Research Catalog

Title

Super heroes : a modern mythology / Richard Reynolds.

Author

Reynolds, Richard

Publication

Jackson : University Press of Mississippi, 1994.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

134 p. : ill.; 25 cm.

Summary

• The popular figure known as the superhero has exerted such a strong and mushrooming influence upon society, morality, and politics that a mythology now pervades modern culture. This phenomenon, begun in the 1930s, has its roots in comic books. In recent times the extremely successful movies Superman and Batman have accented the prominence of this cultural symbol and have made these two individual comic book superheroes as familiar worldwide as any characters ever created. Yet relatively few modern aficionados know them at first hand from their appearances in comic books.
• In Super Heroes: A Modern Mythology this creation for the comic book genre is revealed as a proliferating symbol whose dimensions over sixty years of comic book history have been rendered to satisfy the demands and expectations of the popular audience. Here, drawn from the celebrated story detailing Superman's origins, are the seven "laws" or "governing codes" that are the core of superhero mythology. And here, too, the most influential and paradigmatic examples of superheroes are represented in a study of three comic books in the genre - The X-Men, The Dark Knight Returns, and Watchman.
• This fascinating book analyzing the import of the superhero in modern world will have special appeal for students of popular culture. In blending academic scholarship with specialized knowledge of the comics medium, this study reveals how comics mythologize the role of the hero and the nature of consensus, authority, and moral choice.

Series Statement

Studies in popular culture

Uniform Title

Studies in popular culture (Jackson, Miss.)

Subject

• Comic books, strips, etc. > United States > History and criticism
• Heroes > United States

Genre/Form

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Note

• Originally published: London : B.T. Batsford, c1992. (Batsford cultural studies)

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. [125]-126) and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

Masked heroes -- Costumed continuity -- Decipering the myths: Explicity mythology: Thor. 'Atonement with the father': Superman. 'Angry all your life': Batman. 'Living in the new Middle Ages'. -- Three key texts: X-men 108-143. The Dark Knight returns. Watchmen -- Epilogue.

ISBN

• 0878056939 (cloth)
• 9780878056934 (cloth)
• 0878056947 (paper)
• 9780878056941 (paper)

LCCN

^^^93048411^

OCLC

• 29596432
• SCSB-11787374

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library