Table of Contents
List of Figures
Acknowledgments
Part I: "That’s the Problem with You Readers, You Know All the Plots": Time, Genre and Narration
1. Comic Book Superheroes: An Introduction
Angela Ndalianis
2. ‘Just Men in Tights’: Rewriting Silver Age Comics in an Era of Multiplicity
Henry Jenkins
3. The Time of Heroes: Narrative, Progress and Eternity in Miracleman
Paul Atkinson
4. ‘Worlds Within Worlds’: The Role of Superheroes in the Marvel and DC Universes
Jason Bainbridge
5. Baroque Mutants in the 21st Century? Re-thinking Genre through the Superhero
Saige Walton
Part II: "We act normal, mom! I want to be normal!": Superbodies, Identities and Fans
6. Secret Identity Politics
Scott Bukatman
7. The Superhero as Labor: The Secret Corporate Identity
Greg M. Smith
8. When Fangirls Perform: The Gendered Fan Identity in Superhero Comics Fandom
Karen Healey
9. Recruiting an Amazon: The Collision of Old World Ideology and New World Identity in Wonder Woman
Clare Pitkethly
10. ‘Oy Gevalt!’: A Peek at the Development of Jewish Superheroines
Jennifer Dowling
Part III: "I’m Just a Puppet Who Can See the Strings": Revisions, Retellings and Auteurs
11. Entering the Green: Imaginal Space in Black Orchid
Sallye Sheppeard
12. The Mild-Mannered Reporter: How Clark Kent Surpassed Superman
Vanessa Russell
13. It’s a Jungle in Here: Animal Man, Continuity Issues and the Authorial Death Drive
Steven Zani
14. Morrison’s Muscle Mystery versus Everyday Reality ... and Other Parallel Worlds!
Martyn Pedler
15. Enter the Aleph: Superhero Worlds and Hypertime Realities
Angela Ndalianis
List of Contributors
Index