Super heroes

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.