Brad Meltzer on Why Superman and Captain America Are In The Nazi Conspiracy

In his new book The Nazi Conspiracy, author Brad Meltzer dives into one of the most dangerous moments in modern history. Examining a complex plot by Nazi Germany to assassinate Winston Churchill, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Joseph Stalin in order to destabilize the Allied forces, The Nazi Conspiracy covers a moment when the world could easily have been plunged into total chaos. But, as Meltzer is wont to do, he provides some looks at the popular culture of the time, and how some of it — including the rising popularity of superheroes like Superman and Captain America — was shaped by the war.

Meltzer is no stranger to comic books, of course. Not only has he written titles like Green Arrow and Justice League of America, but his line of kid-oriented biographies, published under the Ordinary People Can Change the World banner, recently wrote about fictional characters for the first time. The choices? Batman and Superman. He says that The Nazi Conspiracy, which he co-wrote with his The First Conspiracy and The Lincoln Conspiracy collaborator Josh Mensch, was a challenge to write.

“What we really tried to do in The Nazi Conspiracy is give you a better sense of what was really happening back then and how much of a precipice we were on,” Meltzer told ComicBook.com during a recent interview. “Because the story we tell now is, ‘Oh, we beat the Nazis and we won. And everyone came home and kissed the girl in the ticker-tape parade.’ We tell the stories of Captain America and Superman and look what else came out of the war and all these great moments. But I think what was humbling to me, was just how precarious our position was in the war — just how hard it was to get the big three — FDR and Stalin and Churchill — to agree to Normandy, to agree that that’s what we’re going to do. And it wasn’t us that saved the day, it’s the Russians who wanted the cross-channel attack. We lost about half a million people [during the war], England lost about half a million people. The Russians lost 24 million people. And that’s a staggering number. Think of 3,000 people in 9/11 in New York, and plus more on top of that 24 million people. And I just don’t think I ever really appreciated just how close it was to not working out as well as it did.”

That incredibly scary, incredibly serious subjects dominate The Nazi Conspiracy, but it also speaks to the importance of Superman and Captain America. Meltzer said that he and Mensch embraced that.

“One of the things we actually do focus on in the book is, I did do a section on Superman and Captain America,” Meltzer told ComicBook.com. “I know it seems almost absurd, but they arrive because the culture needs them at that time. As World War II’s encroaching on our shores, and it’s such a scary thing, the world gets those beautiful creations by these Jewish creators who obviously can see exactly what’s going on. I think that it’s the same reason why we are where we today and why these characters are more popular than ever, because we’re once again as a culture scared and looking for someone to show us that path of light.”

You can get The Nazi Conspiracy in bookstores and online now.