The Superhero Symbol

LIAM BURKE is the Cinema and Screen Studies Coordinator at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia, where he also teaches classes on comic books and cinema. He has written and edited a number of books including The Comic Book Film Adaptation (2015), Fan Phenomena Batman (2012), and Superhero Movies (2008).     IAN GORDON teaches cultural history and American Studies at the National University of Singapore, where he is the Head of the Department of History. His books include Superman: The Persistence of an American Icon (2017), Kid Comic Strips: A Genre Across Four Countries (2016), Comic Strips and Consumer Culture (1998), and the edited work Film and Comic Books (2007).   ANGELA NDALIANIS is Director of the Centre for Transformative Media Technologies at Swinburne University of Technology. The books she has written or edited include The Horror Sensorium: Media and the Senses (2012), Science Fiction Experiences (2010), The Contemporary Comic Book Superhero (2009), Super/Heroes: from Hercules to Superman (2007), and Neo-Baroque Aesthetics and Contemporary Entertainment (2004).    

Contents
                                                                                  
Introduction: “Everlasting” Symbols: Unmasking superheroes and their shifting symbolic function, Liam Burke

Section 1: Superheroes, Politics, and Civic Engagement
1. “What Else Can You Do With Them?”: Superheroes and the Civic Imagination
Henry Jenkins
 
2. “America Is A Piece of Trash”: Captain America, Patriotism, Nationalism, and Fascism
Neal Curtis
 
3. “This Land is Mine!” Understanding the Function of Supervillains
Jason Bainbridge
 
Interview 1: Comics artist, writer, and "herstorian" Trina Robbins
 
Section 2: The Superhero as a Brand
 
4. The Secret Commercial Identity of Superheroes: Protecting the Superhero Symbol
Mitchell Adams
 
5. Siegel and Shuster as Brand Name
Ian Gordon
 
6. Practicing Superhuman Law: Creative License, Industrial Identity, and Spider-Man’s Homecoming
Tara Lomax
 
7. The sound of the cinematic superhero
Dan Golding
 
Interview 2: Former President of DC Entertainment Diane Nelson
 
Section 3: Becoming the Superhero
 
8. ­­­­­­­­­Arkham Knave: The Joker in Game Design
Steven Conway
 
9. Being Super, Becoming Heroes: Dialogic Superhero Narratives in Cosplay Collectives
Claire Langsford
 
10. “From Pages to Pavements”: A Criminological Comparison Between Depictions of Crime Control in Superhero Narratives and “Real-Life Superhero” Activity
Vladislav Iouchkov and John McGuire
 
Interview 3: Dark Night: A True Batman Story writer Paul Dini
 
Section 4: Superheroes and National Identity
 
11. Captain America, National Narratives, and the Queer Subversion of the Retcon
Naja Later
 
12. Apes, Angels, and Super Patriots: The Irish in Superhero Comics
Liam Burke
 
13. Missing in Action: The Late Development of the German-Speaking Superhero
Paul M. Malone
 
14. Chinese Milk for Iron Men: Superhero Coproductions and Technological Anxiety
Shan Mu Zhao
 
15. Age of the Atoman: Australian Superhero Comics and Cold War Modernity
Kevin Patrick
 
Interview 4: Cleverman creator Ryan Griffen and star Hunter Page-Lochard
 
Acknowledgements
Notes on the Editors
Notes on Contributors
Index