Douglas Brode is a novelist, screenwriter, playwright, film historian, and award winning journalist. He teaches courses on various popular culture subjects at the Newhouse School of Public Communications, Department of Radio, TV and Film, at Syracuse University. The author of more than 35 books on the visual and performing arts, he regularly appears on national radio and TV shows as a special guest.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Superman, DC Comics, and the Lure of the Fantastic

Douglas Brode

Super Immigrants in the DC Universe: Superman and Wonder Woman in the United States

Emily Lauer

Deconstructing Batman, Encumbered and Unencumbered

Cyrus R.K. Patell

Queer(ing) Robin: Performances of Sexuality in Dick Grayson and His Aliases

Micah McCrary

Constructed Super Families: Superheroes, ­­Super-Kids, and ­­Super-Pets

Ora C. McWilliams

From Sherlock Holmes to Contemporary Superheroes: The Art of Detection and Investigation in the DC Universe

Michelle D. Miranda

Of Selina Kyle and Harley Quinn: Branding and Controlling Women in Batman Video Games

Carl Wilson

Shipping Supergirl: Discovering and Defending Lesbian Identity Through a DC Fandom

Katherine Pradt

Batgirl of Burnside: The Normalization of Diversity in the DC Universe

Hafsa Alkhudairi

From Boy to Man: The Power of Shazam and Idealized Self-Image

William Battle

The Cultural Context of Green Lantern: Superhero Commodity Rebirth, Renewal, and Rhetorical Extensions

Garret L. Castleberry

Teleporting Off the Page: The Wacky Life and Truncated Career of Ambush

Joseph S. Walker

Ratoon, Remontant, Revenant, or Recorporation: Death, Melancholy, and Mourning in DC's The Saga

of the Swamp Thing

Jeffrey Mccambridge

Aquaman Rex: The Arthurian Associations of a DC Superhero

Carl B. Sell

Bound to the Shackles of History: Reading Archival Practices in DC Comics' Flashpoint

Priel Cohanim

DC's King of the Wild Frontier: Tomahawk and the Tradition of the Eastern-Western

Douglas Brode

DC Comics' Renaissance: An Examination of the Audience for The New Teen Titans

Joshua Ryan Roeder

"A vision of the world where all wisdom is annihilated"; Time, Narrative, and the Optics of Power in Watchmen

Jeffrey Mccambridge

Wonder Woman Revisited: Increasing the Drama with Classical Reception in New 52's Justice League

Scott Manning

Evil Ink: Tattoos as a Sign of Villainy in Comics

Michelle D. Miranda

Caped Crusaders and Cartoon Crossovers: A Nostalgic Look "Beyond" DC Superheroes

Christina M. Knopf

About the Contributors

Index