Superhero Storytelling: the Law, Sovereignty and Time

Abstract

In both Comics Studies and Cultural Legal Studies, questions about the relationship between superheroes and the law have most commonly been treated in terms of vigilantism or in relation to the concept of sovereignty. With regard to sovereignty, though, the tendency has been to explore the concept in relation to its fundamental spatial organisation. In this article, however, I would like to consider law and sovereignty in relation to time. In particular how they are linked to the regulation and control of stories that recount histories and with that determine how identities and the legal and normative frameworks that support them are imagined in the future. To do this the article firstly introduces the work of Robert Cover and his definition on nomos as a normative universe in which we dwell. To this I add the work of Scott Richard Lyons to talk about expressions of ‘rhetorical sovereignty’ in two superhero comics: Captain America: Truth: Red, White and Black, and Blue Marvel. These are read as examples of legal storytelling that seek to change the mode of public discourse; challenge dominant (racist) representations, and reset the debate in the search for and application of justice.