Mixed-Race Superheroes

Mixed-Race Superheroes
Author: Sika A. Dagbovie-Mullins
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Total Pages: 198
Release: 2021-04-16
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1978814615
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American culture has long represented mixed-race identity in paradoxical terms. On the one hand, it has been associated with weakness, abnormality, impurity, transgression, shame, and various pathologies; however, it can also connote genetic superiority, exceptional beauty, and special potentiality. This ambivalence has found its way into superhero media, which runs the gamut from Ant-Man and the Wasp’s tragic mulatta villain Ghost to the cinematic depiction of Aquaman as a heroic “half-breed.” The essays in this collection contend with the multitude of ways that racial mixedness has been presented in superhero comics, films, television, and literature. They explore how superhero media positions mixed-race characters within a genre that has historically privileged racial purity and propagated images of white supremacy. The book considers such iconic heroes as Superman, Spider-Man, and The Hulk, alongside such lesser-studied characters as Valkyrie, Dr. Fate, and Steven Universe. Examining both literal and symbolic representations of racial mixing, this study interrogates how we might challenge and rewrite stereotypical narratives about mixed-race identity, both in superhero media and beyond.

Mixed-Race Superman

Mixed-Race Superman
Author: Will Harris
Publisher: Melville House
Total Pages: 129
Release: 2019-07-02
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1612197892
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An edgy and insightful look at Barack Obama, Keanu Reeves, and the mixed-race experience in our divided world. At once personally revealing and politically astute, author Will Harris reflects on the lives of two very different supermen: Barack Obama and Keanu Reeves. In an era where a man endorsed by the Ku Klux Klan can sit in the White House, Harris argues that the mixed-race of both Obama and Reeves gave them a cultural shapelessness that was a form of resistance. Reeves, as Neo in The Matrix, portrayed the chosen one on the silver screen, while Obama, for a brief moment, was a real-life superhero on the world stage. Drawing on his own personal experience and examining the way that these two men have been embedded in our collective consciousness, Harris asks what they can teach us about race and heroism.

Panthers, Hulks and Ironhearts

Panthers, Hulks and Ironhearts
Author: Jeffrey A. Brown
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Total Pages: 180
Release: 2021-01-15
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1978809239
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Marvel is one of the hottest media companies in the world right now, and its beloved superheroes are all over film, television and comic books. Yet rather than simply cashing in on the popularity of iconic white male characters like Peter Parker, Tony Stark and Steve Rogers, Marvel has consciously diversified its lineup of superheroes, courting controversy in the process. Panthers, Hulks, and Ironhearts offers the first comprehensive study of how Marvel has reimagined what a superhero might look like in the twenty-first century. It examines how they have revitalized older characters like Black Panther and Luke Cage, while creating new ones like Latina superhero Miss America. Furthermore, it considers the mixed fan responses to Marvel’s recasting of certain “legacy heroes,” including a Pakistani-American Ms. Marvel, a Korean-American Hulk, and a whole rainbow of multiverse Spidermen. If the superhero comic is a quintessentially American creation, then how might the increasing diversification of Marvel’s superhero lineup reveal a fundamental shift in our understanding of American identity? This timely study answers those questions and considers what Marvel’s comics, TV series, and films might teach us about stereotyping, Orientalism, repatriation, whitewashing, and identification.

Invisible Men: The Trailblazing Black Artists of Comic Books

Invisible Men: The Trailblazing Black Artists of Comic Books
Author: Ken Quattro
Publisher: National Geographic Books
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2020-12-15
Genre: Comics & Graphic Novels
ISBN: 1684055865
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Hear the riveting stories of Black artists who drew--mostly covertly behind the scenes--superhero, horror, and romance comics in the early years of the industry. The life stories of each man's personal struggles and triumphs are represented as they broke through into a world formerly occupied only by whites. Using primary source material from World War II-era Black newspapers and magazines, this compelling book profiles pioneers like E.C. Stoner, a descendant of one of George Washington's slaves, who became a renowned fine artist of the Harlem Renaissance and the first Black artist to draw comic books. Perhaps more fascinating is Owen Middleton who was sentenced to life in Sing Sing. Middleton's imprisonment became a cause célèbre championed by Will Durant, which led to Middleton's release and subsequent comics career. Then there is Matt Baker, the most revered of the Black artists, whose exquisite art spotlights stunning women and men, and who drew the first groundbreaking Black comic book hero, Vooda! The book is gorgeously illustrated with rare examples of each artist's work, including full stories from mainstream comic books from rare titles like All-Negro Comics and Negro Heroes, plus unpublished artist's photos. Invisible Men features Ken Quattro's impeccable research and lean writing detailing the social and cultural environments that formed these extraordinary, yet invisible, men!

The Spectacular Sisterhood of Superwomen

The Spectacular Sisterhood of Superwomen
Author: Hope Nicholson
Publisher: Quirk Books
Total Pages: 241
Release: 2017-05-02
Genre: Comics & Graphic Novels
ISBN: 1594749493
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Meet more than one hundred of the most heroic female characters in comics history, complete with backstories, vintage art, and colorful commentary. This spectacular sisterhood includes costumed crimebusters like Miss Fury, super-spies like Tiffany Sinn, sci-fi pioneers like Gale Allen, and even kid troublemakers like Little Lulu. With vintage art, publication details, a decade-by-decade survey of industry trends and women’s roles in comics, and spotlights on iconic favorites like Wonder Woman and Ms. Marvel, The Spectacular Sisterhood of Superwomen proves that not only do strong female protagonists belong in comics, they’ve always been there.

Future State: Justice League

Future State: Justice League
Author: Joshua Williamson
Publisher: DC Comics
Total Pages: 300
Release: 2021-06-22
Genre: Comics & Graphic Novels
ISBN: 1779513879
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The first Future State collections are here! In the far-flung future, an all-new Justice League must investigate the mysterious death of their greatest foes-the Legion of Doom! The Justice League Dark emerges from years of hiding to fight the villainous force stalking supernatural heroes and villains alike! John Stewart and his band of abandoned Green Lanterns must hold the line against an invasion of murderous zealots in an uncharted dark sector after their rings have stopped working! Barry Allen battles for the soul of his former Flash partner, Wally West! And Jackson Hyde and Andy Curry, son of Black Manta and daughter of Aquaman, must find each other again after being torn apart if they hope to escape the mysterious universe-spanning One Great Ocean!

Love, Sex, Gender, and Superheroes

Love, Sex, Gender, and Superheroes
Author: Jeffrey A. Brown
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Total Pages: 192
Release: 2021-11-19
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1978825285
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Impossibly muscular men and voluptuous women parade around in revealing, skintight outfits, and their romantic and sexual entanglements are a key part of the ongoing drama. Such is the state of superhero comics and movies, a genre that has become one of our leading mythologies, conveying influential messages about gender, sexuality, and relationships. Love, Sex, Gender, and Superheroes examines a full range of superhero media, from comics to films to television to merchandising. With a keen eye for the genre’s complex and internally contradictory mythology, comics scholar Jeffrey A. Brown considers its mixed messages. Superhero comics may reinforce sex roles with their litany of phallic musclemen and slinky femme fatales, but they also blur gender binaries with their emphasis on transformation and body swaps. Similarly, while most heroes have heterosexual love interests, the genre prioritizes homosocial bonding, and it both celebrates and condemns gendered and sexualized violence. With examples spanning from the Golden Ages of DC and Marvel comics up to recent works like the TV series The Boys, this study provides a comprehensive look at how superhero media shapes our perceptions of love, sex, and gender.

The New Mutants

The New Mutants
Author: Ramzi Fawaz
Publisher: NYU Press
Total Pages: 365
Release: 2016-01-22
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 147982349X
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2017 The Association for the Studies of the Present Book Prize Finalist Mention, 2017 Lora Romero First Book Award Presented by the American Studies Association Winner of the 2012 CLAGS Fellowship Award for Best First Book Project in LGBT Studies How fantasy meets reality as popular culture evolves and ignites postwar gender, sexual, and race revolutions. In 1964, noted literary critic Leslie Fiedler described American youth as “new mutants,” social rebels severing their attachments to American culture to remake themselves in their own image. 1960s comic book creators, anticipating Fiedler, began to morph American superheroes from icons of nationalism and white masculinity into actual mutant outcasts, defined by their genetic difference from ordinary humanity. These powerful misfits and “freaks” soon came to embody the social and political aspirations of America’s most marginalized groups, including women, racial and sexual minorities, and the working classes. In The New Mutants, Ramzi Fawaz draws upon queer theory to tell the story of these monstrous fantasy figures and how they grapple with radical politics from Civil Rights and The New Left to Women’s and Gay Liberation Movements. Through a series of comic book case studies—including The Justice League of America, The Fantastic Four, The X-Men, and The New Mutants—alongside late 20th century fan writing, cultural criticism, and political documents, Fawaz reveals how the American superhero modeled new forms of social belonging that counterculture youth would embrace in the 1960s and after. The New Mutants provides the first full-length study to consider the relationship between comic book fantasy and radical politics in the modern United States.

The Superhero Book

The Superhero Book
Author: Gina Misiroglu
Publisher: Visible Ink Press
Total Pages: 803
Release: 2012-04-01
Genre: Comics & Graphic Novels
ISBN: 1578593956
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The ultimate compendium to everyone’s favorite participants in the eternal battle between good and evil! Profiles of more than 1,000 mythic superheroes, icons, and their place in popular culture. Superhuman strength. Virtual invulnerability. Motivated to defend the world from criminals and madmen. Possessing a secret identity. And they even have fashion sense—they look great in long underwear and catsuits. These are the traits that define the quintessential superhero. Their appeal and media presence has never been greater, but what makes them tick? their strengths? weaknesses? secret identities and arch-enemies? The Superhero Book: The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Comic-Book Icons and Hollywood Heroes is the comprehensive guide to all those characters whose impossible feats have graced the pages of comic books for the past one hundred years. From the Golden and Silver Ages to the Bronze and Modern Ages, the best-loved and most historically significant superheroes—mainstream and counterculture, famous and forgotten, best and worst—are all here: The Avengers Batman and Robin Captain America Superman Wonder Woman Captain Marvel Spider-Man The Incredibles The Green Lantern Iron Man Catwoman Wolverine Aquaman Hellboy Elektra Spawn The Punisher Teen Titans The Justice League The Fantastic Four and hundreds of others. Unique in bringing together characters from Marvel, DC, and Dark Horse, as well as smaller independent houses, The Superhero Book covers the best-loved and historically significant superheroes across all mediums and guises, from comic book, movie, television, and graphic novels. With many photos and illustrations this fun, fact-filled tome is richly illustrated. A bibliography and extensive index add to its usefulness. It is the ultimate A-to-Z compendium of everyone's favorite superheroes, anti-heroes and their sidekicks, villains, love interests, superpowers, and modus operandi.

Death, Disability, and the Superhero

Death, Disability, and the Superhero
Author: José Alaniz
Publisher: Univ. Press of Mississippi
Total Pages: 553
Release: 2014-10-15
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1626743274
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The Thing. Daredevil. Captain Marvel. The Human Fly. Drawing on DC and Marvel comics from the 1950s to the 1990s and marshaling insights from three burgeoning fields of inquiry in the humanities--disability studies, death and dying studies, and comics studies--José Alaniz seeks to redefine the contemporary understanding of the superhero. Beginning in the Silver Age, the genre increasingly challenged and complicated its hypermasculine, quasi-eugenicist biases through such disabled figures as Ben Grimm/The Thing, Matt Murdock/Daredevil, and the Doom Patrol. Alaniz traces how the superhero became increasingly vulnerable, ill, and mortal in this era. He then proceeds to a reinterpretation of characters and series--some familiar (Superman), some obscure (She-Thing). These genre changes reflected a wider awareness of related body issues in the postwar United States as represented by hospice, death with dignity, and disability rights movements. The persistent highlighting of the body's "imperfection" comes to forge a predominant aspect of the superheroic self. Such moves, originally part of the Silver Age strategy to stimulate sympathy, enhance psychological depth, and raise the dramatic stakes, developed further in such later series as The Human Fly, Strikeforce: Morituri, and the landmark graphic novel The Death of Captain Marvel, all examined in this volume. Death and disability, presumed routinely absent or denied in the superhero genre, emerge to form a core theme and defining function of the Silver Age and beyond.