Hegemony and Ideology Within American Superhero Comic Books 2001-2008
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With us or Against us? Hegemony and Ideology within American Superhero Comic Books 2001-2008 John McGuire Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Western Sydney 2014 Acknowledgments There have been many times that I felt that I would not get to this moment. I know that without the support of those around me, I would not have had the change to complete this project. I would like thank my primary supervisor, Professor Adam Possamai for his hard work. I am very thankful for his organisational skills and his understanding. Special thanks to my co-supervisor, Professor Rob Stones who joined my panel within the last year. He has made such a difference to the quality of my work with his expertise on hegemony and the work of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe. I would also like to acknowledge both my previous co-supervisors, Dr Drew Cottle and Dr Michael Kennedy, who helped me get through the first tough years. Thank you to the staff at the Religion and Society Research Centre. I would like to thank the School of Social Sciences and Psychology for their support, especially the academics who kept me in work these last few years. I have a great deal of love for the University of Western Sydney and I appreciate the opportunities that this institution has given me. I have been very lucky to have a great group of friends and family around me. Thank you to my family for all of the support and encouragement over the years. Special thanks to my Mum and Dad for the sacrifices they made to allow me a great education as a child. Thank you to David Edler for his help with proof reading, editing and great conversations about pop culture. Thank you to David and Chris Wilcox for their intellectual, emotion and at times financial support over the last few years. And lastly, this thesis would never have been written if it was not for my wonderful partner, Tuyen Dao. She has made such a difference to my life. Every day she gives me both joy and strength which has carried me through this process. I could not have done this without her. John McGuire 2014 Statement of Authentication The work presented in this thesis is, to the best of my knowledge and belief, original except as acknowledged in the text. I hereby declare that I have not submitted this material, either in full or in part for a degree at this or any other institution. ………………………………….. (Signature) 1 Table of Contents List of Tables 2 List of Figures 3 Abstract 4 Introduction 6 Chapter 1: Superhero comic books: The Industry and Narratives 27 Chapter 2: Theory and Method: the Hegemony of Gramsci, Laclau and Mouffe 62 Chapter 3: The American Dream: Nodal points and articulations 92 Chapter 4: 2001-2002: 9/11, Security and the Superhero 114 Chapter 5: 2003-2004: Superheroes and villains in a time of War 147 Chapter 6: 2005 -2006: Decline and Resistance 176 Chapter 7: 2007-2008: Hope, Ideology and Captain Obama 202 Chapter 8: Discussion of theoretical outcomes 233 Conclusion 252 References 262 2 List of Tables Table 1.1 Direct Market Comic Book Sales in North 32 America by Year 2001-2008 pg 32 Table 5.1 Types and number of violent incidences depicted in 155 Batman Comics October 1998-March 1999 154 Table 5.2 Types of and number of violent incidences depicted 155 in Batman comics October 2003-March 2004 3 List of Figures 1.1 Cover of Detective Comics #27 48 1.2 Cover of Captain American Comics #1 52 1.3 Captain America #175 p.32 55 1.4 Cover of Captain America Vol.1 #344 58 4.1 Avengers #48, p.26 128 4.2 Avengers #52, p.10 133 4.3 Detective Comics #765, p.21 136 4.4 Detective Comics #765, p.22 137 4.5 Covers of Captain America Volume vol.4 #1-6 143 5.1 Figure 5.1 Batman #620, p.8 157 5.2 JLA #83, p.16 166 5.3 Avengers #68, p.40 169 5.4 JLA #79, p.2 172 6.1 House of M #2, p.25; p.8 181 6.2 Robin #130, p.30 184 6.3 Batman #650, p30 189 6.4 Civil War #7, p.21 196 7.1 Batman #664, p.27 220 7.2 Batman #666, p.28 221 7.3 Captain America vol.5 #, p.24 223 7.4 Captain America vol.5 #41, p.24 224 7.5 Batman #678, p.31 227 4 Abstract With us or Against us? Hegemony and Ideology within American Superhero Comic Books 2001-2008 Superhero comic books, part of American popular culture since 1938, have been recognised as a site for the reproduction of dominant ideology, however, their ability to resist dominant ideology has not been as equally considered. This study examines the narratives of DC Comics and Marvel Comics superhero characters’ Batman and Captain America, in the time period 2001-2008 to evaluate the ability of these superhero narratives to reproduce, critique, challenge and contest dominant ideological versions of the American Dream. The years 2001 to 2008 were a time of ideological upheaval in American society influenced in no small part by specific articulations of historical events; 9/11 in 2001, the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, the invasion of Iraq in 2003, Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and the election of the first African American to the Presidency, Barack Obama, in 2008. To position the dominant ideology this study adopts the theoretical lens of hegemony as developed by Antonio Gramsci, and radicalised by Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe. Methodologically, the theory of hegemony is used to develop a sociological tool of analysis; the analysed hegemonic ideology. When this tool is applied to the ideology of the American Dream it exposes the constituted ideological components of the ideology that are subject to articulation within the process of hegemony and counter hegemony. The changing articulations, ideologies and process of hegemony from 2001 to 2008 are detailed in this study as a necessary step in analysis. When the specific constituted ideological components of the hegemonic ideology are applied to the superhero narratives of the same period, the true ideological position of the superhero narratives are exposed. The results suggest that superhero comics’ engagement and role in hegemony as a popular cultural product are extremely complex. While there is evidence of superhero narratives reproducing the ideological positions of the Right Wing hegemony that emerges after 9/11, there is also evidence of ideological resistance within the narrative and later support for the Left Wing hegemony that emerges in the Presidential campaign of Obama in 2008. In the changing landscape of hegemony in American society, superhero comics offer intelligent and detailed ideological 5 contributions to process of hegemony and counter hegemony. This suggests both a progressive power to the concept of the American Dream and a degree of agency within the realm of popular cultural production. 6 Introduction Captain America is Dead On the morning of the 7th March 2007 the superhero Captain America, leader of the Avengers and defender of the American Dream, was murdered on the steps of a New York City court house. The crime sent shock waves throughout the fictional comic book Marvel Universe and also made headlines in the real world of the comic book’s readers. His readers had little reason to be worried. Since the Death of Superman in 1992, superhero deaths have become a comic book convention that had been quickly followed by the convention of superhero resurrection. In fact, Captain America himself had ‘died’ as recently as 2001. Readers knew that Captain America would return to the Marvel Universe. Only time and a somewhat ingenious plot twist was needed to bring him back. Without the inside knowledge of his pending resurrection, news programs in the real world reported his death as something to be mourned. CBS reported his death on their website, ‘Captain America, the stars-and-stripes-wearing crimefighter, was gunned down by a sniper as he left a courthouse today. He was 66.’ (Morgan 2009) The BBC reported that Captain America’s death had angered his 93 year old co- creator Joe Simon, ‘It's a hell of a time for him to go, we really need him now’ (BBC news 2007). MSNBC TV reported that Captain America had been shot dead and suggested that the death of Captain America might be because he was not able to tell stories about modern day America as he had in the past (MSNBC 2007). The New York Times quoted Marvel comics publisher Dab Buckley on the Captain’s fate, ‘He is very dead right now’ (Gustines 2007). Bryan Robinson (2007) writing for ABC news, quoted angry comic book fan, 34 year old commercial production director Ken Feliu, ‘I'm definitely pissed off... why did they have to kill him off?... He's supposed to represent all our ideals, everything we're supposed to aspire to and they couldn't leave him intact?’ But Robinson did more in his article; he tried to put Captain America’s death in context of not only 7 what was happening in the Marvel Universe1, but where this superhero narrative interacted with reality. He updated his readers on the Marvel Universe that the Captain had just left, how superheroes were forced to register with the Government because of the tragic deaths of innocent civilians in a case of heroics gone wrong. Robinson explained how Captain America had refused the registration as a violation of civil rights and freedoms and had gone rogue leading like minded heroes in rebellion of an unjust law.