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Home , Mutants (DC Comics), Mutant (Marvel Comics), Mutant X (comics), New Mutants, Superhuman, Triumph (comics)

The Superheroes and the Radical Imagination of American Comics

INSTRUCTOR’S GUIDE

In 1964, noted literary critic Leslie Fiedler described American youth as “new mutants,” social rebels severing their attachments to American culture to remake themselves in their own image. 1960s creators, anticipating Fiedler, began to morph American superheroes from icons of nationalism and white masculinity into actual outcasts, defi ned by their genetic difference from ordinary humanity. These powerful misfi ts and “freaks” soon came to embody the social and political aspirations of America’s most marginalized groups, including women, racial and sexual minorities, and the working classes.

In The New Mutants, Ramzi Fawaz draws upon queer theory to tell the story of these monstrous fi gures and how they grapple with radical politics from Civil Rights and The New Left to Women’s and Gay Liberation Movements. Through a series of comic book case studies – including The of America, The , The X-Men, and The New Mutants –alongside late 20th century fan writing, cultural criticism, and political documents, Fawaz reveals how the American modeled new forms of social belonging that counterculture youth would embrace in the 1960s and after. The New Mutants provides the fi rst full-length study to consider the relationship between comic book fantasy and radical politics in the modern .

368 PAGES • PAPER 978-1-4798-2308-6

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INTRODUCTION kinds ofprogressive UnitedStates. and left-wingidealsinthemodern desirable andpleasurable. Thisproject madefantasyitselfatoolinpromoting new from gender or abilityas traditionalidealsofbodilyperfectionandnormative world makingandcreative invention—todepictsuperhumanbodiesthatdeviated early 1960s.Thisethoswasgrounded of intheuseoffantasy—orimaginativeforms projects forpoliticalfreedom thatinfusedsuperhero comicbooksstartinginthe defi worldview, bya democraticinvestmentincross-cultural communicationandglobe-spanning or ned ethos, an cosmopolitics,” book “comic a composing superhero ascollectively comicbooks.Theauthordescribesthesetransformations superhero stories,andtheabsorptionofmore radicalleft-wingpoliticalidealsinto allowed readers andcontentof tobeactiveparticipantsinshapingtheform heightened interactionbetween creators and readers ofcomicbook texts that a concerns), national or local on focus previous a to conflopposed social (as ict included comicbooks’increasing visualattentiontoglobalandcosmicscalesof in thevisualandnarrativecontentofsuperhero comicbooks.Thistransformation The reinvention ofthesuperhero wasaccompaniedbyadramatictransformation society. the experienceofracial,gender, U.S. sexual,anddisabledminoritiesinmodern superheroes ofminoritystatus creatively madethemexperienceaform akinto variety ofminoritiesandsocialoutcasts.Ineffect, themutantnature ofpost-WWII superheroes increasingly cametorepresent theaspirationsandinterests ofa and technology. Simultaneously, progressive potentialofscience than merely celebrating,theassumed rather critiquing, for fi gure the superhero becameapotent One consequenceofthiswasthat as mutantsorbiological“freaks.” after, superheroes were presented species outcast;inthe1960sand in theearly1960sasageneticand in thelate1930sanditsreinvention the superhero between its creation We about theevolution of also learn by white,malenationalisticheroes. This fi gure was commonly embodied notions of justice and the rule of law. technological progress withliberal in thelimitlesspossibilitiesof that originallytiedtogetherabelief fifantasy a as 1930s late the gurein the originofAmericansuperhero In thisintroductionabout welearn SUMMARY superheroes increasingly cametorepresent theaspirationsandinterests ofa NYU PRESSINSTRUCTOR’S GUIDE INTRODUCTION

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

• What are differences between comic book superheroes in the period before and after WWII? What historical realities made the transformation of the superhero across this time period possible?

• What did it look like for superhero comic books to “scale upward” in their visual and narrative imagination in the post-WWII period? How did scaling upward allow the American superhero to represent a wider range of political possibilities and identities?

• What is fantasy? What are some of the ways that superhero comic books used fantasy in reinventing the post-WWII superhero? What are some of the consequences of seeing fantasy as a political category, rather than just as pure entertainment, or escapism?

LESSON PLANS A. After reading the introduction for one class session, have students read the fi rst 5-10 issues of The Fantastic Four series (available as collected reprint editions) alongside the introduction to Jane Bennett’s The Enchantment of Modern : Attachments, Crossings, and Ethics in the following session. What are some of the visual and narrative elements of The Fantastic Four that invoke enchantment as Bennett describes it? Does that feeling potentially produce attachment to characters, ethical worldviews, or new kinds of political commitments?

B. Over 2 class sessions, have students read this introduction and issue #1 of The Fantastic Four either alongside, or after, teaching the introduction to José Esteban Muñoz’s Cruising : The Then and There of Queer Futurity or Eve Sedgwick’s “Paranoid and Reparative Reading.” This introduction can function as a model of both queer utopian possibilities or reparative reading practices around a traditionally denigrated cultural form (the comic book medium). Ask students what is distinctly “queer” about post-WWII superhero comic books and have them develop a “reparative reading” of The Fantastic Four #1.

THE NEW MUTANTS 3 4 Universal Citizenship Superhero The Team : andthe Promise FamilyThe of of a form ofglobalorworldcitizenship. a form exceptional fi gure who might be the only person capable of successfully inhabiting made theidealandseeminglyinvulnerablesuperheroic bodyappearasarare and justice through theintelligentandethicaluseofscience,comicbook also the galaxies. Even as it depicted egalitarian projects for global peacekeeping and who couldsecure ofpoliticalfreedom forms notonlyonEarthbutalsothroughout presented anewvisualdepictionofthesuperhero asanintergalactic adventurer for vehicle promoting solidarity. international League Alongsidethesemessages,TheJustice key a identifi as series science The ed cosmos. the across even and how todefeatvillainsandextendpoliticalfreedom topeoplearound theworld, its heroes as purveyors of scientifi c knowledge, using scientifi c ingenuity exceeded thelimitsofanysinglenation.Moreover,and theseriesrepeatedlyknow- presented ofcitizenshipthatand consequentlysuggestedthevalueofpost-nationalforms of politicalthreats freedom tointernational includingfascismandtotalitarianism, These discoursescelebratedtheimportanceofglobalcooperationinface andhumanrightsmadeavailableafterWWII.the discoursesofinternationalism previous superheroic iconsandexplored someofthepoliticalpossibilitiesthat In In City). City). LeaguequestionedtheassumedAmericancitizenshipofso doing,TheJustice Star Star Lantern’s Lantern’s Green Green (like (like towns towns or or cities cities distinct distinct affi affi with with local local Wonder liations liations (like more or Island), Paradise Woman’s island mythical Mars), a J’onzz’s J’onn (like planet locale, whetheritbeanalien both theUnitedStatesandanother dual allegiance orcitizenship to global security—as fi gures who hold together toward off threats to superheroic adventurers working of bothiconicandnewlyintroduced central heroes—a team composed series depictedthemajorityofits or geographicallocation.The people regardless ofnational origin seeking justiceandfreedom forall citizen, oranactiveparticipantin to present thesuperhero series asaglobal book comic fi rst the of League ofAmericabecameone Chapter 1explores how The Justice SUMMARY NYU PRESSINSTRUCTOR’S GUIDE 5 CHAPTER 1 The Justice Justice The exhibit. How do Family of Man exhibit. How do alongside Klein’s introduction and and introduction The Justice League of America alongside Klein’s in the United States Before and After WWII” and watch watch and WWII” After and Before States United Kulturkämpfthe in Cold Cold War to Christina Klein’s introduction Read this chapter alongside the In one class session, have students read David Hollinger’s essay “Science as essay “Science as David Hollinger’s read In one class session, have students ? How does the comic book visually dramatize The Justicecomic book visually dramatize League of America? How does the The Justice League of like The Family of Man and The Justicevarious forms League of of visual culture, do to the cold war logic of integration? How responses different America, offer their visual strategies overlap and have diverge? students (Alternatively, read the of issues 10 rst fi this chapter). . In a slideshow online or in class, Imagination. In a slideshow online or in class, Orientalism: Asia in the Middlebrow circulate images from Edward Steichen’s 1955 B. A. LESSON PLANS ’s inability to deal with disability be a inability to deal with disability be a •Why might The Justice’s League of America contradiction the of make you do What justice? global of its for problem and also vulnerable and potentially as extra-powerful beings, between superheroes disabled subjects? dangers of post-WWII science and technology? What is “scientifi c cosmopolitanism” cosmopolitanism” c •How does The Justice possibilities and deal with both the League of America “scientifi is What technology? and science post-WWII of dangers its limits? and what might be these forms of citizenship, and negotiate potential contradictions between them? these forms contradictions between them? of citizenship, and negotiate potential •What are the different forms of citizenship that circulate throughout the narrative the narrative throughout forms that circulate of citizenship the different •What are of QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION QUESTIONS differ from, or overlap with, the approach espoused by the espoused by the or overlap with, the approach from, League of America differ c cosmopolitanism? of scientifi proponents a Weapon of Weapon a selections from Walt Disney’s “Our Friend the ”; have them read this chapter this chapter them read “Our Friend the Atom”; have Disney’s Walt selections from and 2-3 issues of The Justice League of America the following session. What were value to the increasing responded some of the ways that American popular culture How do the of science as a tool for shaping everyday life as well as global politics? and Atom” the Friend “Our Disney’s in offered science to approaches THE NEW MUTANTS Universal Citizenship Universal The Family of ofThe Family Promise the and Superman: Team The Superhero 6 CHAPTER 2 The Fantastic The Four of History On!”Nuclear Families,“Flame Unstable Molecules, andthe Queer species, cultures, andworlds. the cold war space race who were invested inegalitarian encounters with different Fourframeditsfourheroes andprogressiveThe Fantastic asalternative, iconsof with avastworldofaliens,mutants,, andhumanallies.Ultimately, unit thatexpandedandadjustedtotheconsequences ofunexpectedencounters asametaphorical “unstablemolecule,”anever-evolvingnuclear familyform social embodiment incoldwarAmerican.Initsnarrative, theseriesrecast theAmerican ofidentityand atonce,eachteammemberdestabilized traditionalforms forms backandforth fromtransforming rock-like Myinhabitingmultiple tohumanform. fion light to appearing incrediblelengths, force-shields,re,orprojectinginvisible to stretching forms: flmaterial in multiple constantly between are ux that bodies outcasts. Thevisualpleasure oftheseriesrelied onthedepiction of humanity,of limits misfithe social outside treatedas placed hence often and orts to proper of genderandsexualityortraditionalhumanphysiologyare forms the “,”askingavarietyofquestionsaboutwhybodiesthatfailtoconform Americans. Insodoingtheseriesquestionedtaken-for-granted categoryof the four’s individualbodiesandtheirownself-perception“normal” asformerly Four explored thesocialandpoliticalconsequence ofthemismatchbetween upon thesuperhero’supon thesuperhero’s dualrole dualrole asanationalandglobalcitizen, asanationalandglobalcitizen,TheFantastic Where consumerism, anddomesticity. McCarthyism, psychoanalysis, includingof normalization, to variouspostwardiscourses represent distinctmaterialresponses of eachteammembercometo In theseries,individualbodies or mutatetheirhumanphysiology. granting themabilitiesthatunravel that alter their molecular structure, from exposure to“cosmicrays” who’s superpowerswere gained presented agroup ofsuperheroes of America, LeagueFour. UnlikeTheJustice the post-WWIIperiodTheFantastic American superhero comic book of case studyofthemostpopular Chapter 2beginsanextended SUMMARY The Justice The League Justice played The Fantastic Four The Fantastic

NYU PRESSINSTRUCTOR’S GUIDE The Fantastic 7 CHAPTER 2 and this chapter chapter this Fantasticand Four The Have the class Have the class The Fantastic Four. engage with and rework rework and with engage FantasticFour The Have students read “Chapter 1: Postwar Liberalism and the Crisis of Liberal Over the span of 2-3 class sessions, begin by having students read an excerpt an excerpt Over the span of 2-3 class sessions, begin by having students read B. LESSON PLANS A. The about The to 1960s comic book readers • What might have been compelling the “unstable distinct version of family and kinship? Do you think Fantastic Four’s the kind of worldview the series espouses? molecule” is a useful metaphor for • What were some of the visual pleasures of the series? How did creators exploit exploit creators of the series? How did visual pleasures some of the • What were a new kind colors, or formsparticular kinds of images, visual displays, to represent of mutated superhero? pressed back against ideas back against ideas that The Fantastic some of the ways Four pressed • What are of normalization in post-WWII America? reinvent the superhuman body in the 1960s? What body in the 1960s? What the superhuman • How did The Fantastic Four reinvent of gender normativity did the cold war discourses and consumerism play in role of the way The of the cultural consequences some What were this reinvention? superheroes? Fantastic Four represented QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION QUESTIONS from from Sara Ahmed’s essay followed rst by issue “Orientations: this of chapter and the fi Toward a Queer Phenomenology” conduct a close ve reading pages rst of of fi the the fi issue (which How narrates phenomenology. queer of notion the Ahmed’s using Four) Fantastic the of origin does the origin team’s story orient readers towards queerness (or forms of embodiment)? How does the layout of the comic book page in this sequence “normal” that shifts our perspective from device function as a reorientation queer American bodies to queer or non-traditional bodies? What is distinctly about the Fantastic Four? for the following session. How did How session. following the for masculinity? How do the four lead characters mid-century discourses of liberal Alternatively, gender? proper of notions traditional destabilize and embody both The Feminine along to Betty Friedan’s you can teach the introduction with this chapter and issues of The Fantastic. Four for one one for Manhood in American Political Culture Cuordileone’s in K.A. Masculinity” of issues 5-10 rst fi the by followed session, class THE NEW MUTANTS History of Four The Fantastic “Flame On!” Nuclear Families, Unstable Molecules, and the Queer Queer the and Molecules, Unstable “FlameFamilies, Nuclear On!” 8 CHAPTER 3 World-Making Project FantasticComic BookCosmopolitics: The Four Third World Liberation. reworking someofthecentralpoliticalvaluesmovementsforBlackPower and like outsidethelogicsofcoldwarcontainmentand integration,modelingand affiand encounter cross-species and cross-racial what imagined look might liation “less thanhuman”onthebasisoftheirracialdifference. Asaresult, theseries the experienceofbeingracialminoritieswhosimilarly are deemed“inhuman” or distanced themfrom proper humanity, to theserieslinked theirtransformations By framingthefourheroes’ superpowersasakindofbiologicalaberration that a raciallyheterogeneous networkofsuperhumanalliesfrom around theglobe. series’ ownincreasing interest indepictingtheFantasticFour’s encounterswith the political values of the series. These dialogues ultimately dovetailed with the democratic spaceofmutualdialogueanddisagreement aboutissuesrelated to counterpublic composedofreaders whoviewedthemselvesasparticipatingina comics.Thesedialoguesacross Fourissueshelpedproducemodern Fantastic a of comic book “realism,” and the potential limits of anticommunist ideology in the representation ofwomensuperheroes incomics,thepoliticalimportance and asitewhereincludingand asitewhereincluding fansdebatedquestionsofseriouscollectiveconcern fansdebatedquestionsofseriouscollectiveconcern pages became a staple of the series content oftheseries.Theletters regarding thevisualandnarrative that fanshadwrittentocreators selectedlettersin publishedform, pages were dedicatedtopresenting, monthly letters pages. These letters readers andcreatorsof intheform forum forcommunicationbetween difference, theseriespioneered a for forging relationships across view ofthefamilyasavehicle extension oftheseries’egalitarian narratives across the1960s. Asan the trajectory of its characters and between readers andcreators about interactions complex infl by uenced how theseriescontentwasheavily of Chapter 3extendsthecasestudy SUMMARY The Fantastic FourtoexploreThe Fantastic NYU PRESSINSTRUCTOR’S GUIDE ’s asa Counterpublic 9 CHAPTER 3 ’s Counterpublic as Counterpublic as ’s article “A Negro Assays the Negro Mood.” You may also have the class may also have the class Mood.” You Assays the Negro article “A Negro If you wish to stress the elements of this chapter that focus on comic book chapter that focus on comic book the elements of this If you wish to stress If you wish to stress the material on race and species, teach the chapter the material on race and species, teach the chapter If you wish to stress (the fi rst introduction of The Fantastic Four the (the Black fi Panther) and write their of the ways that the letters pages of of pages letters the that ways the of some are What counterpublic? a is What own fan letters in responses to the content of the two issues. Have students share to the content of the two issues. Have students share own fan letters in responses Finally, to one another. their letters with the class and then publically respond an original collectively decide which letters should be “printed” and produce to the letters page made up of student “Letters to the Editor” that you circulate class. entire reading communities and letters pages, you can pair it with either Henry Jenkins’s Henry Jenkins’s either with it pair can you pages, letters and communities reading chapter or Poachers,” Textual as Fans Re-written: Re-read, Re-run, Trek “Star essay Publics and Counterpublics. Stage a discussion about 2 of Michael Warner’s popular of content and form the uencing infl in participation fan of forms competing media texts. In the following two class sessions have students read issues #52-53 of THE NEW MUTANTS B. A. LESSON PLANS • How did the rst Fantastic encounters Four’s with fi the Black Panther and of cosmopolitanism? dramatize some of the complexities the The and species come to take a central place in The • How did the categories of race some of the possibilities visual and narrative imagination? What are Fantastic Four’s and limits of the series’ take on race? World-Making Project World-Making pages Fantasticletters The Four in place took that conversations the did How • series with political or aspects of the about artistic or creative combine questions social concerns? in do you think you would have been What kind of participant in the 1960s? What of the series you had been an active reader these debates if in expressed fans other sentiments the to had have you might reactions of kinds their letters? • the of counterpublic? Who were a kind The Fantastic Four might be considered dialogues did they have? counterpublic and what kinds of participants in this QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION QUESTIONS The Fantastic Four The Cosmopolitics: Book Comic Fantastic New York New York Statement or James Baldwin’s The Port Huron alongside selections from Times The Fantastic either Four read #45-47 or #51-53 (the issues the of members that the do ways introduce what In the respectively). Panther Black the and Inhumans Fantastic Four model the kinds of egalitarian values articulated in The Port Huron Statement? What appear to be some of the limits or blind spots of the team’s to difference? response 10 CHAPTER 4 utrlPltc fthe ComicBookSpace Opera Cultural Politics of “Where NoX-ManHasGone Before!” Mutant Superheroes andthe or alienationbutanunpredictable spaceforforging affi nities andkinship. “universal humanity.” Inthesestories,outer-space isnolongeravoidofloneliness but ontheshared experienceofthefailure toliveupanidealizedimageof identity of notions traditional affion of based category not a liation as mutation orgeographicalorigin;insodoing,theseriescastof species,embodiedform, -Menseekoutbondswithallmannerof lifeintheuniverseregardless evolution in their genetic make up. As genetic outcasts shunned by humanity, the an to due abilities extraordinary with gifted superhero, fimutant the the of gure to readers introduce to fibook the comic series, rst X-Men The in captured was opera space the of fluniverse’sversion the This to ourishing. threats combat to confl icts that brought countless strangers together from every reach of outerspace second iterationofthespaceopera,GalacticSpaceWar, narratedepiccosmic forged betweenmutants,aliens,andcosmicbeingsacross theuniverse.This psychicaffi and the encounters liationsdynamic from the to away heroes righteous moved morally of opera suffering space the mid-1970s, the In minds. and suffering hero—as aresponse totheinabilityofradicalpoliticschangehearts identifithe moral with deployed empathy Melodrama righteous of kind cation—a the alienationmoralheroes feltinaworldofinjustice.Inthisway, theMessianic The Messianic Melodrama used the limitless void of outer-space as a metaphor for mankind toembracetoleranceandcreatemankind toembracetoleranceandcreate peacefulrelations peacefulrelations across across difference. difference. complaint against the failures of 1960s, theseheroes lobbiedamoral Left Socialmovementsinthelate In thewakeoffracturingNew beings. human confl of petty icts the on Earthonlytodiscoverwithhorror after traveling the galaxies, alight , andCaptain Marvel who, god-like heroes likethe , Melodrama toldtalesofalienated The GalacticSpaceWar. TheMessianic theMessianic Melodrama andforms, The spaceoperaappeared intwo of superheroes traversing thecosmos. the genre, specifispace opera,thatnarratedepictales c a comprise to came stories these mid-1970s, the By of cosmic orintergalactic adventure. comics becomedominatedbystories Starting inthelate1960s,superhero SUMMARY NYU PRESSINSTRUCTOR’S GUIDE 11 CHAPTER 4 If you want to stress the countercultural aspects of the space opera, pair this of the space opera, pair this aspects the countercultural If you want to stress If you wish to stress the queer or collectivist aspects of the space opera, the queer or collectivist aspects of the space opera, If you wish to stress B. A. LESSON PLANS • How did The X-Men’s “queer mutanity” offer a different form of community form of community a different “queer mutanity” offer • How did The X-Men’s versions of collectivity espoused by liberal humanist previous and kinship from of the series’ centralizing of women some of the consequences politics? What are you want to be a mutant? plots? Would characters in its visual style and narrative • How did the category of mutation provide a new approach to questions of questions of to a new approach of mutation provide • How did the category some of What are comic book publishing? and diversity in superhero difference to discuss X-Men series deployed The narrative innovations that visual and the race and gender? issues around • What are some of the key features of the Messianic Melodrama? How does this How does this of the Messianic Melodrama? the key features of some • What are you compelled Are to make political statements? use feeling or sentiment genre by this form or not? of sentimental or emotional politics QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION QUESTIONS especially as it is displayed in The X-Men, pair this chapter with Robert McRuer’s McRuer’s especially as it is displayed in The X-Men, pair this chapter with Robert essay “Gay Gatherings: Reimagining the Counterculture.” You may also assign students to read “The Phoenix Saga,” (available as a collected reprint edition). as a form X-Men the of of interpreting the consequences some of What are of the gay “gay gathering”? How does the Phoenix Saga deploy certain aspects kinship? to narrate a story of cross-species counterculture chapter with “Chapter 4: Being One: From Knowledge to Consciousness in the Spaceship Society” in Getting Sam Loose: Binkley’s Lifestyle Consumption in the 1970s. Then have students watch the movie Barbarella (Vadim, 1968). What are some of the lm ways and that comics different visual for media instance) forms (fi call for developing expanded consciousness? visualized the hippie counterculture’s In sexuality play in this visual culture? did images of liberated female What role notions countercultural also limited by, women both central to, but what ways were of expanded consciousness? THE NEW MUTANTS Cultural Politics of Politics Cultural Opera Space Comic Book the “Where No X-Man Has Gone Before!” Mutant Superheroes and the and the Superheroes Mutant Before!” Gone Has X-Man No “Where 12 CHAPTER 5 the Working-Class Hero Heroes that “Give aDamn!”UrbanFolktales and the Triumph of who’s workmade avaluablecontributiontoAmericansociety. of urbanfolktalesallowedcreators toframesthemselvesasprogressive thinkers American heroes naïveaboutAmericanurbanlifepresented formerly inthepages devaluation withsocialandpoliticalclout.Theseeming rehabilitation oficonic infuse superheroes withsocialrelevance asawaytocounterbalanceeconomic of the comic book industry; consequently, these writers and artists sought to re- devaluation oftheircreative laborundertheincreasingly corporaterestructuring registered thefrustrationofcomicbookproducers whoexperiencedaneconomic of civilrightsandNewLeftpoliticsappeared tobeeroding. Insodoing,thegenre public imageofcomicbooksassociallyrelevant mediaatatimewhenthegains of thehorrors ofurbandecay, racism,andeconomicexploitationbolstered the the post-civilrightsera.Atsametime,genre’s documentary-likedepiction male heroes as the solution to American racial confl ict and economic inequality in like thosedepictedinTheX-Menbyidentifyingtheremasculanization oficonic heroic activity. Theurbanfolktalepositioneditselfagainstcosmopolitanprojects lived lived experiences experiences of of the the people people they they claimed claimed to to fifi ght ght for for as as a a requirementrequirement of of theirtheir that superheroes acknowledgethe citizenshipthatdemandedinformed was presented asanarrativeabout this mid-1970s, the chapters showshowtheurbanfolktale of lines story and the (1974) Comics’ Marvel and miniseries (1970) acclaimed / and poverty. AnalyzingDCComics’ interest ofcombatinginner-city crime between whiteandblackheroes inthe while depicting the alliances forged superheroes toblightedurban milieus, narrated thereturn ofspace-faring stories These 1970s. the in folktales being displayedinthepagesofurban of inner-city life that were concurrently confllocal the icts to X-Men The and space adventures ofTheSilverSurfer cosmic the from in zooms 5 Chapter SUMMARY

NYU PRESSINSTRUCTOR’S GUIDE 13 CHAPTER 5

With this chapter, assign rst the volume fi of Green Lantern/Green Arrow Prior to reading this chapter have students read Captain America and the Captain America and the read this chapter have students Prior to reading Falcon: Bicentennial (or else The the ’76: follow up of story Spirit Nomad; both 4—The are “Chapter available as alongside editions) reprint collected and Cold War Revivalism” in Natasha Zaretsky’s book No Direction Home: The American Family and the Fear of National Decline, 1968-1980. Do these classic Captain America story lines from the 1970s appear to embody the logic of between relationship the politics of the racial American bicentennial? How do the in race over icts confl central the of some address Falcon the and America Captain the mid- to late 1970s? THE NEW MUTANTS B. A. LESSON PLANS • What are some of the ways that we can see the economic struggles of creators see the economic struggles of creators some of the ways that we can • What are of pages the in reworked and ected refl labor creative their of value the maintain to between or describe the relationship urban folktales? How would you characterize in this the actual content of comic book production corporatization, and labor, period? • How did identity politics and the ethnic revival differ from other kinds of cultural other kinds of cultural from differ politics and the ethnic revival • How did identity projects to respond to difference and diversity in the 1960s and 1970s? How did visually and narratively? deal with difference the urban folktale • What were some of the historical factors that encouraged comic book creators comic book creators historical factors that encouraged some of the • What were like Green white male superheroes most classic some of the industry’s to revamp Lantern and Captain America in the 1970s? How did American urban life in this of these iconic heroes? the reinvention period play a role QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION QUESTIONS the Working-Class Hero Working-Class the Heroes that “Give a Damn!” Urban Folktales and the Triumph of Triumph and the Folktales Urban a Damn!” “Give that Heroes (available as a collected reprint edition) and screen the movie Easy Rider (Hopper (Hopper Rider Easy movie the screen and edition) reprint collected a as (available 1969). How do these different texts to these works of popular culture, masculinity starting in the late 1960s? According model shifts in the that plague U.S. society in this period and what some of the problems nature what are of American have to play in do men look like? What role America progressive would a more vision? achieving that progressive 14 CHAPTER 6 Superhuman inthe 1980s the Consumed by Hellfire: Demonic Possession andthe Limits of (and villainous) ends rather than avenues for alternative communitybuilding.(and villainous)endsratherthanavenuesforalternative forces, genderandsexualityhadbecomedisposableidentitiesusedforstrategic capital. According tothelogicofthesetexts,underpossessioncapitalist global of values the with collusion dangerous a as presented now was 1970s, the how arefusalcelebratedinthecomicbooksof ofsexualandgenderconformity alter egos.Through acomparativecasestudyofthesetexts,thischaptershows time thattheirsexualandgenderidentitiesare thrown intoconfusionbytheir are intomonstrous transformed avatarsbentonglobaldestruction,atthesame tales, two of MarvelComics’mostbenevolent heroes, and Spider-Man, and (1980) Saga” Phoenix “Dark the decade’s two most paradigmatic demonic possession stories, the characteristicsofoppositegender. Thisdoublemovewasdisplayedin depicting thoseblightedbydemonicforcesdepicting thoseblightedbydemonicforces assexuallynarcissistic assexuallynarcissistic andtakingon andtakingon over one’s sexualandgenderidentity, of self-possessionwithalosscontrol these textslinkedthesuperhero’s loss by corporategreed. Simultaneously, of individual Americans’ psychic life ethical core embodiedthepossession the destruction of thesuperhero’s expansion oflatecapitalism,where as ametaphorfortherapacious stories frameddemonicpossession they were toprotect. sworn These wreaking havoconthe very worlds over theirsuperhumanabilities, that causedthemtolosecontrol possessed bymagicaloralienforces 1980s. of iconicheroes found themselves the of Throughout the decade, a variety comics superhero demonic possessioninthemainstream Chapter 6explores the trope of SUMMARY s Vnm aa (94. n these In (1984). Saga” “VenomSpider-Man ’s NYU PRESSINSTRUCTOR’S GUIDE ’s The X-Men’s 15 CHAPTER 6 The The Alien Men, Women, Men, Women,

Across Across the span of 3-4 class sessions: begin by teaching lm the fi Begin by having students read Wendy Brown’s essay “Wounded Attachments” Attachments” essay “Wounded Brown’s Wendy Begin by having students read alongside Carol Clover’s alongside “Chapter Carol 2: Clover’s Opening Up” from her book The Film. Then have students read and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror chapter. this by followed edition) reprint collected a as (available Saga Phoenix Dark How did superhero comic books in the early 1980s absorb, revise, or repurpose cinema? In both American horror the central logics that animated contemporary of presenting comic books, what was the purpose and superhero cinema horror What kinds of ideologies or demonic or alien outside forces? from women at threat cultural texts? in different represent did these forces regimes oppressive THE NEW MUTANTS B. A. LESSON PLANS •How does Venom come to represent a variety identities in his physical form and narrative back-story? In what ways might of minority and working class Venom have represented the feelings of actual comic book creators corporatization wake of the increasing labor in the about undervaluation of their creative the of the comic book industry? •Why did demonic possession stories appear to link questions of gender and link questions of gender and possession stories appear to •Why did demonic sexuality to economic nancial or interests? fi What in the 1980s? contemporary radical and liberal politics did this linkage say about QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR demonic possession transform of the visual and narrative •How did the trope transformations the of some are What books? comic superhero American of content like the Phoenix and Spiderman characters underwent in the that superheroic narrative? demonic possession Superhuman in the 1980s in the Superhuman Consumed by Hellfire: Demonic Possession and the Limits of Limits and the Possession Demonic Hellfire: by Consumed the ). If Birth of Venom you’re feeling very daring or want to stress the queer aspects of these texts, you might consider pairing selections from the Venom Saga with movie Cruising to consider how the psychosexual and class 1980 Friedkin’s William dynamics of the gay leather scene in downtown Manhattan power. to rise (as depicted Venom’s of story extended the in dynamics similar onto in map movie) the or alternatively, her essay “Neo-liberalism and of Liberal Democracy.” her essay “Neo-liberalism and the End of Liberal Democracy.” or alternatively, The Dark Phoenix Saga or selections In the next 2 class sessions have them read from the Saga Venom (available as a collected reprint edition under the title 16 CHAPTER 7 The New Mutants New Mutant SolidarityinThe of Lost inthe Badlands:RadicalImagination andthe Enchantments fi xed biological realities. than rather rearticulation, to affi open of fl liation categories as exible identities like ACTUPandearlythird wavefeminismbypresenting racial,sexual,andgender characters that echoed the radical politics of contemporaneous social movements ofradicaldemocraticpracticebetweendiversesuperhumanmodeled aform past, andtheirmultipleloyaltiestokindkin.UltimatelyTheNewMutants meaning andpurposeofhero work,competing interpretations of thehistorical presented itsyoungcharactersinconstantdebateanddisagreement overthe utopian mutantkinshipbasedontheirshared geneticdifference, TheNewMutants and diversespiritualethicalworldviews.Ratherthanproject animageofa but asavehicleforforging politicalalliancesacross multipleaxesofdifference crime-ficrime-fia a as as not not superherosuperhero the the of of conception conception politics,politics, identity identity of of ghter,ghter, icon an an or or of theNewMutantsoffered anovel as acollectiveforce, themembers avatars oftheirindividualhistories progress. Byfacingthedemonic narratives ofAmericanhistorical those excludedfrom thedominant infl upon violence icted of forms the superhero’s bodyasavisualmapof simultaneously reframing the genocide, slavery, andimperialism— atrocities—including American a metaphorforAmericanhistorical the trope ofdemonicpossession as 1980s chapter analyzeshowinthelate the lensofdemonicpossession.This gender politicsofTheX-Menthrough which revisits theradical raceand (1984), the seriesTheNewMutants of study case a develops 7 Chapter SUMMARY The NewMutantsreinvented NYU PRESSINSTRUCTOR’S GUIDE 17 CHAPTER 7 New New New Mutants New Mutants

. Can the new mutants The New Mutants. Can the new mutants reinvent the category of mutant identity in the the identity in mutant of category the reinvent Mutants New , Feminism and the Abyss of Freedom titled “Feminists Make Promises: dramatizes the problem of solidarity between socially of solidarity between socially The Demon Bear Saga dramatizes the problem Alternatively, if you want to stress the concepts of radical imagination and the concepts of radical imagination and if you want to stress Alternatively, as a case study in postmodern identity as a case study in postmodernIf you want to use The New Mutants identity Mutants Classic Volume 3) alongside this chapter. What are some of that the ways and represent Bear Demon the does What people? oppressed or marginalized to defeat it? what kind of collective action is required entrustment, spend 1-2 class sessions working through the third chapter of Linda chapter of Linda the third entrustment, spend 1-2 class sessions working through Zerilli’s of World-Building.” and the Project Sexual Difference The Collective’s Then spend the next 1-2 sessions reading “The Demon Bear Saga” (from THE NEW MUTANTS B. LESSON PLANS A. • What does it mean to develop the skill of radical imagination? What do you think think do you What radical imagination? the skill of to develop • What does it mean comics? is the radical imagination of American ’ represent historical atrocities like Native American like Native American historical atrocities • How did The New Mutants’ represent or religious persecution? genocide, How the did Vietnam “The War, Demon Bear Saga” help make indigeneity an important category liation of Mutants? for affi the New QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR The did • How model unpredictability the various characters in The New Mutants • In what ways did in the unpredictability actions? What was the value of and their in both their words of its consequences? some series and what were 1980s? What were some of the historical factors that galvanized or infl uenced this this uenced infl or galvanized that factors historical the of some were What 1980s? ? “new” about The New Mutants What was politically reinvention? of in The Solidarity Mutant New Mutants Lost in the Badlands: Radical Imagination and the Enchantments Enchantments the and Imagination Radical Badlands: in the Lost politics, spend 1-2 class sessions working through Donna Haraway’s “Cyborg “Cyborg Donna Haraway’s working through politics, spend 1-2 class sessions of 1 Volume read students having by up that follow then Manifesto,” Classic (collecting rst the 7 fi issues of the series) alongside of a post-industrial description some of the ways that Haraway’s students compare this chapter. Have ected in globally networked world is refl sense of the term and do they enact in Haraway’s be thought of as their kinship? politics through 18 EPILOGUE Marvelous Corpse democratic lifedifferently. be innovatedincontemporarycomicbookproduction tonarratethefuture of coulddepicted incrisisstories,andasksquestionsaboutwhatkindsofalternatives the politicaleffectiveness ofdiversityalonetomakeupfortheviolence of avarietyraces,genders,sexualitiesandabilities.Theepiloguequestions representational diversityofsuperhero comics,whichnowshowcasesuperheroes the newmillennium,extinctioneventsare oftenseenasoff-set bytheincreasing for collective action and democraticdebate.Inthe current historicalmoment of political possibilitiestomere survival,andconsequentlyeliminatesthepossibilities fithe of reduces eld often extinction, of threat under placed or slaughtered are fifisuperhuman superhuman of of groupsgroups mass mass which which X-MenX-Menin in mutant mutant events, events, the the crisis like like guresgures the visualdepictionofextinctionor Andyetcollective orsocialconcern. justice willsolvecrucialproblems of fiheroicthat of assumption gures the of engagingtheworlddirectly without readers toacknowledgethenecessity thatdemandspowerful calltoarms corpse hasoftenfunctionedasa or dyingsuperhero. The marvelous the “marvelouscorpse”ordead fi of the gure exploring by massacre of violentdeathorgenocidal tonarrativesmeaning ofthisturn The epiloguetracksthepolitical superhero comicbook publishing. has becomeacommonthemeof confl ict individual or spectacularextinctionevents, violent in both depictionof thedeathsiconicsuperheroes, the 1980s, late the Since SUMMARY

NYU PRESSINSTRUCTOR’S GUIDE 19 EPILOGUE

The DeathAmerica Captain of (available as a collected edition) reprint or documents from the #blacklivesmatter the #blacklivesmatter or documents from Citizen: An American Lyric and this Epilogue alongside either Claudia The Death of Captain America and this Epilogue alongside either Claudia Across 2-3 class sessions teach Achille Mbembe’s essay “Necropolitics” “Necropolitics” essay Mbembe’s 2-3 class sessions teach Achille Across Teach Teach alongside do contemporary formsand this Epilogue. In what ways global violence of Deathto The of Captain According ordinary? make death both spectacular and forms daily Does of violence? relentless the consequences of are America, what to mass death besides apathy another potential response the story line propose or complacency? THE NEW MUTANTS B. A. LESSON PLANS LESSON PLANS • What do you think it would it look like to revitalize the creative political possibilities political possibilities the creative like to revitalize • What do you think it would it look today? broadly) more culture of American comics (and popular • What are some of the historical factors that have potentially diminished the that have potentially diminished the some of the historical factors • What are What is your opinion of comics’ greater radical imagination of American comics? millennium? How new the stripes in all of minorities and women of representation diversity in comics overlap with, and representational does the strategy of greater the 1960s the forms of world making that characterized comics from from, differ the 1980s? through • What is the difference between the marvelous corpse and the mass deaths deaths marvelous corpse and the mass between the • What is the difference crisis narratives tell us about “crisis” narratives? What do depicted in so-called economic realities? global political and current • What gure does of the the fi marvelous corpse have to say about the state of of the consequences some are in the early 21st century? What American citizenship bodily destruction? vulnerable to death and superhero of making the American QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION QUESTIONS Marvelous CorpseMarvelous movement. gures How like can the fantasy superhero fi be used to highlight the what In society? America contemporary within different of valuation uneven or centralize the position of those ways does the marvelous corpse reevaluate How and death? violence, dispossession of rights, citizens made most vulnerable to that gure death—the seemingly marvelous represents corpse—function to can a fi highlight the value of black lives? Rankine’s Rankine’s 20 REFERENCES ChicagoPress, 2005. . ChapelHill:UniversityofNorthCarolina Decline National Press, 2007. AbyssofFreedomZerilli, Linda.Feminismandthe . Chicago:Universityof Zaretsky, Natasha.NoDirection Fearof Home:TheAmericanFamilyandthe Press, 2003. Warner, . NewYork: andCounterpublics Michael.Publics ZoneBooks,2005. Affect, Feeling: Pedagogy,, Durham,NC:DukeUniv. Performativity Paranoid,You Probably ThinkthisEssayisAbout You,” inTouching NewYork: NewYork UniversityPress, 2009. Sedgwick, Eve.“ParanoidReadingandReparativeReading,or, You’re so 1960’s ofthe and70’s. NewYork: Routledge,2002:215-40. Muñoz, JoséEsteban.CruisingUtopia:TheThenandThere ofQueerFuturity. TheAmericanCounterculture Doyle,eds.ImagineNation: and MichaelWilliam Braunstein (2003):11-40. McRuer, Robert.“GayGatherings:ReimaginingtheCounterculture.” InPeter Mbembe, Achille.Trans. LibbyMientjes.“Necropolitics.” Culture Public 15.1 Press, 1945–1961.Berkeley:UniversityofCalifornia 2003. duringandafterWorld War II.”Isis86.3(1995):440–54. Klein, Christina.ColdWar Middlebrow Asiainthe Orientalism: Imagination, Princeton,NJ:PrincetonUniversityPress, 1993. Hollinger, David.“ScienceasaWeapon inKulturkämpfetheUnitedStates Event7.1(2003). Clover, Carol. Men,Women, ModernHorror andChainsaws:Genderinthe Film. DukeUniversityPress, 2007. Brown, Wendy. “Neo-liberalismandtheEndofLiberalDemocracy.” Theory& Ethics.Princeton,NJ:PrincetonUniversityPress, 2001. Binkley, 1970s.Durham,NC: inthe Loose:LifestyleConsumption Sam.Getting 543–74. Bennett, Jane.TheEnchantmentofModernLife:Attachments,Crossings, and Ahmed, Sara.“Orientations:Toward aQueerPhenomenology.” GLQ12.4(2006): NYU PRESSINSTRUCTOR’S GUIDE