Newly Published: Mixed-Race Superheroes (Rutgers, 2021), Edited by Sika A. Dagbovie-Mullins and Eric L. Berlatsky @RutgersUPress @booksnerrd

New from Rutgers University Press: Mixed-Race Superheroes (Sika A. Dagbovie-Mullins and Eric L. Berlatsky, eds., 2021). Here from the publisher's website is a description of the book's contents.

American culture has long represented mixed-race identity in paradoxical terms. On the one hand, it has been associated with weakness, abnormality, impurity, transgression, shame, and various pathologies; however, it can also connote genetic superiority, exceptional beauty, and special potentiality. This ambivalence has found its way into superhero media, which runs the gamut from Ant-Man and the Wasp’s tragic mulatta villain Ghost to the cinematic depiction of Aquaman as a heroic “half-breed.” The essays in this collection contend with the multitude of ways that racial mixedness has been presented in superhero comics, films, television, and literature. They explore how superhero media positions mixed-race characters within a genre that has historically privileged racial purity and propagated images of white supremacy. The book considers such iconic heroes as Superman, Spider-Man, and The Hulk, alongside such lesser-studied characters as Valkyrie, Dr. Fate, and Steven Universe. Examining both literal and symbolic representations of racial mixing, this study interrogates how we might challenge and rewrite stereotypical narratives about mixed-race identity, both in superhero media and beyond.

 

Superheroes and Immigration @nancywyuen @INHERITANCEmag

Giovanny Panginda and Gene Luen Yang explore the ethnic origins of comic book superheroes for inheritancemag.com. Such characters come to the U.S., or countries, fleeing natural disasters or war, and they come without papers. The authors note in part,

Not only is Superman an immigrant, more specifically, he is a refugee, one forced to leave his country because of war, persecution, or natural disasters. Superman's cultural narrative starts with him as a baby on the planet Krypton, where his parents send him to Earth not just to escape the planet's destruction, but to offer him a chance at a better life.

Although we usually think of Superman as the great icon of "truth, justice, and the American Way," we often forget that he started out as a foreigner, and a literal unaccompanied minor alien. 


Via @nancywyuen.

"The Greatest American Hero" Reboot Features a Woman as Hero: So Did the Last Episode of the Original Series

ABC is rebooting the show "The Greatest American Hero" with a woman in the lead as the character with the task of righting wrongs with the help of an alien-provided magic suit. There seems to be a lot of surprise that the superhero character would be female, as if the idea was new. But back in 1986 the original actors filmed a pilot, called "The Greatest American Heroine," which became an episode of the series (season 3, episode 14).   In it, Ralph Hinckley, the original hero, selects a woman to carry on the mission after the public learns his secret identity. That was thirty years ago. At that time, it seems to have been a relatively novel idea. Today we may see it happen, although the idea that the main character will be as clueless as Mr. Hinckley was in terms of how to use the amazing weapon the aliens have given her could be problemactic.

She also seems to have no profession; the original suit-wearer was a high school history teacher (and remember that his girlfriend was an attorney, suggesting that she saw something in him pre-suit). Maybe the lack of career is supposed to signal that the new suit-wearer can pass unnoticed in today's society, or to give her the ability to save the world without having to take a day off from work. It's a little disturbing to think, though, that intelligent aliens would entrust such a mission to someone who has little sense of professional direction. I understand the original show was a satire, and the reboot probably will be, also. I wonder how the viewers will receive the new character, because we're still hearing (or hearing once again) that women just aren't as good as men at many things.

BTW, Fox tried a reboot in 2015. It didn't take off.

Droit vs Super-héros, l’affrontement final: Du Punisher au Lawyer: A Law and Pop Culture Conference at the University of Strasbourg, May 12, 2017 @yannbasire

On May 12, the Faculty of Law, University of Strasbourg will present a conference, Droit vs super-héros, l’affrontement final: Du punisher au lawyer. This conference is the second of two (the first took place in May of last year and was carried  live on France's Canal Plus). Yann Basire, Professor of Law, organized both. Pretty exciting: I don't think a major US network would carry a law and pop culture conference live! Or taped, come to think of it.

A Conference on Superheroes and the Law, University of Strasbourg, May 24, 2016

The University of Strasbourg is hosting a conference "Du punisher au lawyer: les super-héros au prisme du droit » - Soirée d’études Droit et fiction" (From Punisher to lawyer: the Superhero through the Prism of the Law" on May 24, 2016.  Media-droit is organizing the conference.

Here's a link to the program.   Among the many distinguished speakers: Jean-Christophe Roda, University of Toulon, and Frederic Durand, University of Lorrraine.