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An eye-opening exploration of the relationship between racial attitudes and the evolution of the superhero in America, from Superman's debut in 1938 through the Civil Rights era and contemporary reinventions.
List of contents
- List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction: Into the “Gutters”
- 1. “World’s Finest”? The Wartime Superhero and Race, 1941–1945
- 2. Struggling for Social Relevance: DC, Marvel, and the Cold War, 1945–1965
- 3. “We’re All Brothers!”: The Ideal of Liberal Brotherhood in the 1960s and 1970s
- 4. Guess Who’s Coming to Save You? The Rise of the Ethnic Superhero in the 1960s and 1970s
- 5. “Something for Everyone”: The Superteam in the Age of Multiculturalism, 1975–1996
- 6. Replacement Heroes and the Quest for Inclusion, 1985–2011
- 7. Something Old, Something New: Heroes Reborn and Reimagined, 1990–2015
- Coda: Born Again (and Again and Again .¿.¿. and Again and Again .¿.¿.)
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
About the author
Allan W. Austin is a professor of history at Misericordia University. He is the author of two previous books,
Quaker Brotherhood: Interracial Activism and the American Friends Service Committee, 1917–1950 and
From Concentration Camp to Campus: Japanese American Students and World War II. In addition, he served as co-editor of
Asian American History and Culture: An Encyclopedia and
Space and Time: Essays on Visions of History in Science Fiction and Fantasy Television.
Patrick L. Hamilton is an associate professor of English at Misericordia University. He is the author of
Of Space and Mind: Cognitive Mappings of Contemporary Chicano/a Fiction. He has also published on
Los Bros Hernandez,
The Walking Dead, and
Westworld.
Summary
An eye-opening exploration of the relationship between racial attitudes and the evolution of the superhero in America, from Superman’s debut in 1938 through the Civil Rights era and contemporary reinventions.
