Superevil. Villains in Silver Age Superhero Comics
Superevil. Villains in Silver Age Superhero Comics

Author: Anke Marie Bock

Publisher: Logos Verlag Berlin GmbH

Published: 2023-10-18

Total Pages: 316

ISBN-13: 3832556931

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Superevil: Villains in Silver Age Superhero Comics sheds light on the often-disregarded supervillains in the American superhero comic of the 1960s. From Loki to Killmonger – they all possess famous cinematic counterparts, yet it is their comic origin that this study examines. Not only did The Silver Age produce countless superheroes and supervillains who have conquered the screens in the last two decades, but it also created complex villains. Silver Age supervillains were, as the analyses in Superevil show, the main and only means to include political and societal criticism in a cultural product, which suffered from censorship and belittlement. Instead of focusing on the superheroes once more, Anke Marie Bock pioneers in putting the supervillain as such in the center of the attention. In addition to addressing the tendency to neglect villains in superhero-comic studies, revealing many important functions the supervillains fulfill, among them criticizing Cold War politics, racism, gender roles and the often unquestioned binary of good and evil on the examples of i.a. The Fantastic Four, Spider-Man and Black Panther comics.

Analyzing the Marvel Universe
Analyzing the Marvel Universe

Author: Douglas Brode

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2024-11-01

Total Pages: 252

ISBN-13: 1476654646

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Marvel, like other media "universes," is a collection of highly profitable and audience-satisfying products that exist not only as individual items of popular culture but coalesce to form a unique and all-encompassing identity. Within media studies, elements of popular culture once dismissed as low-brow entertainment are now studied with the seriousness that has always been afforded classics like Shakespeare's plays and ancient myth. Indeed, DC and Marvel might be thought of as competing myth systems. This book is a collection of diverse essays covering all aspects of the Marvel Universe, from in-print graphic novels to film and television variations. Contributors present in-depth, original and inclusive interpretations of numerous individual elements of Marvel, including analysis of key characters, themes and aesthetic elements. They also offer a vision of the essential "meaning" of Marvel, including aspects that set it apart from the DC Universe and other media. Individual readings apply feminist, ethnic, and queer theory, among others, and deal with the lesser known aspects of Marvel's offerings in order to provide the definitive collection on this subject. Beginning with an introduction by the editor that provides a complete overview of the Marvel canon, this book offers the broadest and most in-depth collection on the subject to date.

Seduction of the Innocent
Seduction of the Innocent

Author: Fredric Wertham

Publisher: Main Road Books

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781596830004

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Dr. Wertham was senior psychiatrist for the Department of Hospitals in New York City. This book, thoroughly documented by facts and cases, gives the substance of Dr. Wertham's expert opinion on the effects that comic books have on the minds and behavior of children who come in contact with them. Reprint of the 1954 edition with a new comprehensive Introduction by James E. Reibman, Ph.D.

The Mythology of the Superhero
The Mythology of the Superhero

Author: Andrew R. Bahlmann

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2016-04-27

Total Pages: 214

ISBN-13: 1476662487

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Superheroes have been an integral part of popular society for decades and have given rise to a collective mythology familiar in popular culture worldwide. Though scholars and fans have recognized and commented on this mythology, its structure has gone largely unexplored. This book provides a model and lexicon for identifying the superhero mythos. The author examines the myth in several narratives--including Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Green Arrow and Beowulf--and discusses such diverse characters as Batman, Wolverine, Invincible and John Constantine.

Superhero Thought Experiments
Superhero Thought Experiments

Author: Chris Gavaler

Publisher: University of Iowa Press

Published: 2019-09-15

Total Pages: 232

ISBN-13: 1609386558

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Examining the deep philosophical topics addressed in superhero comics, authors Gavaler and Goldberg read plot lines for the complex thought experiments they contain and analyze their implications as if the comic authors were philosophers. Reading superhero comic books through a philosophical lens reveals how they experiment with complex issues of morality, metaphysics, meaning, and medium. Given comics’ ubiquity and influence directly on (especially young) readers—and indirectly on consumers of superhero movies and video games—understanding these deeper meanings is in many ways essential to understanding contemporary popular culture. The result is an entertaining and enlightening look at superhero dilemmas.

Comic Books and the Cold War, 1946-1962
Comic Books and the Cold War, 1946-1962

Author: Chris York

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2014-01-10

Total Pages: 233

ISBN-13: 0786489472

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Conventional wisdom holds that comic books of the post-World War II era are poorly drawn and poorly written publications, notable only for the furor they raised. Contributors to this thoughtful collection, however, demonstrate that these comics constitute complex cultural documents that create a dialogue between mainstream values and alternative beliefs that question or complicate the grand narratives of the era. Close analysis of individual titles, including EC comics, Superman, romance comics, and other, more obscure works, reveals the ways Cold War culture--from atomic anxieties and the nuclear family to communist hysteria and social inequalities--manifests itself in the comic books of the era. By illuminating the complexities of mid-century graphic novels, this study demonstrates that postwar popular culture was far from monolithic in its representation of American values and beliefs.

75 Years of DC Comics
75 Years of DC Comics

Author: Paul Levitz

Publisher:

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 720

ISBN-13: 9783836554565

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Publisher of Batman, Superman, Wonder woman, Green Lantern, the Flash and so many more heroes and superheroes, this is the most comprehensive book about DC Comics.

Super-History
Super-History

Author: Jeffrey K. Johnson

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2012-04-03

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780786465644

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In the less than eight decades since Superman's debut in 1938, comic book superheroes have become an indispensable part of American society and the nation's dominant mythology. They represent America's hopes, dreams, fears, and needs. As a form of popular literature, superhero narratives have closely mirrored trends and events in the nation. This study views American history from 1938 to 2010 through the lens of superhero comics, revealing the spandex-clad guardians to be not only fictional characters but barometers of the place and time in which they reside. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

In Lonely Places
In Lonely Places

Author: Imogen Sara Smith

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2014-01-10

Total Pages: 257

ISBN-13: 0786489081

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Although film noir is traditionally associated with the mean streets of the Dark City, this volume explores the genre from a new angle, focusing on non-urban settings. Through detailed readings of more than 100 films set in suburbs, small towns, on the road, in the desert, borderlands and the vast, empty West, the author investigates the alienation expressed by film noir, pinpointing its motivation in the conflict between desires for escape, autonomy and freedom--and fears of loneliness, exile and dissolution. Through such films as Out of the Past, They Live by Night and A Touch of Evil, this critical study examines how film noir reflected radical changes in the physical and social landscapes of postwar America, defining the genre's contribution to the eternal debate between the values of individualism and community.

The Noir Forties
The Noir Forties

Author: Richard Lingeman

Publisher: Nation Books

Published: 2012-12-04

Total Pages: 434

ISBN-13: 1568584369

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Examines the social, political and popular culture of America in the period between VJ Day and the start of the Korean War, discussing the country's anxieties and insecurities at the onset of the Red Scare and the Cold War. 15,000 first printing.