Marvel Comics Research Articles

“Let’s rewrite some history, shall we?”: temporality and postfeminism in Captain Marvel’s comic book superhero(ine)ism

ABSTRACT Superhero comics books’ reliance on revision has been discussed but the role of gender in relation to these concepts in such comics is yet to be explored. This paper examines the first story arc of Kelly Sue DeConnick’s acclaimed comic book series Captain Marvel (2012) through the interrogative lens of postfeminist culture, considering how past and present collided within the relaunching of the popular Marvel comics superheroine Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers) into Captain Marvel. Simultaneously a postmodern pastiche and a contemporary mediation of popular feminism, the story takes Danvers back, via time travel, to periods before the western second-wave feminist movement took hold. The article thus considers how this Captain Marvel storyline engages with contemporary feminist issues such as the proliferation of female superheroes in Marvel comics as well as the retroactive insertion of feminist discourses into an ostensibly prefeminist setting, questioning what, if any, radical interventions in dominant modes of women’s representations in superhero narratives these stories might offer.

“Marvel vs. World”

Abstract Following Eric Hayot’s argument that modernity is a theory of the world as the “universal,” this paper traces the “world concept” in Marvel Comics industry (MC) and its synergy with the film industry of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Speaking from the field of World Literature Studies, I show how superhero comics activate the “world concept” through the global dissemination of the infinitely stretchable Marvel Universe. My argument is that by operating in terms of a universe with moldable diegetic rules, the popular culture of MC and MCU does not merely reflect the current state of the world concept, but also affects its evolution and its spread. The universality of the modern worldview has come to be less concerned with the realist effect and more with increasing all-inclusiveness and infinite stretchability. The increased plasticity of the world concept puts a great pressure on world literary ecologies and increasingly expands and shapes what Beecroft called global literary ecology. What Marvel Comics has done in recent decades, especially through the interplay with the film industry, is to show how the expansion of the world concept entails that however large we imagine the world to be, it is always already too small.

Talking the Fantastic Four: ‘a comic that broke ALL the rules’

ABSTRACT Jack Kirby and Stan Lee first introduced the Fantastic Four to the world in the pages of Fantastic Four #1, published by Marvel Comics in November 1961. Historically significant because it ushered in the ‘Marvel Age of Comics’ and deserving of its title as ‘The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine!’ (text that was first added to Fantastic Four covers beginning with issue no. 4, in May 1962) with its radical innovation and creative new take on superheroes, the Fantastic Four has inspired feature films, animation, digital games, novelisations, and imaginations of generations of readers, fans and creatives. Presented here are interviews with noted writers and artists who have worked on the main Fantastic Four title (Marv Wolfman, Ron Wilson, Steve Englehart, Mark Waid, Jerry Ordway, Walt Simonson, Alan Davis, Mark Millar) and series featuring the Fantastic Four (Grant Morrison, Tom Scioli, Erik Larsen, Michael Allred, Matt Fraction, Kurt Busiek, Mark Russell). Interviews were undertaken individually over the span of more than a decade and explore a range of topics, including ways in which science and technology were positioned and represented in the Fantastic Four, particularly with reference to Jack Kirby’s art and visual storytelling, as well as concepts, designs, and contexts.

Teaching Black Masculinity through the Uncanny Black Kirby

Teaching Black Masculinity through The Uncanny Black Kirby will examine Marvel Comics’s and Netflix’s Luke Cage: Hero for Higher through the last 48 years of unstably grounded imaginings. The exhibition is an illustrated syllabus with a bibliography and contextualizing imagery that educators can use in a 10-16 week unit. Creating equitable futures begins with revolutionizing how we teach and visualize Black history, Black present/presence and speculate Black futures. Teaching Black Masculinity through The Uncanny Black Kirby will address the issue of how to teach critically at key stages of design ­education, by making visible our implementation of critical thinking/­making and the execution of our strategies.

The many masks of Dr Henry Pym: Alter ego, identity, disability and personality of a founding Avenger

The unique history of Dr Henry ‘Hank’ Pym, better known as the Marvel Comics superhero Ant-Man, and his many varied costumes and alter egos, set him apart from other characters in comic books. Pym’s costumes reflect an uncertain and unstable mental state in ways other costumes do not. Through textual analysis, Pym’s costumes can be understood to represent his personality and a slipping identity that goes beyond the usual coding of superhero costuming. Pym’s consistent remaking of his appearance and identity point to a personality struggling to understand who he is in the context of his own life, a deeper message than was originally intended upon the character’s creation but one that has been explored in his later appearances.

A Study on the Remediation phenomenon in Marvel Comics and Marvel Cinematic Universe

A Study on the Remediation phenomenon in Marvel Comics and Marvel Cinematic Universe

With Great Power: The Marvelous Stan Lee: An Unauthorized Biography by Annie Hunter Eriksen

Reviewed by: With Great Power: The Marvelous Stan Lee: An Unauthorized Biography by Annie Hunter Eriksen Elizabeth Bush Eriksen, Annie Hunter With Great Power: The Marvelous Stan Lee: An Unauthorized Biography; illus. by Lee Gatlin. Page Street, 2021 [40p] Trade ed. ISBN 9781645672852 $18.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R 6-9 yrs The titular “unauthorized” winkingly confers a measure of creative liberty in this rollicking picture book biography of the generative force behind the Marvel Comics Universe. Mild-mannered Stanley Lieber, commissioned to help support his family, began as Errand Boy at Timely Comics, whooshing copy and coffee to staff, and even supplying snippets of dialogue when writers’ inventive juices temporarily ran dry. When luminaries Joe Simon and Jack Kirby quit, teenager Stanley (now a writer himself, under the name Stan Lee) became editor, dutifully cranking out adventures of heroes with chiseled physiques and virtuous bona fides, but becoming increasingly dissatisfied with his tepid output as Timely became Atlas, and Atlas became Marvel. Bravely daring (with his wife’s encouragement) to try something new, he unleashed a new stable of protagonists, with relatable foibles and far quirkier physiologies—the Spider-Man, Hulk, Thor, and myriad Marvel crew that delight readers today. Gatlin’s mixed media pictures gleefully zoom in on the improbable bits of the Stan Lee success story—from his father’s fiat to find a job (“Liebers never loaf around!” insists paterfamilias over his newspaper and coffee), to his bosses’ initial rejection of the Spider-Man concept (“This sounds like a comedy character, not a hero!”), to the playful renderings of a mature Stan Lee in the role of his own creations. End matter includes further information on Lee’s career and bibliography. Pair this with Marc Tyler Nobleman’s Boys of Steel (BCCB 10/08) for a rousing Team Marvel v. Team DC cosplay story time. Copyright © 2021 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Medium Specificities of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson: Marvel Comic, Video Game, and Korean TV Drama

This study analyzes Medium Specificities found in the adaptations of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde This study uses Linda Hutcheon’s theory of adaptation focuses on medium specificity in engaging audiences and the process of repetition but not replication. This study found three adaptation works of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde fulfilled the process of repetition but not replication from their textual transformations and innovations occurred in the works.

Diversity, tokenism, and comic books: Crafting better strategies

This article examines aspects related to diversity and inclusion in the context of media products. Specifically, it looks at key issues surrounding strategies to increase diversity and inclusion in comic books that come up short because of problems of implementation and execution. Using the context of Marvel Comics’ “All-New, All-Different” strategy, whereby the firm created a myriad of new characters from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds, we explain how diversity strategy can backfire. In our analysis, both netnographic and interview data show how issues of perceived tokenism and of content creation without appropriate depth can thwart consumer acceptance of diversity and inclusion strategies. Consumer rejection of these strategies can harm both sales and brand equity. Implications for marketing managers and content creators are discussed.

Mashups and Fair Use: The Bold Misadventures of the Seussian Starship Enterprise

This amicus brief filed in the Ninth Circuit appeal of Dr. Seuss Enterprises v. ComicMix seeks to rectify and restore the balances underlying the Copyright Act of 1976 — particularly the interplay of the Section 106(2) right to prepare derivative works and the fair use doctrine. The District Court granted the defendants’ motion for summary judgment on the ground that OH THE PLACES YOU’LL BOLDLY GO! — the defendants’ illustrated book combining Dr. Seuss’s OH THE PLACES YOU’LL GO! and other Dr. Seuss books with Star Trek characters and themes — made fair use of the Dr. Seuss works. Based on the works at issue, uncontested facts, and the judge’s factual findings, the brief contends that defendants’ unauthorized derivative work plainly supported a grant of summary judgment for the plaintiff on the fair use defense. The District Court’s conclusory finding that the defendants’ work is “highly transformative,” disregard of the second and third fair use factors, analysis of the fourth factor, and allocation of the burden of proof misapply the standards for fair use analysis. The District Court’s decision destabilizes essential copyright law principles that have long supported markets for collaborations and derivative works. If this decision stands, competitors could flood publishing, television, film, and merchandising markets with unauthorized derivative works merely by “mashing” in other elements. Lucasfilm could produce OH THE PLACES YODA’LL GO! without obtaining a license from Dr. Seuss Enterprises. The developers of the Pokemon series could offer OH THE PLACES YOU’LL Pokemon GO!. Castle Rock Entertainment could introduce OH THE PLACES YOU’LL Yada Yada Yada!. Warner Bros. could freely mash together Bugs Bunny with Marvel Comic’s Iron Man or Sesame Street’s Kermit the Frog. Moreover, anyone could produce and distribute such works. That result contravenes what Congress intended in establishing an exclusive right to prepare derivative works subject to the fair use defense. While mashups can qualify for fair use in particular cases — for example, where they offer parodic or even satirical commentary and insights; or where a fan adapts his or her favorite characters or scenes for a school project — a categorical rule that commercial, non-parodic, non-satirical mashups automatically qualify as “highly transformative” for purposes of fair use analysis goes well beyond the Copyright Act’s regime for promoting expressive creativity. Promoting mashup art beyond the limits set by copyright law’s exclusive rights, limiting doctrines, and fair use analysis may well be a desirable policy reform for the digital age. Such a course, however, is for Congress and not the judiciary.

Ironheart, Marvel Comics, and The Crisis of Black Girl Representation

Inventor, genius, and engineer extraordinaire at just 15 years of age, Black superheroine Riri Williams made her first appearance in the Marvel Universe in Invincible Iron Man (2015) issues #7 and ...

The house of Van Dyne: Defining Marvel’s superhero fashion designer

Abstract Marvel Comics superhero and founding member of The Avengers Janet Van Dyne, the Wasp, has been portrayed as an in-canon fashion designer not just of superhero costumes but also of civilian clothing. Through her continuous usage as a narrative device that functions as an authority on style and taste, the proliferous designs depicted as created by Van Dyne over her almost sixty-year history have expanded to be worn by so many heroes across the Marvel Universe that they subconsciously define our overall conceptions of superhero fashion. This article evaluates Van Dyne’s fictional fashion designs from the perspective of real-world fashion criticism in order to define Van Dyne’s design aesthetic. Through comparisons with key designers and movements within the fashion industry, this article asserts that the history of luxury fashion is the best model for placing Van Dyne designs into context and that the long-standing visual representations of Van Dyne fashions offer a unique case study to explore the narrative implications of luxury fashion within comics. This focus on fashion designs rather than iconographic superhero costumes creates new opportunities to emphasize discussions of the integrality of clothing to conceptions of superhero characterization and identity.

NATURE OF SUPERHEROES ANALYSIS OF THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY IN AGE OF SUPERHERO CRISIS

Hero and heroism have been one of the oldest themes in literatures across the world. However, Comics, movies and other media have highlighted those to a hyperbolic level, turning allegorical in make-believe and vice versa. After critical and commercial success of various adaptations of Marvel and DC comics properties there has been a wave of alternative comic adaptations like Watchmen (2020), The Boys (2020) and The Umbrella Academy (2019), marking a different take on fictional superheroes. This critical paper studies that alternative stand taken by these adaptations and theorizes how these texts are critiquing the genre itself.

Excalibur, aesthetics and an other Britain: from whimsical tradition to tabloid aesthetic

ABSTRACT ‘Britain’ has always been an odd entity in American superhero comics: not least in Marvel Comics’ Excalibur. At turns, innocently quirky and wryly cynical, Excalibur’s Britain has been a markedly different place in the hands of different writers (and artists). This article addresses three key runs of Excalibur – those of Chris Claremont, Alan Davis and Warren Ellis – with particular attention to the depiction of Britain not simply as a matter of discourse and representation, but also in terms of tone and theme. Drawing on the political aesthetics of Jacques Rancière, the article explores what it means to talk about a specifically ‘British’ take on superhero comics. Through a critical analysis of how the different eras of Excalibur present different takes on what is ostensibly a British style of representation, the article explores how the form of a comic book, as well as its content, might be though to express assumptions about particular national identities and political communities.

Marvel's Spider-Man: "Ragnoverso" crossmediale = Marvel's Spider-Man: crossmedia "Spider-Verse"

Marvel's Spider-Man: crossmedia Spider-Verse. This paper analyses the videogame Marvel's Spider-Man, released by Insomniac in 2018, from a crossmedia perspective. In particular, this study will enquire into the extent to which the examined videogame is influenced by the comics imaginary and, in turn, influences it. Furthermore, the examination will explore the mutual exchanges between comics and game story elements, which are essential in Marvel's Spider-Man to contribute to the processes of world and storyline building. Finally, the analysis will reveal the function of the urban environment at the time of creating transmedia connections, which are meant to construct and preserve the counterfactual scenario developed by Sony across several media. The main research objective is to underline that the narrative universe of Marvel Comics can benefit from the creation and preservation of the crossmedia Gameverse.

Black Panther in widescreen: cross-disciplinary perspectives on a pioneering, paradoxical film

ABSTRACT Critics and scholars alike hail Black Panther (2018) as a celebratory cinematic response to decades of racial injustice in Hollywood while also calling attention to popular culture's limited means to transform structural oppressions. Our Introduction to this themed issue explores the provocative tensions—between jubilation/disappointment, progress/retrogression, and reality/fantasy—that surround Black Panther. These tensions have animated the Black Panther franchise since its inception and continue to shape the character's cinematic rendering. Our interpretation of Black Panther as reformist yet simultaneously pernicious cinema is framed by paradoxical ideation not only as the core narrative device for the film and its comic antecedents, but also as the central feature of its mediated context—first as a product of Marvel Comics and now the Walt Disney Company.

Beyond National Borders: Reshaping the Superhero Figure after the Global Turn

My paper aims to investigate the relation between comic books superheroes and their renditions on the big screen. The focus of my analysis will be Marvel Comics, with its counterpart cinematic universe, the so called MCU, and DC Comics, altogether with the recently developed DCEU, the cinematic extended universe of DC Comics. My ambition is to draw attention on how the

Corporate Affirmations of Self-Identity and Mutual Self-Help: Transmedia Rhetorics ofMarvel Rising

In 2018, Disney launched a Marvel Rising transmedia campaign introducing a line of female superhero dolls and supporting media narratives across Disney XD, Marvel Comics, and Hasbro toys. Utilizing textual and industry analysis, we find that the concentration of ownership and the need to attract a new clientele resulted in a “commercialized feminism” text, one that thematically supports Disney’s prosocial messaging agenda, linking its products to what it perceives as the preferred social identity for its audience. As such, this work has implications for deeper understandings of how corporations can use transmedia rhetoric to mentor children, especially young women, toward confidence and self-empowerment while also allowing the corporation to maximize marketplace revenues.

Fifty Shades of Blackness: Recovering an Aesthetics of the Afrifuge

Black lives and histories are to the fore at the moment: from #BlackLivesMatter in the United States to the movement to decolonize syllabi and pedagogy in South African universities. The filmBlack Pantheris watched within a visual and political terrain in which the black body is presented no longer only within histories of previous abjection—slavery and apartheid—but in visions of future reconstitution. This article will put together the changing representation of T’Challa from 1966 to the present in Marvel Comics and the film and argue that blackness has meant different things at different times to the creators as much as within the historical circumstance within which the black superhero has been seen and understood. Central to this has been the dilemma of bringing together the histories of “Africa” and the tenements of the United States—Wakanda and Oakland, California, in the film, and Harlem, New York, in the comic books.

(Captain) America in crisis: popular digital culture and the negotiation of Americanness

This article engages with the contemporary crisis of American identity and how the narratives of the Trump presidency are visually negotiated in the digital world. The Marvel Comics character Captain America has accompanied American identity constructions, crises, and discourses on US foreign policy for almost 80 years. Thus, it is no surprise that Captain America is again popular at a time of increased national crisis, made ever more present as a core character in the major feature film productions of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In the digital space, Captain America occupies a crucial political position as an easily identifiable visual carrier of identities and values that correspond with the public’s concerns. This article interrogates how the circulation of visual narratives of Captain America on Twitter and other digital platforms contributes to a broader discourse about the essence of American identity, values and true ‘Americanness’ against the backdrop of a fragmented and polarised nation. While (Captain) America’s search for the truthful narrative remains futile, understanding this futility can help to discover the discursive reasons for the contemporary crisis.