In the 1970s, a forgotten generation of comic book writers took the medium from schlocky superheroes to artful considerations of consciousness, identity, and selfhood. Their secret? Tapping into the counterculture.

Once upon a time, a new Pynchon or DeLillo was an event. Now, Adam Levin's latest Mega-Novel raises questions about what, if anything, this type of fiction has left to say.

Think the comic book giant invented the concept of an extended universe? Think again: interconnected storytelling is a literary tradition centuries in the making.