A Hero Can Be Anyone

152 Polemiki i recenzje

Marta Nowakowska Polskie Towarzystwo Ludoznawcze A Hero can be anyone

Review: Laurence Maslon, Michael Kantor, Superheroes! Capes, Cowls, and the Creation of the Comic Book Culture, Crown Archetype, New York 2013, 304 pp.

American comic books fi rst gained popularity after the 1938. The 1960 is a year of appearance of the superheroes who continue to be the dominant character archetype till this day.1 For the very beginning is attached to the history of the United States of America. On the cover of the fi rst issue of Capitan America readers could see a superhero punching Hitler. Few decades later there was an issue of Superman about 9/11. The book by Lau- rence Maslon and Michael Kantor presents the history of the comics about superheroes, starting with the birthday of the Superman in 1938, fi nishing with a vivid description of a multibillion dollar comic book industry of today. The authors follow the most important superheroes and supervillains and the evolution of their personalities refl ecting spirit of the times. Special attention of the authors is paid to Comics Code Authority — a code which limited creation freedom of the comic book writers for many decades, forbidding then nudity, sex, and many other sensible and mature themes. The book is based on three-hour documentary, directed by Michael Kantor, made for PBS television. But only the printed version gives justice to the subject. The book is fi lled with over 500 full colour comic book panels, which present the evolution of narra- tive techniques and the graphic styles in the last 70 years of the history of comic books. Apart from that the book contains reproduction of the covers, sketches, photography, art works of the classic authors of comic books. It also contains quotes from the 50 interviews with the comic book legends, for example Stan Lee, Joe Simon, Carmine Infantino, Jules Feiffer, Jerry Robinson, Neal Adams, Denny O’Neil and Marv Wolfman. Superheroes! Capes, Cowls, and the Creation of the Comic Book Culture is exten- sively researched and very well documented. Maslon and Kantor try to discover the es- sence of the superhero. „We’re superheroes. We tackle super-crime and we save people’s lives. The only thing changing is that the kids, the amateurs, and the sociopaths are getting weeded out” — they quote Iron Man. Their book is a fascinating exploration of the depths of the mass imagination, with its symbols, archetypes and metaphors.2 The book is addressed rather to the fans of comic books, not to scholars. But it is an invaluable source of quotes, facts and anecdotes. It also makes for an excellent read. For such researchers as anthropologists of culture, sociologists or philologists it can be a good starting point for further research.

1 For further history of American comic book see P. Coogan, Superhero: The Secret Origin of a Genre, Monkey Brain Books, Austin 2006; or S. McCloud, Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art, Kitchen Sink Press, Princeton 1993; Encyclopedia of Comics and Graphic Novels, ed. M.K. Booker, Greenwood Publishing Group, Westport 2010; L. Daniels, Comix. A History of the Comic Book in America, Outerbridge & Dienstfrey, New York 1971. 2 Cf. B.M. Rogers, Heroes Unlimited: The Theory of the Hero’s Journey and the Limitation of the Superhero Myth: Classic and Comics, ed. G. Kovacs, C.W. Marshall, Oxford 2011, p. 77.

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