Superman Research Paper

When read with a critical eye, the world of superhero comics often offers a lens with which we can examine society, our values, the meaning of justice, and the role of the individual in regards to the greater community. If all of this information is garnered from critical reading, then the way in which the medium of comics constructs these meanings will reflect an embrace or a rejection of the common symbols and ideology of it’s source culture. In the case of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon’s 1987 graphic novel, Watchmen, the second approach is used, as Moore’s writing draws upon the common cultural understanding of superheroes and exaggerates or tweaks them, exposing their underlying ideals. In this way, Watchmen functions not only as a

Is this modern concept much different than other stories we have grown up watching from an early age? I believe there are many similarities in stories of superheroes and comic many of us grew up reading and watching on Saturday mornings. Batman, a well-known super hero, fought crime in Gotham and was the “Dark Knight” that restored peace in his community. While Batman did not kill the criminals he was chasing after he did bring them to justice!

Comics allow for a unique type of learning through the combination of prose and images. Not only does the reader have the ability to take away meaning from the text, but the images offer clarification and small details that one might miss when reading a novel or short story. “The Mixed Up Files”, a comic by Gabrielle Bell about how literature affected her life, and “Superman and Me”, an article by Sherman Alexie regarding comic books, include information about their childhoods. However, due to the ambiguity and the detail of the pictures and text in “The Mixed Up Files”, more information about Bell’s childhood is available to the reader.

America’s current political events and values are reflected through the film industry’s portrayal of superheroes. Post 9/11, it has become increasing clear that the issues and values held dear to most Americans are now being portrayed on the big screen. Fighting back at the “enemy” and consolidating as one were some of the messages in the background of superhero films after the attacks on the twin towers. More recently it has become apparent that the USA is becoming more divided; just like the superheroes that have been on the silver screen in recent months. America’s allowances for overly violent superheroes and everything said superheroes stand for, are simply just reflections of their own socio-political views and values. It is this allowance that has lead to the rise of Donald Trump.

The creation of "superhero comic books presents an effective way to convey and implant positive messages into the minds of the readers. It also helps that the issues of the comic books are relatable and is often the current issue of the time," says Sharon Lamb, a highly distinguished psychologist. "Comic book issues often revolve around the topic of drugs, bullying, racism and corruption, as they were the issues faced by the society at that time," explained theartifice.com Each 'episode' became a way to exclaim the wrongness of the problems and its urgency to be ceased.

Comic book industries have been the main establishers for the new American youth culture. This has also been well used to settle a cultural representation for communism, wartime-propaganda, and, to those adults who thought their child acting rude was caused by comics, a sign of the decline of comic books, thus making the industry fall into consensus and conformity. Ever since the first comic book was created in the 1930’s, Americans have been greatly influenced because of its vast enjoyment. Whether from romance to war or justice to crime, comic books have forever changed popular culture and can definitely portray how, at different times in U.S. history, people understood and interpreted events around the globe. This becomes apparent in the film Comic Book Superheroes: Unmasked when the

For centuries, man has struggled with the concepts of good and evil and have produced astounding works as a reflection of it. This is ideally the foundation of early fables and folklore dating back to ancient civilizations. Stories about famed heroes and the battle of good and evil woven into extravagant tales of danger, destiny, and triumph. These stories were often assimilated into individual societies, told from generation to generation until eventually finding themselves becoming an integral part of the culture. In 1938, a new era began to emerge known as the “golden age” of superheroes. Superman made his first appearance in action comics, forging a unique identity as the first comic book superhero in American culture and quickly

BOOM! POW! ZAP! When these phrases are heard or read, comics are most likely the things that come to mind. Made popular by television and the selling of comics in general, franchises like DC Comics have risen to the top in modern day popular culture.

Merchandise, action figures, posters, video games, clothing continues to add to the genre’s increasing popularity. While many superhero movies can be quite inspirational and serve as good entertainment and also have a positive impact on the audience, sometimes they can have a negative effect as well. This includes racism, violent behavior, etc. This arises the question of why superheroes are so popular and if that is a good thing or a bad thing.

The stories were created to depict the tension and political struggle of the on-going Cold War which was reflected through the anxiety of the superheroes for their country. This era was also famous for the introduction of the ‘flawed superheroes’ who were much more human and as a result, more relatable to the general audience. The storylines were not only restricted to large than life characters and as a result, a lot of social issues were captured by the artists of this generation through the comic books. Thus, established superheroes like Batman and Green Lantern started tackling social issues like gang violence and drugs where were considered to be taboo till that

Do you know the superheroes? Of course you know. The Spider Man, The Capital of The American, you can hear these names everywhere. I still remembered that my young cousin , wearing the superman’s classical dress, imaged that he was a superhero fighting with the bad guys. Even some adults also like to see the movies about the superheroes. Nowadays, it seems that the superheroes have become a symbol of American culture and widely received by all over the world. As we all know, the superheroes in American culture have a long history, which is closely related to its specific background, and they are still utterly popular among the American on account of two main reasons, also they influence American people and ultimately

Grant Morrison’s All-Star Superman was a comic book series first published in 2005, written in an attempt to “strip down the Man of Steel to his timeless, essential elements.” In the third

Once disregarded, comic books have been progressively paving a way to the future without sexism and racism in a time when they are becoming increasingly impactful to young adults. In 1938 Superman debuted and began the future of comic books, creating the two most influential publishers (Adkins). In 1940 Fantomah was introduced as the first female superhero character, though she remained a less popular character in the industry. It wasn’t until the early 1960’s that Wonder Woman was created, and she became one of the most well-known female heroes among the genres. Since then, more and more women have been depicted as heroes, mostly female versions of themselves. With racism and sexism still a common problem in society, Marvel was the first to announce that they would replace a major male hero completely with a female that has her own origin story, as well as sticking with comics and allowing Falcon, an African American superhero, to take the place of Captain America. Though resulting in mixed reviews, this step has been seen as a dive into the right direction for equality in the comic book industry.

Comic books have the power to make even famous of people realize how amazing they are as Nicolas Cage described “Are modern mythology, they reflect our fears, embody our ideals, and personalized our culture.” Our civilization has created movies, books, action figures and tv shows as they ingrained comic books into our everyday culture. We identify heroes by their persona as we have become to known Superman “as the man of steel” and Batman “ as the Dark Knight” these characters have paved the way for new beginnings, ideals that weren't imaginable at the time they were created.

But what is a superhero? What sets it apart from a normal person? Superheroes are subsets of heroic figures that came to be possessed by superhuman qualities (Danny Fingeroth, 2004). They have powers and abilities far beyond of those ordinary mortals. They pursue justice and defend the defenseless, helping those who cannot help themselves and with the force of good they overcome evil. (“Superheroes and Philosophy,” 2005) But what is the history of the making of these extraordinary characters? Superman, Batman, Wonderwoman, Spiderman and countless other superheroes have been in the media for the past decades. Superheroes have not only been created to be a source of entertainment to the general public, but also for increasing awareness. Since 1938, superheroes were made to deal with drugs, alcohol, and other social issues to increase awareness to the readers. Not only did these superheroes gave awareness, it’s vast influence on modern culture also gave hope, creativity and wonder to the public during harsh times especially with children. Eventually, superheroes have been adopted to cinema and became the main attraction for both fantasy and sci-fi films. Superheroes have also been chosen numerous times to be the subjects of big-budget motion pictures. Take, for example, the Stan Lee’s Comics; as of March 2012, Stan Lee’s comics had been adapted into Hollywood many