Super Heroes: A Modern Mythology

by Richard Reynolds

The superhero has been the staple of the modern comic book since the late 1930s. The phenomenally successful movies Superman and Batman have made these two comic book superheroes as familiar worldwide as any characters ever created. Yet to relatively few aficionados are they known at first hand from their appearances in comic books.Super A Modern Mythology explores the origins of the superhero by documenting how heroes emerged from the comic book genre and are defined both by its history and by audience expectations.To show some of the most influential and paradigmatic figures, this study focuses on the texts of three comic books in the genre--The X-Men, The Dark Knight Returns, and Watchman. It examines ways in which the comics mythologize both the role of the hero and the nature of consensus, authority, and moral choice.Blending academic scholarship with specialized knowledge of the comic book medium, Super A Modern Mythology will have appeal for several audiences. Since most of the academic scholarship published on comic books has focused on history rather than on cultural analysis, this book will be of great value to scholars of popular culture.

Genres: Nonfiction, Superheroes, Criticism, Comics, British Literature, Academic, Research

134 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1992

Reviews

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was definitely an interesting book, and it discusses the basics of superhero history within comics. While it was informative, it is more of a starting place to learning more about superheroes.

[Mjhancock · Rating 3 out of 5]

Call it a 3.5. Reynolds offers a reading of the superhero from its inception with Action Comics to the current (1990s) day, suggesting that it may have run its course, in comic form at least. The book is somewhere between a scholarly text and nonfiction; there's some very close readings, but it's all very readable. And yet, the whole thing would I think be much improved if Reynolds lifted the curtain a bit or showed his hand earlier (mixed metaphors!) as to what end he is constructing this argument.

The first chapter covers the basics of the genre, offering a history of superheroes and using Action Comics #1, the first appearance of Superman, to establish the seven major traits that he argues define the genre, including societal isolation marked by a lack of connection to parents; earthbound gods whose powers vary with how well they get along with regular people; devotion to justice over the law; contrast between superhero and normal person, and their alter ego.; some loyalty to the state; and mythical stories that combine science and magic. (It makes interesting mappings onto Coogan's typical mission identity power definition.) The point is solidified by going through a Batman story demonstrating these seven ideals.

The second chapter starts at costume and ends at continuity. A discussion of how costume reflects identity takes a slight digression to look at the fetishization of the female form, then ends a bit abruptly with the notion that costumes create a community. That shifts things to intertextuality and continuity--serial continuity which is the ongoing story; hierarchical continuity, that we have power levels implied and a focus on fighting; and structural continuity, that at any given time, you have a system that describes a larger superhero universe. (He employs some Saussurean terms in the chapter to solidify the discussion.) That allows us to believe in superheroes as myth, establish the fan and creator relation. The chapter ends with an interesting argument that on the individual issue level, the villains are the protagonists for shaking things up, but on the larger mythic level, the heroes take that role.

The rest of the book is essentially case studies, with one chapter on superheroes that fit this mythic parameter, and and other on books that break it. First, we have Thor, whom Reynolds argues is interesting for the way he's made the transition from ancient myth to comic book form. (I agree with this, though there are some other interesting character that work in this direction too, from Moon Knight to Wonder Woman.) He reads Superman in Oedpial terms, and Batman in terms of his villains and the price he pays for being Batman. The chapter concludes with the idea that superheroes work to preserve the status quo, and he offers some examples of failures to engage with social issues as a result, and illusions that make it look differently.

The final chapter looks at Claremont and Byrne's initial X-Men run, Dark Knight Returns, and Watchmen. The tie between the last two texts is pretty clear, but the X-Men may seem like odd men out. I think what Reynolds is going for here is the idea that the X-Men, at this stage, represent the pinnacle of the superhero genre, the most you can get out of them as myth, through their combination of individual and collective action. The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen, on the other hand, is the superhero being deconstructed and collapsing. This line of thought continues into the epilogue, where he looks deeper into where the industry is now in terms of being either ultraviolent superheroes, or new creators creating new things, using the death of superman and the subsequent four new supermen as the metaphor for that moment.

It's an interesting argument--and even maybe a right one, given that while superhero comics have gone on, it's clearly other media that are driving now--but the book does tend to meander a lot. It could use a bit more staying on task, and a bit more of an explicit frame to keep that task in the reader's mind. That said, some of the digressions are fascinating; I'd like to see a much more in-depth discussion of what he has to say concerning the superhero's fetishization of women and simultaneous denial of that fetishization. And as an early bit of comics scholarship, it captures history and trends in superheroes pretty well, and better than later books in some cases. (It's also a quick read, but an expensive read--the paperback goes for $100 now. Yikes.)

[Bigo May · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reflections about the superhero genre in the comic world and how its influence has shaped popular culture to our days. Somehow very descriptive, at times tedious, but with some interesting insights.

[Fugo Feedback]

Hoy salió el primer capítulo de Before Watchmen, también conocido como "El comic que jamás debería haber sido realizado". Si bien ya tengo más que decidido no comprar ni un numerito de esta oportunista serie, estoy cuestionándome si leerlo o no. Y mientras leía un debate al respecto en Zona Negativa, recordé la existencia de este libro, así que marche como "to-read" para recordar que lo tengo como lectura pendiente (al igual que unos mil cuatrocientos libros más). Supongo que aumentarán las chances de que lo lea si lo editan en castellano, así que después me pongo a buscarla y si aparece la goodreadeo.

[Jeffery Moulton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a fast and interesting look at superheroes. When it came out, it presented a landmark idea that superheroes were, in fact, the gods and goddesses of our time, playing the same role as the mythical heroes and gods of the past. Today, that idea has become well accepted and has been documented in many other works. But this is the one that started it all. A must read for any serious superhero fan.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're interested in literature and/or criticism, and have ever loved, appreciated, or endured a comic book superhero story, there's no good reason not to read this book. It's clear-headed, engaging, and well-written.

[Eric Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book about comics I've read.