The super politics of comic book fandom
Editorial for "Appropriating, Interpreting, and Transforming Comic Books," edited by Matthew Costello, special issue, Transformative Works and Cultures, no. 13 (2013).
Comic Book Nation: The Transformation of Youth Culture in America
thereby establishing a basis for a much more successful movement in the 1960s. From the suffrage victory of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920 until the 1960s, the women’s niovement declined dramatically. Due to the growing discontent of labor and the popularity of the American Communist Party during the interwar period, feminists sought to maintain momentum by tying the women’s movement to communism, while expanding Marx’s economic explanation of women’s oppression to include social and cultural factors as well. They advocated a socialist world with guarantees of economic, social, and political equality for all, regardless of race, class, ethnicity, or gender. Feminism, however, suffered a serious decline with the end of World War I1 and the return of male veterans to the job market, as women were pushed back into more traditional roles. The anticommunist fervor of the Cold War era and the McCarthy Red Scare contributed to the fragmentation of the women’s movement as feminists sought to distance thernselves froin Stalinism while still maintaining support for equality. The founder and leader of the National Woman’s Party, Alice Paul, alienated more potential allies through her virulent anticommunism, opposition to labor movements. anti-Semitism, and racism. The general puhlic saw the National Women’s Party anti the Equal Rights Amendment as advocating equality only for white middleclass women. Saddled with these problems, the sporddk alliance between the women’s movement and communism ended in 1956, but it provded a foundation for a renewed feminist movement in the 1960s. Red I;mrinism draws o n primary sources from archival collections and personal interviews, as w l l as published writings of early feminist writers, providing not only new informalion but a new context in which to understand these resources. Although more comprehcn\ive works on the women’s movement exi\t, Weigand’s work effectively ties feminism into the widely suppressed American communist movement. While the historical subject matter of the book is suitable for graduate or undergraduate reading, the writing is casily understandable and would be accessible to the general public as well.
Disguised as Clark Kent: Jews, Comics, and the Creation of the Superhero
Foreword - Stan Lee Introduction - My Country 'tis of Me Chapter 1: Coming to Terms What's So Jewish About Superheroes, Anyway? Chapter 2: Superhero Genesis Who He Is and How He Came to Be Chapter 3: A Stranger among Us The Birth of Superman Chapter 4: A Great Multitude Batman and Beyond Chapter 5: Doctor of Doom Frederic Wertham's Superhero Complex Chapter 6: Rebuilding the Temple The Silver Age of Comics Chapter 7: Why Are These Heroes Different? The Marvel Revolution Chapter 8: Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself The X-Men and the '70s Chapter 9: As a Matter of Fact, I Am Jewish The Modern Age Chapter 10: Unto the Next Generation The Jewish Superhero Future Bibliography Index.