SUPERHEROES IN STUDIES: A BIBLIOGRAPHY PLAN

Jennifer Fuchikami

LIS 601

Dr. Vanessa Irvin

May 5, 2015

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………… 03 Search Strategy ………………………………………………………………………………03 Search Terms …………………………………………………………………………………03 Search Process ……………………………………………………………………..…………04 OPAC ……………………………………………………………………………….………..04 UH Voyager ………………………………………………………………………………….04 Databases ……………………………………………………………………………….……04 ProQuest ebrary ………………………………………………………………………...……04 Academic Search Premier…………………………………………………………….………05 MasterFILE Premier………………………………………………………………..…………05 Films on Demand……………………………………………………………….……………..06 Filmakers Online………………………………………………………………...……06 ProQuest Dissertations and Theses………………………………………………………...….06 Web Resources………………………………………………………………………….…….06 , Department of English, The …………………………06

ComicsResearch.org………………………………………………………………………….07 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………..….07 Appendices ……………………………………………………………………...……………07 Sample Annotated Bibliography…………………………………………………………...…07 Search Results Relevancy Charts……………………………………………………………..10 Bibliography ………………………………………………………………………………… 12

INTRODUCTION: Comic originated as collections of comic strips in the early 20th century. According to Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia, the first comic with original material was The Funnies, published in 1929. As the new format grew in popularity, material was created specifically for comic books. In 1938, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created Superman, the first that would launch what is now known as the Golden Age of Comics in America and the creation of the popular superhero (Encyclopædia Britannica Online).

Comics Studies, a formal study of comic books and graphic as has recently began to emerge as a field in the past decade or two. With the resurgence in popularity of superheroes thanks to recent film and television adaptations of classic and contemporary characters, I thought it apropos to create a bibliography plan for this topic. I chose the sub-topics of Asian American superheroes and female superheroes because of personal interest.

The intended audience for this bibliography is university students, both undergraduate and graduate level, who wish to learn more about superheroes in comic books for formal or class research or personal interest. However, even high-schoolers or adults who have an interest in the topic may find this bibliography useful, though UH Manoa students or faculty will benefit the most, since most of the material can be found through their library system.

The Chicago/Turabian citation style is used throughout this bibliography. Natural language search terms (NL) are lower case and italicized. Controlled vocabulary (CV) such as subject headings are in all caps. Boolean terms (AND/OR/NOT) are in all caps and truncation is indicated with an asterisk.

SEARCH STRATEGY:

A. SEARCH TERMS:

Subject Headings: Controlled Vocabulary

I initially gathered subject headings from the 4 , 26th edition of the Library of Congress Subject Headings in the LIS Information Commons. But some for terms, such as “superhero” I was told to use “hero.” When I checked online, the 37th Library of Congress Subject Headings included Superheroes as a subject heading, but depending when an item was cataloged, it might be worth it to try both.

LOC Subject Headings:

- ASIAN AMERICANS - ASIAN AMERICANS – COMIC BOOKS, STRIPS, ETC. - GRAPHIC NOVELS - COMIC BOOKS, STRIPS, ETC. - WESTERN COMIC BOOKS, STRIPS, ETC. - SUPERHEROES - HEROES

Natural Language terms: - Asian American - graphic novels - comic books - Asian Americans in comic books - Female superheroes - Superheroes - Graphic superheroes - superheroes - Asian American superheroes

Call numbers and their classification names:

To browse with Library of Congress call numbers: PN6700-6790 is Literature (General) – Collections of general literature – comic books, strips, etc.

B. SEARCH PROCESS:

The databases are arranged chronologically in the order I accessed them. Searches were restricted to English language when the option was available.

OPAC: UH Voyager Searching the UH Voyager OPAC, typing in SUPERHEROES gave me 172 results. Selecting the , Vol. 4: Zero Year – Secret City by Scott Snyder gave me the subject headings: COMIC BOOKS, STRIPS, ETC. –UNITED STATES, SUPERHEROES—COMIC BOOKS, STRIPS, ETC. and GRAPHIC NOVELS. Searching Asian American comic books gave me the more specific LOC subject heading - ASIAN AMERICANS – COMIC BOOKS, STRIPS, ETC. that might be more beneficial in other databases (in this OPAC, it turned up two Asian anthologies).

DATABASE: ProQuest ebrary

ProQuest’s ebrary seemed like a good place to start. It provides access to over 22,000 electronic books from many fields, including humanities. I thought it might be similar to the OPAC in that I would be able to get some relevant results for my unusual topic. I began with “asian american” AND “” and limited results to any of the selected subjects: COMIC BOOKS, STRIPS, ETC. This cut down 107 results to 9. Multicultural Comics: From Zap to Blue Beetle by Frederick Luis Aldama looked promising at first, but looking within the ebook, while there was a couple chapters on Asian American comic book creators, there wasn’t anything on my subtopic of Asian American superheroes. Similarly, Transnational Perspectives on Graphic Narratives: Comics at the Crossroads by Daniel Stein lacked Asian American superheroes, but one third of the book contained essays on superheroes, so it was relevant for my topic in general. Next I searched SUPERHEROES within the subject COMIC BOOKS, STRIPS, ETC. which gave me 48 hits. WOMEN SUPERHEROES within the same subject gave me about the same results and heroes AND comic books turned up 58 results.

DATABASE: Academic Search Premier (ASP)

This database contains full text for 3,288 scholarly publishing in many subjects including humanities, arts & literature, and ethnic studies. Because of this, I thought it might be relevant to my topic. I first began by looking at the subject terms. ASP used subject headings ASIAN americans, SUPERHERO comic books, strips, etc., WOMEN superheroes, COMIC books, strips, etc., GRAPHIC novels. I limited the search to full text and searched and recorded the results in the appendix. Looking at the “help” section, I realized that this database utilized truncation, so I used that in my natural language searches. I also was reminded of the “power of NOT.” Searching superher* AND graphic novel NOT book review refined results to 54 from 120. My most successful search was WOMEN SUPERHEROES AND COMIC BOOKS, STRIPS, etc. which gave me 5 results and several relevant articles such as Alex Link’s “The Secret of Supergirl's Success” published in the Journal Of .

DATABASE: MasterFILE Premier

Containing the full text of 2,000 periodicals on many subjects such as multicultural issues, it was another general database I was hoping would be relevant to my topic. I began browsing and compiling a list of MasterFILE Premier subject headings using the LOC headings I complied as a start: SUPERHERO comic books, strips, etc., COMIC books, strips, etc., WOMEN superheroes. Asian American would have to be a NL search. I searched and recorded the results in the appendix. I noticed that it didn’t seem like there was as many academic journals in this database. This makes sense, since the description of the database said it was geared toward public . The only article that I found and felt was really useful was “Where No X-Man Has Gone Before! Mutant Superheroes and the Cultural Politics of Popular Fantasy in Postwar America” by Ramzi Fawaz.

DATABASE: Films on Demand

Allows streaming access to educational videos and documentaries in many fields such as humanities. I hoped that this database would provide me with some documentaries on superhero comic books. Searching by title, I searched superheroes and came up with 4 results. A three-part PBS documentary: Superheroes – A Never Ending Battle was the most relevant: Truth, Justice, and the American Way (1930's-1950's), With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility (1960's- 1970's), and A Hero Can Be Anyone (1980's-today). Since there weren’t a lot of results for superheroes, I didn’t think that there would be anything relevant to my sub topics. Indeed, asian american superhero and my third search, female superhero, did not return any results.

DATABASE: Filmakers Library Online

After my luck with Films on Demand, I wanted to try another multimedia database. This one claims to have award-winning documentaries across a broad curriculum. Unfortunately, based on the summaries of the videos, all four of my searches: superhero, superheroes, comic book, and graphic novel all turned up non-relevant results. However, as a librarian-to-be, Out of Print, directed by Vivienne Roumani sounded interesting.

DATABASE: ProQuest Dissertations and Theses

I selected this database to find research and scholarly works by students, especially since Comics Studies is an emerging field. It contains full text of material added since 1997 and selected full text prior to that year. I looked at the “tips” section and found that this database uses truncation. Using LOC subject headings as a starting point, I browsed subjects to find: ASIAN AMERICANS and COMIC BOOKS. Superheroes, and female or women would have to be NL searches. My initial search comic book AND superher* AND asian america* resulted in 1753 hits. I refined it by adding quotations to search for exactly “asian america*” when I saw in the results it was pulling american by itself. This resulted in a more manageable 443 results, but it still didn’t seem to be pulling “Asian americans” so I searched comic book superheroes and sorted the 3606 results by relevance. Though my search didn’t specify female superheroes,

several dissertations related to them showed up such as Elliott Alexander Sawyer’s “Postfeminism in Female Team Superhero Comic Books” from last year.

WEB RESOURCE: Comics Studies, Department of English, The University of Florida.

The Comics Studies program at the University of Florida boasts a website that hosts not only a Comics Scholars discussion list/ListSERV, but a collection of resource links to bibliographies, libraries, museums, blogs, online journals, discussion lists, and more.

WEB RESOURCE: ComicsResearch.org

I found this site when looking through the sample bibliographies. It is run by Dr. Gene Kannenberg, Jr. who wrote his English Ph.D dissertation on comics. It’s a collection of annotated bibliographies for comics studies. I tried searching for Asian American superheroes but there weren’t any hits. On the “Subject Areas/Topics” page, Race/Ethnicity seems to be focused on African Americans, but there is a Women and Comics topic that yielded some possible print resources. On the “/Kinds of Comics” page, Super Heroes/Villains also was relevant to my research. Each entry contains bibliographic information, table of contents, and a list of reviews in print (if available). The only caveat is that other than the blog, this website doesn’t seem to have been updated since 2010, so while a good starting point, researchers will want to look at databases and other sources for more current material.

CONCLUSION:

The most important thing I learned from this project was how important it is to have a plan and to be flexible in your searches. Going to the help section or finding out how a database’s search features work will save you a lot of time and help make your work more efficient. Also, you can’t find material if it doesn’t exist! I probably should have picked another subtopic, but I was so stuck on finding scholarly works on Asian American superheroes, but there doesn’t appear to be that much published at the moment.

Appendix I. Sample ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Superheroes in Comics Studies:

Coogan, Peter. Superhero: The Secret Origin of a Genre. Austin: MonkeyBrain Books, 2006. [PN6714.C667 2006]

Dr. Coogan expands upon his dissertation, exploring the origins of the superhero before and after comic books. Recommended for researchers and scholarly study. Also contains an exhaustive bibliography.

Truth, Justice, and the American Way (1930's-1950's): Superheroes –A Never Ending Battle. Films On Demand. 2013. Accessed May 5, 2015. http://bit.ly/1Nhq6HD.

The first of a three part documentary on the history of comic books. Produced by PBS, it was one of the most thorough documentary films I could find on the topic. Each video is about an hour long. Part 1 deals with the 1930s-50s, part 2 covers the 1960s-70s, and part 3 covers the 1980s to the present.

Asian American Superheroes:

Yang, Jeff, ed. Shattered : the Asian American comics anthology : a secret identities book. New York: New Press, 2012. [PN6726.S48 2012]

This anthology is one of the few that features Asian American superheroes. It features top Asian American comic book creators such as .

Female Superheroes:

Bajac-Carter, Maja, Norma Jones, and Bob Batchelor eds. Heroines of Comic Books and Literature: Portrayals in Popular Culture. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2014. [PN56.5. W64 H55 2014]

Containing 19 essays, Part III: Contemporary American Graphic Novels/Comics is of particular note. However, only the first part of the book, with essays on literature would be non-relevant to the comics studies student. Though there is no bibliography, each essay contains end notes that can be used for further research.

Sawyer, Elliott Alexander. "Postfeminism in Female Team Superhero Comic Books." Order No. 1567146, The University of Utah, 2014. http://search.proquest.com/docview/1625968421?accountid=27140.

Sawyer’s thesis looks at female team superheroes and argues that these groups such as Birds of Prey and Marvel’s Divas undermine female agency. She utilizes close textual and visual analysis in her study. One of the few papers that deals with female team superheroes, it is worth a look. Also includes a bibliography.

Appendix II. SEARCH TERMS RELEVENCY CHART:

HR – highly relevant

SR – slightly relevant

NR – not relevant

CV – controlled vocabulary

NL – natural language

Voyager results relevancy NL superheroes 172 SR NL women superheroes 19 SR NL asian amercan graphic novel 3 NR NL asian american comic book 10 NR CV comic books, strips, etc. AND heroes 90 SR CV GRAPHIC NOVEL 395 SR CV COMIC BOOKS, STRIPS, ETC.--HISTORY AND CRITICISM 74 HR

ebrary results relevancy CV "asian american" AND "graphic novel" (in subject COMIC BOOKS, STRIPS, ETC.) 9 SR CV SUPERHEROES (in subject: COMIC BOOKS, STRIPS, ETC.) 48 SR CV WOMEN SUPERHEROES (in subject: COMIC BOOKS, STRIPS, ETC.) 47 SR NL heroes AND comic books 59 SR

Academic Search premier results relevancy CV SUPERHERO COMIC BOOKS, STRIPS, ETC. 74 NR CV WOMEN SUPERHEROES AND COMIC BOOKS, STRIPS, ETC. 5 HR CV ASIAN AMERICANS AND COMIC BOOKS, STRIPS, ETC. 2 NR CV ASIAN AMERICANS AND SUPERHERO COMIC BOOKS, STRIPS, ETC. 0 NR NL asian superher* OR asian super her* 3 NR NL female superher* OR female super her* 26 SR NL superher* AND graphic novel NOT book review 54 NR

MasterFILE Premier results relevancy CV SUPERHERO COMIC BOOKS, STRIPS, ETC. NOT book review 56 SR CV WOMEN SUPERHEROES AND COMIC BOOKS, STRIPS, ETC. NOT book review 5 NR NL asian america* AND graphic nove* NOT book review 5 NR NL asian america* AND superhero NOT book review 2 SR NL female superher* AND comic boo* NOT book review 12 SR NL superher* AND graphic novel NOT book review 104 NR

Films on Demand results relevancy NL superheroes 4 HR NL asian american superhero 0 NR NL female superhero 0 NR

Filmakers Library Online results relevancy NL superhero 1 NR NL superheroes 3 NR NL comic book 27 NR NL graphic novel 17 NR

ProQuest Dissertations and Theses results relevancy NL comic book AND superher* AND asian america* 1753 SR NL comic book AND superher* AND "asian america*" 443 SR NL comic book superheroes 3619 SR

BIBLIOGRAPHY

A Hero Can Be Anyone (1980's-today): Superheroes – A Never Ending Battle. Films On Demand. 2013. Accessed May 5, 2015. http://digital.films.com.eres.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/PortalPlaylists.aspx?aid=6633&xti d=58755.

“Academic Search Premier.” EBSCO Industries, Inc. 2015. http://micro189.lib3.hawaii.edu/ezproxy/details.php?dbId=2323

Aldama, Frederick Luis. Multicultural Comics: From Zap to Blue Beetle. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2010. [PN6714 -- .M85 2010eb]

Bajac-Carter, Maja, Norma Jones, and Bob Batchelor eds. Heroines of Comic Books and Literature: Portrayals in Popular Culture. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2014. [PN56.5. W64 H55 2014]

“Britannica Academic.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 2015. http://academic.eb.com.ezproxy.librarieshawaii.org:2048/

"Comics." Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia (2014): 1p. 1. Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia, EBSCOhost (accessed May 5, 2015).

“Comics & Studies.” University of Oregon. 2015. http://comics.uoregon.edu/

“Comics Studies, Department of English, University of Florida.” University of Florida. Jan. 28, 2015. http://www.english.ufl.edu/comics/

“Comics Studies MLitt.” University of Dundee. 2015. http://www.dundee.ac.uk/study/pg/comicsstudies/

D'Amore, Laura Mattoon. "The Accidental Supermom: Superheroines and Maternal Performativity, 1963-1980." Journal Of Popular Culture 45, no. 6 (December 2012): 1226-1248.

“Dissertations and Theses.” ProQuest, LLC. 2015. http://micro189.lib3.hawaii.edu/ezproxy/details.php?dbId=2335

Dockterman, Eliana. "Why Marvel Decided to Create an All-Female Superhero Team." Time.Com (February 12, 2015): N.PAG.

“ebrary.” ProQuest. 2014. http://micro189.lib3.hawaii.edu/ezproxy/details.php?dbId=49295

Encyclopædia Britannica Online, s. v. "DC Comics," accessed May 05, 2015, http://academic.eb.com/EBchecked/topic/1527740/DC-Comics.

Fawaz, Ramzi. "Where No X-Man Has Gone Before!" Mutant Superheroes and the Cultural Politics of Popular Fantasy in Postwar America." American Literature 83, no. 2 (June 2011): 355-388.

“Films on Demand.” Films Media Group. 2015 http://micro189.lib3.hawaii.edu/ezproxy/details.php?dbId=56186

“Filmakers Library Online.” Alexander Street Press, LCC. 2015. http://micro189.lib3.hawaii.edu/ezproxy/details.php?dbId=57909

Hatfield, Charles, Jeet Heer and Kent Worcester, eds. Superhero Reader. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2013. [PN6710 -- .S87 2013eb]

Kannenberg, Jr., Gene. “ComicsResearch.org: Comics Scholarship Annotated Bibliographies.” 2010. http://www.comicsresearch.org/

Keating, Erin M. "The Female Link: Citation and Continuity in ." Journal Of Popular Culture 45, no. 6 (December 2012): 1266-1288.

Library of Congress Subject Headings, 26th ed., 4 vols. Washington: Library of Congress, 2003.

“Library of Congress Subject Headings PDF Files, 37th ed.” Library of Congress.gov. Feb. 20, 2015. http://loc.gov/aba/publications/FreeLCSH/freelcsh.html#Introduction

Link, Alex. "The Secret of Supergirl's Success." Journal Of Popular Culture 46, no. 6 (December 2013): 1177-1197.

Lopes, Paul. Demanding Respect : The Evolution of the American Comic Book. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2009. [PN6725 -- .L67 2009eb]

“MasterFILE Premier.” EBSCO Industries, Inc. 2015. http://micro189.lib3.hawaii.edu/ezproxy/details.php?dbId=38071

Out of Print. Directed by Vivienne Roumani. Filmakers Library, 2013. Accessed May 5, 2015. http://search.alexanderstreet.com/view/work/2232505.

“Portland State College of Liberal Arts & Sciences: Comics Studies.” Portland State University. 2015. http://www.pdx.edu/comics-studies/

Sawyer, Elliott Alexander. "Postfeminism in Female Team Superhero Comic Books." Order No. 1567146, The University of Utah, 2014. http://search.proquest.com/docview/1625968421?accountid=27140.

“Signs: Studies in Graphical Narratives.” http://www.graphic-narratives.org/

Stein, Daniel, Shane Densen and Christina Meyer, eds. Transnational Perspectives on Graphic Narratives: Comics at the Crossroads. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2013. [PN6714 - - .T73 2013eb]

“The Comics Grid: Journal of Comics Scholarship.” Ubiquity Press. 2015. http://www.comicsgrid.com/

“The Comics Journal.” Books Inc. 2015. http://www.tcj.com/

Truth, Justice, and the American Way (1930's-1950's): Superheroes –A Never Ending Battle. Films On Demand. 2013. Accessed May 5, 2015. http://digital.films.com.eres.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/PortalPlaylists.aspx?aid=6633&xti d=58753.

Ujiie, Joanne Kyoko. "Read Junk. it's Good for You: Dispelling the Myths Surrounding Quality Literature, Comic Books, Series Books and Bestsellers." Order No. 3180341, University of Southern California, 2005. http://search.proquest.com/docview/305423503?accountid=27140.

Wang, Hansi Lo. “Was The Green Turtle the First Asian American Superhero?” nrp.org. http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2014/07/15/330121290/was-the-green-turtle-the- first-asian-american-superhero

“Welcome – Institute for Comics Studies.” Institute for Comics Studies. 2015. http://comicsstudies.org/

With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility (1960's-1970's): Superheroes –A Never Ending Battle. Films On Demand. 2013. Accessed May 5, 2015. http://digital.films.com.eres.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/PortalPlaylists.aspx?aid=6633&xti d=58754.

Yang, Jeff, ed. Shattered : the Asian American comics anthology : a secret identities book. New York: New Press, 2012. [PN6726.S48 2012]