For my superscholars from last Fall who are interested, the Communication Studies Department is hosting a “New Voices, New Perspectives” Student Conference this spring March 9-10, 2012. If interested in participating on a Superhero Scholarship panel, just shoot me an e-mail with a sassy title, a brief 4 or 5 sentence abstract explaining what text you examined and methods or critical concepts used, and your e-mail then I’ll submit the panel. I need to have your title/abstract by Monday-ish so jump on it!

Once I have a roster of participating superscholars, we’ll plan a get-together Pow-Wow to discuss conference presentation strategy and what to expect! It’ll be a fun show-and-tell session for your superscholarship!

But for those nonacademics who want to succeed in business, read comics!

A pretty interesting tête-à-tête at Bleeding Cool on politically Liberal storylines hurting comics sales versus the Conservative tendencies of the genre. Although both authors seem to be arguing past the other, it certainly raises recurring questions over conflicted political ideologies within superhero comics. To me, the more intriguing rhetorical issue of such sweeping metacritiques is that the argument often misses a more important point about shallow stereotypes made by ‘The Comics Professor‘ (a contributor to the Blackwell ‘Philosophy and Popular Culture’ series):

“Furthermore, it contributes to the perception that our political affiliations define us. If Superhero A is conservative and Superhero B is liberal, many people will take those facts to determine much more about their characters than seems appropriate. There’s a lot of room for widely different types of liberals and conservatives in this world (not to mention all the people who reject both labels). And I like to believe that most liberals and conservatives (excluding the ones on the extreme fringe of each group) have more in common than not.”

We’ve examined several instances of presumed ‘political bias‘ in superhero comics and characters on numerous occasions, positing that such mythic American tensions are precisely why these politically-charged fantasies matter still.

Wishing everyone Happy Holidays, a Merry Christmas, and a prosperous New Year! The MYTHIC RHETORIC OF THE AMERICAN SUPERHERO course will be offered again at UNT in the summer of 2012!

What, no superheroes for Hanukkah, Winter Solstice, Sankranti, Kwanzaa, or Eid-al-Adha? Darn you again, hegemony.

As we end the course, and reflect upon materials covered since the midterm exam, answer one of the following questions in 4-5 single-spaced pages *or* answer both in 2-3 single-spaced pages *each*.  A heading should identify yourself and the course, COMM 4849 Superhero Mythos. Please make sure your answers are typed, spell-checked, grammar-checked, and draw upon specific concepts and readings from the course.

1.  Use readings from either race, class, or gender to identify at least 3 key concepts from that unit and illustrate them using examples from graphic novels you’ve read for the course.  How are those 3 concepts defined and what examples illustrate them?

2.  How would you answer the question, “What can we learn from studying superheroes?”  Which top 3 books or articles help make the case that superhero comics have something important to teach us about American cultural identity, social issues, and conflicting mythic values?

Your short-answer essay answers are due via e-mail by Thursday Dec. 15 before 12noon. And don’t forget to log into your MyUNT account to complete the SETE evaluations! After that, have a super holiday break!

World's Greatest Detective?

That’s right, superscholars, it’s the last week of class! We’ll be reflecting upon lessons learned from the semester, playing show-and-tell with your selections for the final paper’s analysis of a graphic novel, and discussing the main themes of your final exam: What can we learn from superheroes?

Our post-midterm genealogy of the SuperAntihero culminates in a look at post-9/11 superheroes and their thorny cultural and socio-political issues. As we continue to reflect upon Marvel’s CIVIL WAR storyline (and aftermath), we will also be examining Grant Morrison’s award-winning and critically acclaimed run on ALL-STAR SUPERMAN to discuss “Does Superman still matter?” (some of my thoughts are here about Kal-El refuting superkillers like AzBats).  Meanwhile, we will also be looking ahead to your final paper’s analysis of a graphic novel!

Also: Superman’s evolving looks, reading too much into Batman (and other weirdness), Action Comics #1 breaks records, The Avengers poster gets gender-flipped, Superman‘s movie make-over, and the evolution of monsters!

Marvel’s epic crossover event CIVIL WAR will inform this week’s explorations into post-9/11 politics and issues animating superhero comics. It’s a free-for-all as we seek answers to: Whose side are you on?

“The failures and successes alike show that if comics are to succeed as modern political allegory, comics writers cannot simply transplant real controversies into their fictional worlds. They also face the daunting task of inventing a grammar and a vocabulary for a new sort of superhero narrative — one capable of telling us that, sometimes, great power comes with the responsibility to NOT use it.”

#OccupyTreatsOffice struck on Nov. 7

Bonus Material: strangely prescient conversation between Daredevil and Captain America from Daredevil #283 (August 1990)… and memes a’plenty!

The troubled history of the African-American “Black Superhero” is our focus this week, since it draws attention to the persistent problems in racial representations for comics minorities.  Milestone Comics‘ superman in ICON: A HERO”S WELCOME will be discussed as a tragically-brief success for the African-American superhero amidst the ‘norm’ of Whiteness in comics.

Meanwhile: Holy Hypocrisy! Comics legend Frank Miller goes off and then gets called out by the comics community because of #OccupyWallStreet comments!

Yep, #OccupyWallStreet has its own superheroes joining the fight for truth, justice, and a more equitable American Way… among other things. And other superheroes get in on the action-oriented political issues and opinions!

The new Batwoman returns with a difference...

With their secret identities and flair for drag performances, superheroes have always been a bit queer in their subtexts (or overt commentary) for homosexual social issues (perhaps a legacy of the Marvel Age). This week’s selections of readings explores the homoerotics and homophobia that haunts these comic book crusaders. The history of GLBTQ superheroes is as problematic as all mediated depictions of minorities, but perhaps doubly so since the lines between gay and straight blur when contemplating the inherent Gender Troubles of representation (even Ultimate Spider-Man isn’t immune to predictable homophobic hysterics).

This week’s comic is BATWOMAN: ELEGY, which sparked both controversy and triumph in it’s groundbreaking ‘mainstream’ success of featuring a gay superheroine. Batwoman’s history is as checkered as one might expect, but Greg Rucka’s bold storytelling has proven wildly successful. Explains Rucka:

“Kate Kane is her own person. She’s got a distinct personal tragedy, as is requisite to wear the mantel of the bat. You have to go through some personal hell to decide that you want to put a bat on your chest and beat people up at night – that you’re beating people up at night other than the reason that you get off on it. I’ve said this before, and you’ll see it early on – for everybody else, when they put on a Bat costume, it’s a costume. For Kate, it’s a uniform. That influences everything she does, and it tells you volumes about her…. You know, nobody wants to read, and we certainly didn’t want to write an after school special. But as you’ll see in the origin, there is a moment when she has to pay a huge price for the fact that she is gay. She has to sacrifice something of incredible value to her just to be true to herself… But she is the first mainstream superhero who starts out of the box gay. And arguably she’s going to be the most prominent gay superhero.”

To tease out the HERstory of Queer themes for wonder womyn and supergrrrls, we’ll have a distinguished guest lecturer discuss her scholarship! Meanwhile, check out MoreFun Tim’s take and remember that SUPERPAPER #2 is due next week!