Heroines of Comic Books and Literature: Portrayals in Popular Culture

(Paperback)

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Despite the growing importance of heroines across literary cultureand sales figures that demonstrate both young adult and adult females are reading about heroines in droves, particularly in graphic novels, comic books, and YA literaturefew scholarly collections have examined the complex relationships between the representations of heroines and the changing societal roles for both women and men. In Heroines of Comic Books and Literature: Portrayals in Popular Culture, editors Maja Bajac-Carter, Norma Jones, and Bob Batchelor have selected essays by award-winning contributors that offer a variety of perspectives on the representations of heroines in todays society. Focused on printed media, this collection looks at heroic women depicted in literature, graphic novels, manga, and comic books. Addressing heroines from such sources as the Marvel and DC comic universes, manga, and the Twilight novels, contributors go beyond the account of women as mothers, wives, warriors, goddesses, and damsels in distress. These engaging and important essays situate heroines within culture, revealing them as tough and self-sufficient females who often break the bounds of gender expectations in places readers may not expect. Analyzing how women are and have been represented in print, this companion volume to Heroines of Film and Television will appeal to scholars of literature, rhetoric, and media as well as to broader audiences that are interested in portrayals of women in popular culture.

Reviews

The release of Heroines of Comic Books and Literature...could not have been timelier.... The well-organized thought processes throughout should prove to be refreshing to the comic book fan, even though it reveals some uneasy, though necessary truths, of these heroine portrayals.... Heroines of Comic Books and Literature boasts nineteen succinct chapters by a collection of authors who aptly command authority in their respective areas of expertise. A notable inclusion of comic artist, writer, and Will Eisner Hall of Fame inductee Trina Robbins adds panache to an already credible list of educators and scholars. The variety of case studies and methodologies will certainly satisfy those who want more from their popular culture analysis. Collections like this can potentially fall into the trap of stylistic inconsistency, but the editors may be credited for a book filled with direct, punchy writing that provokes the reader to want more from each chapter. This book is perhaps best described as an academics Jezebel it approaches popular culture in a manner that welcomes discussions and is appropriately critical, well researched, even-tempered, and, is still, wildly passionate. * Journal of American Culture *

Author Bio

Maja Bajac-Carter is a doctoral candidate in Communication Studies at Kent State University. Her research focuses on gender, identity, and media studies. She is a contributor toWe Are What We Sell: How Advertising Shapes American Life . . . and Always Has(2014). Norma Jones has a PhD in communication and information from Kent State University. She is an editor of Rowman & Littlefield's Sports Icons and Issues in Popular Culture book series and is coeditor of Aging Heroes: Growing Old in Popular Culture (Rowman & Littlefield, 2015). Bob Batchelor teaches in the Media, Journalism & Film department at Miami University and is the founding editor of the Popular Culture Studies Journal. Batchelor edits the Contemporary American Literature and Cultural History of Television book series for Rowman & Littlefield. Among his books are John Updike: A Critical Biography (2013), Gatsby: The Cultural History of the Great American Novel (Rowman & Littlefield, 2014), and Mad Men: A Cultural History(Rowman & Littlefield, 2016).