Superhero Comics PDF
Preview Superhero Comics
Superhero Comics BLOOMSBURY COMICS STUDIES Covering major genres, creators and themes, the Bloomsbury Comics Studies series are accessible, authoritative and comprehensive introductions to key topics in Comics Studies. Providing historical overviews, guides to key texts and important critical approaches, books in the series include annotated guides to further reading and online resources, discussion questions and glossaries of key terms to help students and fans navigate the diverse world of comic books today. Series Editor Derek Parker Royal Forthcoming Titles Children’s and Young Adult Comics, Gwen Tarbox Webcomics, Sean Kleefeld Autobiographical Comics, Andrew J. Kunka Superhero Comics Chris Gavaler Bloomsbury Academic An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc Bloomsbury Academic An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 50 Bedford Square 1385 Broadway London New York WC1B 3DP NY 10018 UK USA www.bloomsbury.com BLOOMSBURY and the Diana logo are trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc First published 2018 © Chris Gavaler, 2018 Christopher Gavaler has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Author of this work. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. No responsibility for loss caused to any individual or organization acting on or refraining from action as a result of the material in this publication can be accepted by Bloomsbury or the author. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN: HB: 978-1-4742-2635-6 PB: 978-1-4742-2634-9 ePDF: 978-1-4742-2637-0 ePub: 978-1-4742-2636-3 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. Series: Bloomsbury Comics Studies Cover design by Eleanor Rose Cover image © John Royle Typeset by Fakenham Prepress Solutions, Fakenham, Norfolk NR21 8NN To find out more about our authors and books visit www.bloomsbury.com. Here you will find extracts, author interviews, details of forthcoming events and the option to sign up for our newsletters. To Cameron and Madeleine vi CONTENTS Series Editor’s Preface xi Acknowledgments xii 1 Introduction 1 2 Historical Overview, Part 1: Pre-Comic Origins I The Mythic Superhero 15 The superhero with a thousand masks 16 Minimally counter-intuitive fairy tales for grown-ups 19 Brutal fairy tales and epic violence 24 Children’s great men fables 28 Mythical myths 32 II The Imperial Superhero 33 The British superhero 35 American supermen 39 Imperial expansion 43 New frontiers 46 III The Wellborn Superhero 49 On the origin of supermen: 1883–1905 51 Experiments in hero hybridization: 1893–1928 59 Acts of sterilization: 1929–39 68 viii CONTENTS IV The Vigilante Superhero 77 Vigilante hero 81 Superman 87 Superhero 92 3 Historical Overview, Part 2: Pre-Code and First Code Origins I The Fascist Superhero 101 Champion of the oppressed 106 Eager to strike back 113 Heroic doings 117 II The MAD Superhero 125 Crisis: 1961–2 128 Turning point: 1962–3 135 Aftermath 140 4 Social and Cultural Impact I The Black Superhero 155 Pre-Code era, 1934–54 156 First Code era, 1954–71 160 Second Code era, 1971–89 165 Third Code era, 1989–2000 173 Fourth Code and Post-Code eras, 2001 to present 176 II The Gendered Superhero 179 Super binaries 179 Super queer 191 5 Critical Uses I The Visual Superhero 205 1. Layout rhetoric 205 2. Framing rhetoric 215 CONTENTS ix 3. Juxtapositional closure 222 4. Page sentencing 225 5. Image-texts 227 6. Representational abstraction 230 7. Visualizing Elektra 241 6 Key Texts I The Authorial Superhero 273 Pre-Code era, 1934–54 274 First Code era, 1954–71 276 Second Code era, 1971–89 278 Third Code era, 1989–2000 281 Fourth Code era, 2001–11 283 Post-Code era, 2011 to present 285 Glossary 289 Resources 293 Works Cited 297 Index 321
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