Superhero Comics

A complete guide to the history, form and contexts of the genre, Superhero Comics helps readers explore the most successful and familiar of comic book genres. In an accessible and easy-to-navigate format, the book reveals: The history of superhero comicsfrom mythic influences to 21st century evolutions Cultural contextsfrom the formative politics of colonialism, eugenics, KKK vigilantism, and WWII fascism to the Cold Wars transformative threat of mutually assured destruction to the on-going revolutions in African American and sexual representation Key textsfrom the earliest pre-Comics-Code Superman and Batman to the latest post-Code Ms. Marvel and Black Panther Approaches to visual analysisfrom layout norms to narrative structure to styles of abstraction