Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-t5pn6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-17T07:54:40.196Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Politics of the Superhero

Introduction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 December 2013

Matthew J. Costello
Affiliation:
Saint Xavier College
Kent Worcester
Affiliation:
Marymount Manhattan College

Extract

This symposium explores the relationship of superheroes to questions of power, ideology, social relations, and political culture. It represents the first time that a political science journal has devoted sustained attention to the superhero genre as it is reflected in the pages of comic books and graphic novels, and on the big screen.

Type
Symposium: The Politics of the Superhero
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

WORKS CITED AND CONSULTED

Ahrens, Jörn, and Meteling, Arno, eds. 2010. Comics and the City: Urban Space in Print, Picture and Sequence. New York: Continuum.Google Scholar
Brooker, Will. 2000. Batman Unmasked: Analyzing a Cultural Icon. New York: Continuum.Google Scholar
Brown, Jeffrey. 2001. Black Superheroes, Milestone Comics, and Their Fans. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi.Google Scholar
Bukatman, Scott. 2005. Masters of Gravity: Special Effects and Supermen in the Twentieth Century. Durham: Duke University Press.Google Scholar
Bukatman, Scott. 2009. “Secret Identity Politics.” In The Contemporary Comic Book Superhero, ed. Ndalianis, Angela. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Cocca, Carolyn. 2014. “‘The Sexier the Outfit, the Fewer Questions Asked’: Negotiating the Third Wave of Feminism in Wonder Woman.” PS: Political Science and Politics 47 (1): this issue. Google Scholar
Costello, Matthew J. 2009. Secret Identity Crisis: Comic Books and the Unmasking of Cold War America. New York: Continuum.Google Scholar
Costello, Matthew J. 2010. “The New Superpowered Conflict: Re-Imagining the Cold War in Contemporary Comic Books.” In Between Fear and Freedom: Cultural Representations of the Cold War, ed. Starck, Kathleen. London: Cambridge Scholars Press.Google Scholar
Costello, Matthew J. 2011. “Spandex Agonistes: Superhero Comics Confront the War on Terror.” In Portraying 9/11: Essays on Representations in Comics, Literature, Film, and Theatre, eds. Bragard, Veronique, Dony, Christophe, and Rosenberg, Warren. Jefferson, NC: McFarland Press.Google Scholar
Dittmer, Jason. 2005. “Captain America's Empire: Reflections on Identity, Popular Culture, and Post-9/11 Geopolitics.” Annals of the Association of American Geographers 95 (3): 626–43.Google Scholar
Dittmer, Jason. 2009. “Fighting for Home: Masculinity and the Constitution of the Domestic in Tales of Suspense and Captain America .” In Heroes of Film, Comics and American Culture: Essays on Real and Fictional Defenders of Home, ed. Detora, Lisa. Jefferson: McFarland Press.Google Scholar
Dittmer, Jason. 2013. Captain America and the Nationalist Superhero: Metaphors, Narratives and Geopolitics. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.Google Scholar
Donovan, John. 2012. “Red Menace on the Moon: Containment in Space as Depicted in Comics of the 1950s.” In Comic Books and the Cold War, eds. York, Chris and York, Rafael. Jefferson: McFarland Press.Google Scholar
Dorfman, Ariel, and Mattelart, Armand. 1975. How to Read Donald Duck: Imperialist Ideology in the Disney Comic. London: IG Editions.Google Scholar
DuBose, Mike. 2012. “Holding Out for a Hero: Reaganism, Comic Book Vigilantes, and Captain America.” Journal of Popular Culture 40: 915–35.Google Scholar
Eco, Umberto. 1972. “The Myth of Superman.” Reprinted in Arguing Comics: Literary Masters on a Popular Medium, eds. Jeet Heer and Kent Worcester. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2004. Google Scholar
Edelman, Murray. 1996. From Art to Politics: How Artistic Creation Shapes Political Conceptions. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Engel, Gary. 1987. “What Makes Superman So Darned American?” In Superman at 50: The Persistence of a Legend, eds. Dooley, Dennis and Engel, Gary. Cleveland: Octavia Press.Google Scholar
Feiffer, Jules. 1965. The Great Comic Book Heroes. New York: Dial Press.Google Scholar
Garrett, Dan. 2014. “Superheroes in Hong Kong's Political Resistance: Icons, Images, and Opposition.” PS: Political Science and Politics 47 (1): this issue. Google Scholar
Gavaler, Chris. 2014. “The Imperial Superhero.” PS: Political Science and Politics 47 (1): this issue. Google Scholar
Hatfield, Charles, Heer, Jeet, and Worcester, Kent, eds. 2013. “Introduction.” The Superhero Reader. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. Google Scholar
Heer, Jeet, and Worcester, Kent, eds. 2009. A Comics Studies Reader. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi.Google Scholar
Hughes, Jamie A. 2006. “‘Who Watches the Watchmen?’ Ideology and ‘Real World’ Superheroes.” Journal of Popular Culture 39 (4): 546–57.Google Scholar
Lang, Jeffrey S., and Trimble, Patrick. 1988. “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? An Examination of the American Monomyth and the Comic Book Superhero.” Journal of Popular Culture 22 (3): 157–73.Google Scholar
Lawrence, John Shelton, and Jewitt, Robert. 2002. The Myth of the American Superhero. New York: Wm. B. Eerdmans Google Scholar
Lewis, A. David. 2012. “The Militarism of American Superheroes after 9/11.” In Comic Books and American Cultural History: An Anthology, ed. Pustz, Matthew. New York: Continuum.Google Scholar
Maggin, Elliot (w), Swan, Curt (p), and Osker, Bob (i). 1974. “The Man Who Murdered Metropolis!” Superman 271 (August). DC Comics. Google Scholar
Miettinen, Mervi. 2014. “Masculinity Deconstructed in Watchmen .” PS: Political Science and Politics 47 (1): this issue. Google Scholar
Miller, John Jackson. 2005. “Blue States … Unread States?Comics Buyer's Guide 1604 (May 2005): 4045.Google Scholar
Moore, Jesse T. 2003. “The Education of Green Lantern: Culture and Ideology.” Journal of American Culture 26 (2): 263–78.Google Scholar
Nama, Adilifu. 2011. Super Black: American Pop Culture and Black Superheroes. Austin: University of Texas Press.Google Scholar
Pearson, Roberta E., and Uricchio, William, eds. 1991. The Many Lives of the Batman: Critical Approaches to a Superhero and its Media. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Phillips, Forrest. 2013. “Captain America and Fans' Political Activity.” Transformative Works and Cultures 13. http://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/article/view/441/366.Google Scholar
Pustz, Matthew. 2012. “‘Paralysis and Stagnation and Drift’: America's Malaise as Demonstrated in Comic Books of the 1970s.” In Comic Books and American Cultural History: An Anthology, ed. Pustz, Matthew. New York: Continuum.Google Scholar
Reynolds, Richard. 1994. Superheroes: A Modern Mythology. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi.Google Scholar
Smith, Matthew J., and Duncan, Randy. 2012. Critical Approaches to Comics: Theories and Methods. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Weiner, Robert G. 2009. Captain America and the Struggle of the Superhero: Critical Essays. Jefferson, NC: McFarland Press.Google Scholar
Worcester, Kent. 2011. “New York City, 9/11 and Comics.” Radical History Review 111: 138–54.Google Scholar
Worcester, Kent. 2012. “The Punisher and the Politics of Retributive Justice.” Law Text Culture 16 (1): 329–52.Google Scholar
Worcester, Kent. 2013. “Graphic Novels in the Social Science Classroom.” In Teaching Politics Beyond the Book: Film, Texts, and New Media in the Classroom, eds. Glover, Robert W. and Tagliarina, Daniel. New York: Bloomsbury.Google Scholar
Yockey, Matt. 2012. “Wonder Woman for a Day: Affect, Agency, and Amazons.” Transformative Works and Cultures vol. 10. http://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/article/view/318/291.Google Scholar
York, Chris, and York, Rafael, eds. 2012. Comic Books and the Cold War. Jefferson: McFarland Press.Google Scholar