The Evolution of the Costumed Avenger: The 4,000-Year History of the Superhero
400
The Evolution of the Costumed Avenger: The 4,000-Year History of the Superhero
400eBook
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Overview
How has the concept of the superhero developed over time? How has humanity's idealization of heroes with superhuman powers changed across millennia—and what superhero themes remain constant? Why does the idea of a superhero remain so powerful and relevant in the modern context, when our real-life technological capabilities arguably surpass the imagined superpowers of superheroes of the past? The Evolution of the Costumed Avenger: The 4,000-Year History of the Superhero is the first complete history of superheroes that thoroughly traces the development of superheroes, from their beginning in 2100 B.C.E. with the Epic of Gilgamesh to their fully entrenched status in modern pop culture and the comic book and graphic novel worlds.
The book documents how the two modern superhero archetypes—the Costumed Avengers and the superhuman Supermen—can be traced back more than two centuries; turbans a critical, evaluative eye upon the post-Superman history of the superhero; and shows how modern superheroes were created and influenced by sources as various as Egyptian poems, biblical heroes, medieval epics, Elizabethan urban legends, Jacobean masques, Gothic novels, dime novels, the Molly Maguires, the Ku Klux Klan, and pulp magazines. This work serves undergraduate or graduate students writing papers, professors or independent scholars, and anyone interested in learning about superheroes.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781440854842 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | ABC-CLIO, Incorporated |
| Publication date: | 01/30/2017 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 400 |
| File size: | 777 KB |
About the Author
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction xiii
Chapter 1 Operating Premises 1
The Problem of, and with, Definitions 1
Raglan, Rank, and Campbell 2
21st-Century Attempts at Definition 4
A More Useful Approach 6
Heroenkonzepte 7
Gods and Epic Heroes, and What They Are Not 9
The "Superhero Genre" 10
The Two Categories of Protosuperheroes 12
Who Gets Left Out 13
Chapter 2 From 2100 BCE to 1500 CE 15
Hazy Beginnings 16
The First of Gilgamesh 17
The First Protosuperhero-Not Who You Think 17
Egyptian Mythology and Poems 19
Samson and the Wild Men 21
The "Heroes" of Greek Mythology 23
Nectanebo II 28
Aeneas 30
The Noble and Just Latrones 31
Alexander the Legend 33
Beowulf, the Thor-Wolf 34
Roland the Martyr 36
Medieval Heroes 39
The Cid 41
The Matter of Arthur 42
Medieval Outlaws 48
Robin Hood 49
Conclusion 51
Chapter 3 From 1500 to 1829 53
Orlando Furioso the Best Seller and Its Forerunners 54
Heroic Sorcerers and Heavenly Necromancers 56
Merlin the Secondary 56
Virgil the Necromancer 57
Maugis/Malagigi and His Heirs 58
Michael Scot 60
John Dee 61
Stage Magicians 62
Faustus 63
Gothic Ambiguities 64
Superheroines Avant la Lettre 66
The Early Female Knight 67
16th- and 17th-Century Warrior Women 68
The Faerie Queene 70
Descendants of Talos 72
Long Meg of Westminster 75
Moll Cutpurse 77
Heroic Highwaymen 78
Masked Conspirators 80
The Hero-Villain 82
The Venetian Batman 83
Martinette de Beauvais 84
The Scottish Superman 86
This Man, This Monster 87
John Melmoth 88
Conclusion 89
Chapter 4 Victorian Costumed Avengers 91
Masked Untermenschen: Threat or Menace 91
The Master Detectives 94
A Truly Dangerous Hero 97
The Superhuman Superhero 99
The Dual-Identity Costumed Vigilante 101
The Hidden Master 102
The Man of Extraordinary Capabilities 104
The First Series Heroes 105
Spring-Heeled Jack 107
The Man of Extraordinary Capabilities Redux 108
Penny Vigilantes 110
Dime Vigilantes 112
Cowboy Vigilantes 113
Lady Detectives 115
Lady Jaguar 116
The Man in the Black Cloak 117
Nick Carter 118
John Amend-All 120
Conclusion 121
Chapter 5 Victorian Supermen 123
Monsters 123
Villains 127
The Gray Champion 130
Artificial Beings 131
Rosicrucians and Theosophists 134
Dime Novel Supermen 136
Psychic Heroes 138
Science Fiction Supermen 140
Conclusion 142
Chapter 6 Costumed Avengers, 1901-1938 145
The Carter Effect 145
Immigrants and Foreign Influences 146
The Lupins 148
The Scarlet Pimpernel 150
The Klan 152
Films 154
Zorro 155
The Pulps 157
Westerns 159
Nonstandard Sources 160
Killer Vigilantes 161
Air Aces 163
The Fabulous Four 164
Comic Strips 167
Domino Lady 168
Conclusion 170
Chapter 7 Supermen, 1901-1938 171
Victorian Holdovers 171
Physical Culture and Eugen Sandow 172
Origin Stories 174
Mysteries 175
Yellow Perils 177
Lost Races and Utopias 179
Evolutionary Predecessors 180
Science Fiction's Supermen 182
Occult Detectives 184
Artificial Supermen 186
The Men of 40 Faces 187
John Carter 189
Cinematic Supermen 191
The Night Wind 192
Superwomen 194
Westerns 196
Eugenics and the Backlash 198
Spawn of the Depression 201
Pulp Supermen 203
Outside the Pulps 205
Conclusion 207
Chapter 8 Comics' Early Years 209
The New Medium 209
Prologue to Superman 210
The Last Son of Krypton 213
Eleven Months of Silence and Echoes 215
Four Months of Chill 216
A Fantastic Seven Months 217
The Boom of 1940 222
1941 228
Conclusion 232
Chapter 9 Ages upon Ages 235
The Golden Age: 1935-1949 235
The Atomic Age: 1949-1956 242
The Silver Age: 1956-1970 248
The Bronze Age: 1970-1985 257
The Modern Age: 1986-2001 264
The Metamodern Age: 2001-2015 270
Chapter 10 Television and Film 277
Epilogue 285
Appendix 289
Notes 295
Selected Bibliography 347
Index 385
What People are Saying About This
"Another remarkable work from Jess Nevins, exposing and exploring the roots of the forms of weird adventure fiction that continue to dominate 21st-century culture. Essential archaeology."
"As always, Jess Nevins is the ultimate historical source for pulp fiction. This book is like if Encyclopedia Brown had grown up obsessed with superheroes and made the ultimate guide to them."
"A deep and fascinating dive into the origins of the superhero. Everything you could want to know about the roots of the genre, delving back into myth, folklore, epic poetry, pulp fiction, and more, exhaustively researched and organized. A dream book for anyone interested in superhero history—this is a book I’ll find myself consulting again and again."