023 with Voices from Krypton, and features the comments of more than 250 people. All of whom, he was pleasantly surprised to find, spoke glowingly of their association with the character.

The response to that book was truly incredible, with Ed being invited as a guest on various Superman or sci-fi-related podcasts, taking the stage at the annual Superman Celebration in Metropolis, IL in both 2023 and 2024 to discuss it, his experiences as a journalist and someone who has interacted with so many involved with the character’s history.

And then, as mentioned earlier, he was contacted by publisher Insight Editions to gauge his interest in writing Superman: The Definitive History, which rather than just be a repeat of the Voices from Krypton experience, turned out to be something entirely different and an opportunity to explore the character’s history in an entirely different way, accompanied by the most incredible imagery ever assembled from the character’s 86 years.

Amusingly, once work on both books was complete, several people wondered if Ed ever wanted to hear the word “Superman” again. His response was that in both instances, he immediately put on the John Williams Superman theme and was looking forward to the next opportunity.

And that’s a final point he needs to make, that he genuinely considers it an honor and a blessing to get up every day, sit behind a computer and do the thing that he’s loved for the vast majority of his life. Whether it’s chronicling Superman’s history, conducting interviews on a wide variety of subjects or writing about classic television, it’s meant the world to him.

And it all started because a 5-year-old boy, watching a black and white TV in 1965, believed that a man could fly.

Head to Amazon to order copies of Superman: The Definitive History and Voices from Krypton, as well as other books by Edward Gross, including his first novel, Fleischer and the Wonderful Wizard of Oz.