This thesis comprises the opening of a novel-in-progress, which takes place in an alternate universe where certain ordinary humans are born with superpowers. One superpowered public hero, Captain Frost, attempts to save a notorious, superpowered criminal called the Terror, in the hopes of interrogating him about a recent spate of superhero deaths—but the Terror’s sudden death casts doubt on Frost’s ability to handle the case. Meanwhile, a team of powered and non-powered criminals, among them a scientist who calls himself Dr. Fiend, scheme to fill the power vacuum left by the Terror. Dr. Fiend commits to a break-in that will allow him to examine the Terror’s body for evidence of how he was able to repeatedly defeat Frost and how his strategy and skills might be used to undermine Frost’s control of the city.

Despite traversing the fine line between homosocial and homosexual (Brooker, 2000) in his controversial text Seduction of the Innocent, Fredric Wertham's (1954) description of Batman and Robin as a 'wish dream of two homosexuals living together' (Lendrum, 2004, p.70) represents one of the first published queer readings of superhero characters. This text can also be interpreted as the commencement of, and subsequent intense interest in the way superhero characters often portray a 'camp' sensibility (Medhurst, 1991) representative of a queer performative identity (Butler, 1993). This is most evident today within comic book fan-communities online where the sexual identity of popular superheroes are continuously explored and debated in discussion forums and expressed through the production of slash fiction and queer-themed fan art. Indeed, the ambiguity inherent in superhero comics has traditionally allowed and encouraged fans to operate as 'textual poachers' (Jenkins, 1992) appropriating these texts for their own means. Today, however, there exist a new generation of comic book superheroes, in the form of the Young Avengers, Uncanny X-Men and The Authority, which contain established 'out' gay characters. This paper will examine the implications of these series on the practice of fandom by analyzing fan reactions and responses to the manner in which the industry has opted to present a gay relationship between its superhero characters Wiccan and Hulkling and, Apollo and The Midnighter. The meaning of the shift from the 'implied' to 'actual' is examined in terms of fans' acceptance, resistance and desire to further appropriate the text.

Thesis (M.A.)--Eastern Illinois University, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University / Comic book superheroes venture frequently into the afterlife, to the extent that the recurring conventions of such tales constitute a superhero subgenre. These generic elements help ensure that the stories can be read normatively by their audience (e.g. one's soul continues separately to function after the death of the body, existence after death is its own reality and discernible from illusion). The new subgenre, however, can also be regarded as masking an alternate understanding of narrative character and suggesting an alternative model of selfhood to readers. Beginning with the genre theory work of Paul Ricoeur, Tzvetan Todorov, and Peter Coogan, this project applies their perceived linkage between generic character and audience models for selfhood to the concerns of Helene Tallon Russell, J. Hillis Miller, and Karin Kukkonen. This second set of theorists warns against narrative characters being understood as whole and unified a priori when the presumably counterfactual idea of a multiple self better matches with the goals of religious pluralism and healthful self-understanding. Through these combined sets of theoretical lenses, the project focuses on popular recent depictions of the afterlife in the word-and-image medium of top-selling comics titles such as Thor, Green Lantern, Fantastic Four, Planetary, and Promethea. The comics, with their dual sign systems and 'low-art' fringe status, provide a consideration of personal multiplicity more naturally than prose does alone. Jeffery Burton Russell and Andrew Delbanco recount modern Americans' declining investment in the afterlife, one steeped in traditionally Augustinian models of singular selfhood. As H.T. Russell champions in Irigaray and Kierkegaard: On the Construction of the Self, this model may serve more as a hindering relic than as a useful system for consideration of one's full selfhood. This superhero subgenre offers a hermeneutic for integrating multiplicity into religious practices and considerations of the afterlife.

La thèse Des superhéroïnes à Gotham City: une étude de la (re) définition des rôles genrés dans l'univers de Batman s'intéresse à l'apparition et à l'évolution de trois superhéroïnes – Catwoman, Batgirl et Batwoman – dans les comic books de l'éditeur DC Comics. Cette recherche vise à montrer comment le contexte de production a influencé les origines de ces personnages. Ces origines, si elles sont sans cesse réécrites dans les comic books, ne se détachent jamais totalement de ces éléments initiaux, mais construisent des variations à partir de ceux-ci. Depuis les années 1980, alors que le nombre total de superhéroïnes du catalogue de l'éditeur DC Comics augmente significativement, ces personnages se retrouvent soumis à de nouveaux stéréotypes de genre dans des récits où elles sont des personnages secondaires. Les récits parus postérieurement, dans lesquels Catwoman, Batgirl et Batwoman sont protagonistes, héritent de ces stéréotypes qu'ils peuvent reproduire, détourner et/ou dépasser. Catwoman, Batgirl et Batwoman, puisqu'elles apparaissent à différents moments de l'histoire des superhéroïnes et de l'éditeur DC Comics – les débuts des années 1940, la relève des superhéros durant les années 1960 et les questionnements autour des questions de représentativités des années 2000 – nous offrent trois approches différentes de la place des superhéroïnes dans l'univers de Batman. / Superheroines in Gotham City: (Re)Defined Gender Roles in the Batman Universe examines the emergence and evolution of three superheroines - Catwoman, Batgirl and Batwoman - in comic books from the publisher DC Comics. This research aims at showing how the production context has influenced the origin of these characters. Although rewritten time and again in comic books, these origin stories never completely detach themselves from their initial elements, instead creating variations on them. Since the 1980s, when the total number of superheroines in DC Comics' catalogue increased significantly, these characters have found themselves subjected to new gender stereotypes in stories where they are secondary characters. Later stories, where Catwoman, Batgirl and Batwoman are protagonists, inherit these stereotypes either by reproducing, diverting and/or overcoming them. Catwoman, Batgirl and Batwoman are three heroins created at different key moments in the history of both DC comics productions and superheroines : the early 1940s, the resurgence of superheroes in the 1960s, and the 2000s within a context of questioning representation issues in comics. As such, they present us with three different approaches to the role of superheroines in the Batman universe throughout its publication history.

In this essay, we examine how three female superheroes in movies are portrayed and how that role has changed over time. We have chosen to examine Wonder woman, Supergirl and Black widow. The time period exanimated was a period between 1974 and 2020. The time period was chosen by availability to material from real feature movies and TV series. The purpose of the essay is to investigate whether there are any general differences in how female superheroes have been portrayed in movies and in TV series during the specified time period. What we examine is whether they have been sexualized, both in appearance and personality. We selected a goal-oriented selection that has been made of the movies and TV series we examined. Our findings indicate that the portrayal of these female super heroes has over time changed by increasing the depth of emotions. Our first analysis showed that the first portrayal did not include emotions but later on in the new movies and TV series we can find that the heroes have a more emotional story line and character. In the first movies and TV series, the superheroes do not encounter any major problems other than having to save the world, in the 2010s the storyline goes in to more depth and they face difficulties in managing their superpowers or having to deal with their past. The category of superpowers has not changed among the characters if we ignore Wonder woman. Clothes are from the beginning something that sexualized the characters and does not change over time, however, the sexualization of the superheroes' clothes is questioned in the later movies and TV series. We can also see a pattern of the female characters having feminine traits. The portrayal of a female as tender and maternal has over time not changed but there is a change over time in giving female characters’ other traits like aggression.

This essay aims to analyze if the graphic novel Watchmen criticizes the conventions of the superhero comic genre in regards to gender. The literary theory applied is gender studies. The essay examines the visual portrayal of male and female characters, as well as the male-dominated narrative. The novel does, to some extent, satirize the genre conventions. This can be seen in the hyperbolic visual portrayals of the characters, as well as the comments made on them. However, as there is a lack of self-aware criticism, the novel could not be considered as a satire of the visual representation of genders within the genre, but rather a reinforcement of them. Furthermore, the male-dominated narrative is present in Watchmen, and Laurie could be seen as satirizing this genre convention, as she is a hyperbolic interpretation of the girlfriend archetype. However, there is little change or self-aware critique against the genre norms here as well, thus it cannot be considered satire. Laurie does, however, show criticism of the violence against women within the genre by making a number of comments on the attempted rape of her mother. This may not be satire but she does provide commentary of this trope. In conclusion, while there are instances of criticism, the novel as a whole cannot be considered satire of the superhero genre.

Mitt arbetes syfte är att på kronologiskt och tematiskt vis presentera och analysera de olikasätt på vilka politiska åsikter och samhällsmässiga problem har presenterats och beartbetats i amerikanska serietidningar under tiden mellan 1950 och år 2000, samt att undersöka hur serietidningen i sig har utvecklats som medium under samma tidsperiod. Mitt arbete är först uppdelat i tidsperioder om tio år och sedan inom olika tematiska underrubriker som avser att behandla viktiga politiska eller branschrelaterade aspekter. Den tidigare forskningen jag tagit del av är uteslutande engelskspråkig och innefattar bl.a Bradford W. Wrights Comic Book Nation, Paul Lopes Demanding Respect och Fredrik Strömbergs Comic Art Propaganda som alla behandlar den amerikanska serietidningens utveckling och delvis deras politiska innehåll. De källor jag använt mig av är en hel uppsjö avamerikanska seriepublikationer från de tre största förlagen i USA, Marvel Comics, DC Comics och Image Comics med inledande fokus på de två förstnämnda. Jag kommer i mitt arbete fram till att serietidningarna gått från att vara ett politiskt drivetmedie under 50-talet, till att vara ett som lägger mer fokus på de enskilda individerna och karaktärsutveckling. Utvecklingen har också medfört att serietidningarna överlag blivit alltmörkare och hårdare, inte nödvändigtvis med ett större fokus på våld, men i alla fall en större acceptans för det våldsamma. 50-talet har fokus på den allmäna kommunistskräcken och den produktionskod som begränsade och censurerade serietidningarnas innehåll. 60-talet visar på en uppenbar rädsla och osäkerhet för mängden ny teknologi som kom under den här tiden samtidigt som man också lägger stor fokus på medborgarrätt och jämställdhet. Under 70-talet börjar mediets resa mot det mörkare och den produktionskod man hittils följt faller allt mer bort när våld och droger tillåts ta allt större plats samtidigt som de flesta politiska kommentarer försvinner. Under den moderna eran, från mitten av 80-talet och frammåt består den mörka tematikenfrån 70-talet och tar nya intensiva vändningar framförallt med nya religiösa och okulta anspelningar.

The comic book superhero film has become a mainstay amongst Hollywood blockbuster films. However, despite their popularity and financial success, the genre has only recently begun to receive scholarly attention. In particular, there has been little research on what traits distinguish and define the genre, and even less on the music which accompanies the films. This scope of this dissertation can be divided into three parts. First, it is a study of the superhero film genre. I provide a historical overview both of the superhero comic, as well as its filmic adaptations -- delineating the semantic and syntactic traits of the superhero film genre and the ways in which it adheres to and differs from its encompassing genre of the action film. Second, it is a study of the music for superhero films. By examining the musical themes of superhero films over time, I establish what musical parameters are held in common amongst superhero films -- namely, what contributes to the comic book sound. Finally, it is a study of topic theory, and in particular, how topical analysis can function within, and enrich the study of film music. By expanding on topical theories established for the study of classical music, I further systematize the topical study of film music, using superhero films as a model for demonstrating the potential for new musical topics to be uncovered through the topical analysis of film music. / text

Thesis (M.A. Screen and Media)--University of Waikato, 2008. / Title from PDF cover (viewed September 30, 2008) Includes bibliographical references (p. 144-151)