The Amazing Transforming Superhero!: Essays on the Revision of Characters in Comic Books, Film and Television

by Terrence R. Wandtke (Editor)

Overview

This collection of essays analyzes the many ways in which comic book and film superheroes have been revised or rewritten in response to changes in real-world politics, social mores, and popular culture. Among many topics covered are the jingoistic origin of Captain America in the wake of the McCarthy hearings, the post-World War II fantasy-feminist role of Wonder Woman, and the Nietzschean influences on the "sidekick revolt" in the 2004 film The Incredibles.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780786431892
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date:	06/05/2007
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	254
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.51(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Terrence R. Wandtke is a professor of literature and media studies at Judson University in Elgin, Illinois, where he teaches classes in comic books, graphic novels, visual art, and new media. He is the founder and director of the Imago Film Festival.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments     
Preface     
Introduction: Once Upon a Time Once Again     

PART I: SUPERHEROES IN THE GOLDEN AND SILVER AGES
Retconning America: Captain America in the Wake of World War II and the McCarthy Hearings     
Super-Girls and Mild Mannered Men: Gender Trouble in Metropolis     
From Jimmy Durante to Michael Chiklis: The Thing Comes Full Circle     

PART II: SUPERHEROES IN THE MODERN
Frank Miller Strikes Again and Batman Becomes a Postmodern Anti-Hero: The Tragi (Comic) Reformulation of the Dark Knight     
The “Transcreation” of a Mediated Myth: Spider-Man in India     
Warren Ellis Is the Future of Superhero Comics: How to Write Superhero Stories That Aren’t Superhero Stories     

PART III: SUPERHEROES IN THE MULTI-MEDIA
Wonder Woman as World War II Veteran, Camp Feminist Icon, and Male Sex Fantasy     
Smallville as a Rhetorical Means of Moral Value Education     
“Le Western Noir”: The Punisher as Revisionist Superhero Western     
The Nietzschean Influence in The Incredibles and the Sidekick Revolt     
Afterword: Conclusion to the Never-Ending Story(s)     

About the Contributors     
Index     

Editorial Reviews

scholarly...interesting”—School Library Journal; “enlightening”—Critical Mass.

From the Publisher

"enlightening"

Critical Mass

scholarly...interesting

School Library Journal