About this item
Highlights
- While superheroes have supposedly espoused truth, justice, and valor for generations of fans, there's also a troubling and persistent undercurrent of sexism and toxic masculinity that cannot be ignored.
- About the Author: Tim Hanley is a comic book historian and author whose work focuses on the American comic book industry.
- 250 Pages
- Literary Criticism, Comics & Graphic Novels
Description
About the Book
While superheroes have supposedly espoused truth, justice, and valor for generations of fans, there's also a troubling and persistent undercurrent of sexism and toxic masculinity that cannot be ignored. Not All Supermen explores this complex history of the superhero genre.Book Synopsis
While superheroes have supposedly espoused truth, justice, and valor for generations of fans, there's also a troubling and persistent undercurrent of sexism and toxic masculinity that cannot be ignored. Not All Supermen explores this complex history of the superhero genre.
Review Quotes
Comic historian Hanley looks at how toxic masculinity has long been a part of superhero literature, noting that women were missing from comics unless they were love interests who needed to be saved. The author also notes the impact of World War II on comics: Heroes were strong men, while villains often showed features of common negative stereotypes of Japanese and Black Americans. Starting with comics, then TV shows, and ending with the current movie franchises, Hanley shows how world events impacted characterization, usually resulting in superheroes that were straight white males. He also discusses how toxic masculinity not only inspired sexist comics but racist and homophobic comics as well and it doesn't end with comics--it's in TV series and movies as well. Hanley concludes that whether or not this culture changes is up to the fans. If fans want to see change, they must demand it, or superheroes will continue on the path they have been on since the beginning. This book gives fans a great starting point, a place to learn the history of superheroes. Chapter-by-chapter source notes and a bibliography are included. Well-researched and written, this title is a must-have for any library to give some new insights on superheroes as well as their true origin stories.
Hanley's entertaining educational style is always engaging to me. It's like hanging out with a cool teacher in a comic book shop for extra credit.... I highly recommend it to not only comic book/superhero fans but to those interested in seeing how influential our ongoing debates about gender roles in society are showcased in such a public forum.
Tim Hanley explores the origins and persistence of sexism, racism, and homophobia in the superhero genre through the lens of comics history. This wide-ranging examination of the roots of toxic masculinity in superhero comics spans decades to identify key moments for comics titles, characters, creators, corporate owners, and fan communities. Tim Hanley asks two important questions: what factors drive this continued devotion to an outdated paradigm of straight white male supremacy, and what might move the genre toward diversity and inclusivity?
With its rich primary sources and a very readable style, Hanley's book is a valuable teaching resource. While it does not offer scholarly analyses of the concept of toxic masculinity, nor engaged analyses
of feminism or critical race and queerness, it can be used in high school and college classes on popular culture and toxic masculinity.
About the Author
Tim Hanley is a comic book historian and author whose work focuses on the American comic book industry. His books include Wonder Woman Unbound, Investigating Lois Lane, The Many Lives of Catwoman, and Betty and Veronica: The Leading Ladies of Riverdale (Rowman & Littlefield). He has also written for The Atlantic, Polygon, and The Comics Journal. Tim lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia, between his massive stacks of comic books.
