Oh my stars and garters .... fbi-spy has only gone and compiled some clobbering links to some holy supersmart papers so you can be the best there is at what you do. NOOOOO! OH YESSS! Do you recognize its authority now?
Academic Papers on the Superheroes theme
Superheroes and the Bush doctrine by D.A. Hassler-Forest
Narrative and politics in post--9/11 discourse: Although there are instances where the superhero figure lends itself to readings of contemporary culture, most narratives point to a problematic worldview where there is a nostalgic desire for the return of patriarchal values)
Superheroes on the Couch by Lawrence Rubin
Exploring Our Limits 'superheroes and psychotherapy have grown up together in a troubled culture that has continually looked simultaneously to the heavens and the couch for salvation'
Children's Attitudes Toward Superheroes as a Potential Indicator of Their Moral Understanding by Justin F. Martin
'there may be a relationship between how children feel about themselves and how they feel about superheroes'
Queering Super-Manhood by Rob Lendrum
Superhero Masculinity, Camp and Public Relations as a Textual Framework
Who Saves the Animated World? by Kaysee Baker
The Sex-Role Stereotyping of Superheroes and Superheroines in Children’s Animated Programs
Super Hero Comics Fandom and Psychosocial Identity Construction in Late Modernity by Patricia Gerakopoulou
'Readership choices are thought to be a psycho - social investment on the way to the adulthood and to identity construction and also a significant code which can reveal not only the meaning of the personal development, but
also the reader’s perception of the Zeitgeist'
Suffering and Seriality by Martyn Pedler
Memory, Continuity and Trauma in Monthly Superhero Adventures
'Just as with TV soaps, there’s no final moment, no point to breathe, look back, and see the totality of the text'
Superhero Comics and the Popular Geopolitics of American Identity by Mervi Miettinen
Black Superhero Masculinity in 1970s Mainstream Comic Books by Robert Lendrum
American Masculinity in Crisis: Trauma and Superhero Blockbusters by Lizabeth Mason
'Superhero films of the 2008 season provided representations of masculinity in crisis through narratives concerned with trauma'
Comic Book Masculinity and the New Black Superhero by Jeffrey A. Brown
'the split personality implied by the concept of a masquerade seems to be one of the most archetypal metaphors for the masculine condition in Western culture'
“No Capes!” Über Fashion and How “Luck Favours the Prepared” by Vicki Karaminas
Constructing Contemporary Superhero Identities in American Popular Culture
'Since the emergence of comics in the 1930s as a distinct entertainment medium in American popular culture, the superhero wardrobe has been communicating narratives through a combination of text and sequential illustration that functions within an aesthetic vocabulary of coded symbolism.'
X-Bodies: The Torment of the Mutant Superhero by Bukataman
'Superhero bodies are mysterious, invested with magical abilities and a metamorphic pliability'
Batman Crucified: Religion and Modern Superhero Comic Books by Bruce David Forbes
'religion [has a] continuing role in providing resources for people engaged in quests for meaning or caught in struggles of good and evil'
Superhero Comics as Moral Pornography by David A. Pizarro and Roy Baumeister
'superhero comics, like other moralistic tales, are popular in part because they satisfy a basic human motivation: the motivation to divide the social world into good people and bad, and to morally praise and condemn them accordingly'
| Interesting Articles
Bradford Batman is not alone: the real-life superheroes watching over you
This caped crusader is one of hundreds. By day they're chefs, bankers, baristas. By night they're costumed fighters of injustice READ ON
The Real Problem With Superman's New Writer Isn't Bigotry, It's Fascism
Orson Scott Card's anti-gay beliefs would do more than contradict the Man of Steel's inherent goodness READ ON
Super Power Fantasies
In his book Do The Gods Wear Capes?, Saunders argues that Superman is a "moral agent who acts always out of his commitment to 'the good.'" It isn't superstrength or superkissing which makes Superman what he is; it is super-goodness READ ON
Flaws Found in Fredric Wertham’s Comic-Book Studies
Wertham, a German-born American psychiatrist, stirred a national furor and helped create a blueprint for contemporary cultural panics in 1954 with the publication of his book “Seduction of the Innocent,” which attacked comic books for corrupting the minds of young readers READ ON
Death in Graphic Novels
Death is not an easy topic to explore, but when text is expanded by the graphic form, authors and artists find new ways to address the most fundamental of human experiences: coming to terms with mortality READ ON
All-Female X-Men Team Highlights Marvel Support of Women in Comics
At a time when so many are standing up to speak about a lack of well-developed female lead characters in various geekdoms, Marvel has been actively addressing that absence READ ON
What are superhero movies really all about?
'Almost never do superheroes make, create, or build anything. The villains, in contrast, are endlessly creative' READ ON
Beyond superheroes: how creators can own comics
Laura Sneddon talks to Tim Seeley, David Hine, David Mack, and David Lloyd about the possibilities steering clear of Marvel and DC affords READ ON
They Call Me ... Bruce? When Characters Outlive Their Names
Bruce Wayne is only one of the many characters whose name makes him seem perhaps a little older than he is READ ON
Superman, Man of Steel: a superhero's life in pictures
Some classic pictures of the superhero from Krypton – from comic-book drawings to hit TV show Smallville, and many more along the way READ ON
The Shifting Lines of Moral Force Why do costumed superheroes suddenly have complex interiority: family backgrounds, ambivalence, moral crises, self-doubt and even explicit political motivation? READ ON
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Revealing Superman’s Real-Life Identity
Years before Superman could be easily spotted in the sky among the birds and planes — or in motion pictures, or on billboards or lunchboxes or the many other pop-cultural artifacts he now occupies — his co-creator Joe Shuster met him in person on the street READ ON
Tarzan Centennial [PHOTOS] VIEW
Who Are Those Masked Men?
Eidrigevicius's masks are extensions of the macabre two-dimensional images from his native folklore and are cut with a sometimes chilling surrealism READ ON
My Favorite Superman Story: When Jimmy Olsen Created Beatlemania READ ON
An anti-hero of one's own - Tim Adams TED Talk FILM
10 Things You Might Not Know About Tarzan
Edgar Rice Burroughs expert Scott Tracy Griffin has collected an enormous, glossy volume filled with rare art, movie stills, and insights on every corner of the Tarzan universe READ ON
Man of Steel?
Underwear of Steel More Like READ ON
Michael Wilkinson
Discusses Costume Design in Man of Steel READ ON
The Myth of the Cowboy
How did the lone cowboy hero become such a potent figure in American culture? In an extract from his final book Fractured Times, the late Eric Hobsbawm follows a trail from cheap novels and B-westerns to Ronald Reagan READ ON
Why is Superman still so popular?
Why the Superman story retains such power after more than 70 years READ ON
Superheroes Sporting Awesome Moustaches READ ON
The Archetype of The Eternal Wanderer
'whether directly inspired by, or drawing from that same archetype, fantasy authors have taken the concept of the Eternal Wanderer and run with it' READ ON
Webs of Significance
The real-life superhero movement represents a profound way in which the “model for” aspect of superhero mythology has manifested, and suggests new areas of study in the field of religion and popular culture READ ON
