Catalogue Search | MBRL
Are you sure you want to remove the book from the shelf?
{{itemTitle}}
57
result(s) for
"Heroes -- Comic books, strips, etc. -- History and criticism"
Sort by:
Do the gods wear capes? : spirituality, fantasy, and superheroes
Brash, bold, and sometimes brutal, superheroes might seem to epitomize modern pop-culture at its most melodramatic and mindless.But according to Ben Saunders, the appeal of the superhero is fundamentally metaphysical - even spiritual - in nature.
eBook
Superheroes! : the history of a pop-culture phenomenon from Ant-Man to Zorro
\"Superheroes! is the ultimate reference book about the men and women in tights who fight for what's right and the comic book phenomenon that conquered the world\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
Super Bodies
An examination of the art in superhero comics and how
style influences comic narratives. For many, the idea of
comic book art implies simplistic four-color renderings of stiff
characters slugging it out. In fact, modern superhero comic books
showcase a range of complex artistic styles, with diverse
connotations. Leading comics scholar Jeffrey A. Brown assesses six
distinct approaches to superhero illustration-idealism, realism,
cute, retro, grotesque, and noir-examining how each visually
represents the superhero as a symbolic construct freighted with
meaning.
Whereas comic book studies tend to focus on text and narrative,
Super Bodies gives overdue credit to the artwork, which is
not only a principal source of the appeal of comic books but also
central to the values these works embody. Brown argues that
superheroes are to be taken not as representations of people but as
iconic types, and the art conveys this. Even the most realistic
comic illustrations are designed to suggest not persons but
ideas-ideas about bodies and societies. Thus the appearance of
superheroes both directly and indirectly influences the story being
told as well as the opinions readers form concerning justice,
authority, gender, puberty, sexuality, ethnicity, violence, and
other concepts central to political and cultural life.
eBook
Comic Book Women
The history of comics has centered almost exclusively on men.
Comics historians largely describe the medium as one built by men
telling tales about male protagonists, neglecting the many ways in
which women fought for legitimacy on the page and in publishers'
studios. Despite this male-dominated focus, women played vital
roles in the early history of comics. The story of how comic books
were born and how they evolved changes dramatically when women like
June Tarpé Mills and Lily Renée are placed at the center rather
than at the margins of this history, and when characters such as
the Black Cat, Patsy Walker, and Señorita Rio are analyzed.
Comic Book Women offers a feminist history of the
golden age of comics, revising our understanding of how numerous
genres emerged and upending narratives of how male auteurs built
their careers. Considering issues of race, gender, and sexuality,
the authors examine crime, horror, jungle, romance, science
fiction, superhero, and Western comics to unpack the cultural and
industrial consequences of how women were represented across a wide
range of titles by publishers like DC, Timely, Fiction House, and
others. This revisionist history reclaims the forgotten work done
by women in the comics industry and reinserts female creators and
characters into the canon of comics history.
eBook
Superwomen : gender, power, and representation
\"Explores the production, representation, and reception of prominent female superheroes in mainstream superhero comics, television shows, and films\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
Bending steel : modernity and the American superhero
“Faster than a speeding bullet. More powerful than a locomotive. Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound . . . It’s Superman!” Bending Steel examines the historical origins and cultural significance of Superman and his fellow American crusaders. Cultural historian Aldo J. Regalado asserts that the superhero seems a direct response to modernity, often fighting the interrelated processes of industrialization, urbanization, immigration, and capitalism that transformed the United States from the early nineteenth century to the present. Reeling from these exciting but rapid and destabilizing forces, Americans turned to heroic fiction as a means of explaining national and personal identities to themselves and to the world. In so doing, they created characters and stories that sometimes affirmed, but other times subverted conventional notions of race, class, gender, and nationalism.
The cultural conversation articulated through the nation’s early heroic fiction eventually led to a new heroic type—the brightly clad, super-powered, pro-social action heroes that first appeared in American comic books starting in the late 1930s. Although indelibly shaped by the Great Depression and World War II sensibilities of the second-generation immigrants most responsible for their creation, comic book superheroes remain a mainstay of American popular culture.
Tracing superhero fiction all the way back to the nineteenth century, Regalado firmly bases his analysis of dime novels, pulp fiction, and comics in historical, biographical, and reader response sources. He explores the roles played by creators, producers, and consumers in crafting superhero fiction, ultimately concluding that these narratives are essential for understanding vital trajectories in American culture.
eBook
What is the story of Wonder Woman?
\"Your favorite characters are now part of the Who HQ library! Wonder Woman--DC Comics' greatest female superhero--flies onto our What Is the Story Of? list. She is a founding member of the Justice League, a goddess, and an ambassador of the Amazonian people. Wonder Woman burst onto the comic book scene during World War II. For more than seventy years, she has been fighting for equality, power, and truth with her lasso of truth in one hand and her sword in the other. Author Steve Kortâe shares the story of how one of the first and foremost superheroines was created, and how she came to be such a powerful feminist icon\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
Enter the superheroes
Ever since the first appearances of Superman and Batman in comic books of the late 1930s, superheroes have been a staple of the popular culture landscape. Though initially created for younger audiences, superhero characters have evolved over the years, becoming complex figures that appeal to more sophisticated readers. While superhero stories have grown ever more popular within broader society, however, comics and graphic novels have been largely ignored by the world of academia. In Enter the Superheroes:American Values, Culture, and the Canon of Superhero Literature, Alex S. Romagnoli and Gian S. Pagnucci argue that superheroes merit serious study, both within the academy and beyond. By examining the kinds of graphic novels that are embraced by the academy, this book explains how superhero stories are just as significant. Structured around key themes within superhero literature, the book delves into the features that make superhero stories a unique genre. The book also draws upon examples in comics and other media to illustrate the sociohistorical importance of superheroes—from the interplay of fans and creators to unique narrative elements that are brought to their richest fulfillment within the world of superheroes. A list of noteworthy superhero texts that readers can look to for future study is also provided. In addition to exploring the important roles that superheroes play in children’s learning, the book also offers an excellent starting point for discussions of how literature is evolving and why it is necessary to expand the traditional realms of literary study. Enter the Superheroes will be of particular interest to English and composition teachers but also to scholars of popular culture and fans of superhero and comic book literature.
eBook