Superhero Comics

Description

A complete guide to the history, form and contexts of the genre, Superhero Comics helps readers explore the most successful and familiar of comic book genres. In an accessible and easy-to-navigate format, the book reveals: FC Half title Bloomsbury Comics Studies Title Copyright Dedication Contents Series Editor’s Preface Acknowledgments 1 Introduction 2 Historical Overview, Part 1: Pre-Comic Origins I The Mythic Superhero The superhero with a thousand masks Minimally counter-intuitive fairy tales for grown-ups Brutal fairy tales and epic violence Children’s great men fables Mythical myths II The Imperial Superhero The British superhero American supermen Imperial expansion New frontiers III The Wellborn Superhero On the origin of supermen: 1883–1905 Experiments in hero hybridization: 1893–1928 Acts of sterilization: 1929–39 IV The Vigilante Superhero Vigilante hero Superman Superhero 3 Historical Overview, Part 2: Pre-Code and First Code Origins I The Fascist Superhero Champion of the oppressed Eager to strike back Heroic doings II The MAD Superhero Crisis: 1961–2 Turning point: 1962–3 Aftermath 4 Social and Cultural Impact I The Black Superhero Pre-Code era, 1934–54 First Code era, 1954–71 Second Code era, 1971–89 Third Code era, 1989–2000 Fourth Code and Post-Code eras, 2001 to present II The Gendered Superhero Super binaries Super queer 5 Critical Uses I The Visual Superhero 1. Layout rhetoric 2. Framing rhetoric 3. Juxtapositional closure 4. Page sentencing 5. Image-texts 6. Representational abstraction 7. Visualizing Elektra 6 Key Texts I The Authorial Superhero Pre-Code era, 1934–54 First Code era, 1954–71 Second Code era, 1971–89 Third Code era, 1989–2000 Fourth Code era, 2001–11 Post-Code era, 2011 to present Glossary Resources Works Cited Index