I believe in order to answer this question, one must ask a similar question, is superman an American hero? And the answer is yes. As Engle explains in his article Superman is the ultimate American hero. As he compares him to John Wayne, Engle gives insight to the matter that gives good clarity to the importance of Superman in American society. When we look at heroes we want to see ourselves. When we see superman defeating the villain with his good nature and superior abilities, the reader wants in some way to reflect Superman. Engle compares a hero like Batman to Superman in a very effective and interesting way. He states the the majority of Americans are like a hero like Batman who wears a disguise when he is saving people. Engle believes that Americans wear this mask during our daily lives and that we wish we were more like Superman. The reason why Superman is so appealing (in Engle's eyes) is that he saves people and protects them from villains with no disguise. Superman does not hide who he is and that is very appealing to American readers. So, back to the original question of is Superman an American Character? Yes, he is. He gives hope and good intentions to his readers. Though there might be some racial and ethnic undertones, but that is for the scholar to interpret in his/her own way. In my opinion what makes Superman an American character is his morals that project the true blooded American way. All in all, Superman provides a positive and patriotic influence on his readers, and by doing this he shows American character.
To begin with, I really do like the idea of reading a comic about comics. I think it's a great idea and it's very well executed. As I was reading the first two chapters, I was surprised at how many examples there were of art in recent (and ancient, in some cases) history that are variations of "sequential visual art" and thus the foundations of modern comics. I'd never even thought about it before and it was hard to believe how many different kinds there were. I also love all the discussion about how our human brains automatically interpret certain images in a specific way, how we see others constantly but we identify ourselves when we look at cartoons, and how inanimate objects automatically becomes extensions of our bodies. The pyramid of styles was very interesting too as a way to conceptualize and almost graph or "place" a specific art style in comics. In Comic Book Nation , I enjoyed reading about the evolution of early comics from "funnies...
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