Myths

Unlike myths, superhero sagas suggest that justice is actually attainable.

• By Noah Berlatsky

A story of mythological birds and a murder near the sacred Shiprock volcano in northwest New Mexico.

• By Craig Childs

Thousands of pounds of rocks stolen from Hawaii are returned by mail to the island each year because former tourists fear their fortunes have been reversed by a wrathful goddess. What makes the myth so powerful?

• By Casey N. Cep

And why it doesn't really matter if he was 500 years too late.

• By Daniel Luzer

New books, movies, and plays keep spilling out of the perennial wellspring of Oz. Each reveals a facet of that fabled land—and of the generation that produces the work.

• By Tom Jacobs