'Nuff Said: American Graphic Media

Star Trek Into Darkness seems well on its way to box office success. I'm not surprise. Since J.J. Abrams took over the franchise reigns, he and his collaborators ( Damon Lindelof ,  Roberto Orci and Alex Klurtzman ) have deftly managed to stop the franchise's decline. Of course, as is the way of modern media, a comic book series continuing the movie universe continuity has been a big success .   Like many film and tv series, Star Trek has used an ongoing comic to "continue the story" for diehard fans.  Arguably more engaging than other efforts, the producers of the film are using the comic book series to retell classic stories.  Indeed, any fan of the comic series already read " Where No Man Has Gone Before ," the Gary Mitchell centric storyline that was focus of speculation as the inspiration for Star Trek Into Darkness.  The producers are using the comic book to keep interest high among diehard fans, rewarding them with insight to the new ...

As a professor and comic book fan, I love the current fascination with comics and related media. Blockbusters like Thor , Captain America , and Green Lantern offer fun adventure, but they also speak to heroic aspiration within the American character. These films offer a reflective glimpse into U.S. psyche, which is why controversy erupts over question of identity in comic mythology. Indeed, with the United States struggling, superhero mythology offers affirmation. The 247 million dollar global success of Captain America highlights this point. A celebration of “old fashioned” heroism, the film provides a fictive narrative of a racial integrated U.S. military with African American and Asian soldiers serving in Captain America’s handpicked unit. While it is easy to be dismissive of concerns about “historical inaccuracy” in a film with magic cubes and suspended animation, the convergence of media linked to comics offer other racial controversy. Indeed, Marvel’s announcement that th...

I recently got feedback on Ages of Heroes, Eras of Men from a prospective publisher. It a tough process, getting feedback from someone who doesn't know all the work you have put into something. It is honest feedback and I will take it and make sure the final product answer the editor's questions. We have done a lot of great work on the book, but publishers are a cold and objective bunch slow to hand out praise (and contracts). As I scramble to reply to the press, I realize I have not done much with one of the chapters I am writing for the book. My chapter looks at the introduction of African-American superheroes to the Marvel Universe in the 1960s and 1970s. The decision to introduce minority characters to a fictional universe may seem petty compared to the titanic struggles occurring over Civil Rights during the 1960s, but those struggles drove the decision to incorporate minorities into comics. The question for me is what does the Marvel Comic experience integrating per...