Superhero Bodies

Superhero Bodies PDF

Author: Wendy Haslem

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2018-11-20

Total Pages: 345

ISBN-13: 0429663803

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Throughout the history of the genre, the superhero has been characterised primarily by physical transformation and physical difference. Superhero Bodies: Identity, Materiality, Transformation explores the transformation of the superhero body across multiple media forms including comics, film, television, literature and the graphic novel. How does the body of the hero offer new ways to imagine identities? How does it represent or subvert cultural ideals? How are ideologies of race, gender and disability signified or destabilised in the physicality of the superhero? How are superhero bodies drawn, written and filmed across diverse forms of media and across histories? This volume collects essays that attend to the physicality of superheroes: the transformative bodies of superheroes, the superhero’s position in urban and natural spaces, the dialectic between the superhero’s physical and metaphysical self, and the superhero body’s relationship with violence. This will be the first collection of scholarly research specifically dedicated to investigating the diversity of superhero bodies, their emergence, their powers, their secrets, their histories and their transformations.

Uncanny Bodies

Uncanny Bodies PDF

Author: Scott T. Smith

Publisher: Penn State Press

Published: 2019-12-10

Total Pages: 255

ISBN-13: 0271086300

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Superhero comics reckon with issues of corporeal control. And while they commonly deal in characters of exceptional or superhuman ability, they have also shown an increasing attention and sensitivity to diverse forms of disability, both physical and cognitive. The essays in this collection reveal how the superhero genre, in fusing fantasy with realism, provides a visual forum for engaging with issues of disability and intersectional identity (race, ethnicity, class, gender, and sexuality) and helps to imagine different ways of being in the world. Working from the premise that the theoretical mode of the uncanny, with its interest in what is simultaneously known and unknown, ordinary and extraordinary, opens new ways to think about categories and markers of identity, Uncanny Bodies explores how continuums of ability in superhero comics can reflect, resist, or reevaluate broader cultural conceptions about disability. The chapters focus on lesser-known characters—such as Echo, Omega the Unknown, and the Silver Scorpion—as well as the famous Barbara Gordon and the protagonist of the acclaimed series Hawkeye, whose superheroic uncanniness provides a counterpoint to constructs of normalcy. Several essays explore how superhero comics can provide a vocabulary and discourse for conceptualizing disability more broadly. Thoughtful and challenging, this eye-opening examination of superhero comics breaks new ground in disability studies and scholarship in popular culture. In addition to the editors, the contributors are Sarah Bowden, Charlie Christie, Sarah Gibbons, Andrew Godfrey-Meers, Marit Hanson, Charles Hatfield, Naja Later, Lauren O’Connor, Daniel J. O'Rourke, Daniel Pinti, Lauranne Poharec, and Deleasa Randall-Griffiths.

The Posthuman Body in Superhero Comics

The Posthuman Body in Superhero Comics PDF

Author: Scott Jeffery

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2016-10-11

Total Pages: 264

ISBN-13: 1137549505

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This book examines the concepts of Post/Humanism and Transhumanism as depicted in superhero comics. Recent decades have seen mainstream audiences embrace the comic book Superhuman. Meanwhile there has been increasing concern surrounding human enhancement technologies, with the techno-scientific movement of Transhumanism arguing that it is time humans took active control of their evolution. Utilising Deleuze and Guattari’s notion of the rhizome as a non-hierarchical system of knowledge to conceptualize the superhero narrative in terms of its political, social and aesthetic relations to the history of human technological enhancement, this book draws upon a diverse range of texts to explore the way in which the posthuman has been represented in superhero comics, while simultaneously highlighting its shared historical development with Post/Humanist critical theory and the material techno-scientific practices of Transhumanism.

The Superhero Costume

The Superhero Costume PDF

Author: Barbara Brownie

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2015-11-19

Total Pages: 193

ISBN-13: 1472595920

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Costume defines the superhero, disguising and distinguishing him or her from the civilian alter ego. The often garish garb expresses a hero's otherness and empowers its wearers to seek a primal form of justice. This book provides the first interdisciplinary analysis of the superhero costume and investigates wide-ranging issues such as identity, otherness, ritual dress and disguise. Analysis focuses on the implications of wearing superhero costume, exploring interpretations of the costumed hero and the extent to which the costume defines his or her role. Using examples across various media (comic books, film, and television) with case studies including The X-Men, Watchmen, real-life superheroes such as Phoenix Jones and Pussy Riot, and audience activities such as cosplay, The Superhero Costume presents new perspectives on the increasingly popular genre. A lively and thorough account of superhero fashions throughout history, The Superhero Costume will be essential reading for students of visual culture, popular culture, fashion and cultural studies.

The Modern Superhero in Film and Television

The Modern Superhero in Film and Television PDF

Author: Jeffrey A. Brown

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-11-10

Total Pages: 182

ISBN-13: 1317484509

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Hollywood’s live-action superhero films currently dominate the worldwide box-office, with the characters enjoying more notoriety through their feature film and television depictions than they have ever before. This book argues that this immense popularity reveals deep cultural concerns about politics, gender, ethnicity, patriotism and consumerism after the events of 9/11. Superheroes have long been agents of hegemony, fighting for abstract ideals of justice while overall perpetuating the American status quo. Yet at the same time, the book explores how the genre has also been utilized to question and critique these dominant cultural assumptions.

Super Bodies

Super Bodies PDF

Author: Jeffrey A. Brown

Publisher: University of Texas Press

Published: 2023-08

Total Pages: 249

ISBN-13: 1477327363

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An examination of the art in superhero comics and how style influences comic narratives.

Arrow and Superhero Television

Arrow and Superhero Television PDF

Author: James F. Iaccino,

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2017-09-29

Total Pages: 243

ISBN-13: 147662965X

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This collection of new essays focuses on The CW network’s hit television series Arrow—based on DC Comic’s Green Arrow—and its spin-offs The Flash, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow and Supergirl. Comic book adaptations have been big business for film studios since Superman (1978) and in recent years have dominated at the box office—five of the 11 highest grossing films of 2016 were adapted from comics. Superheroes have battled across the small screen for considerably longer, beginning with The Adventures of Superman (1952–1958), though with mixed results. The contributors explore the reasons behind Arrow’s success, its representation of bodies, its portrayal of women, its shifting political ideologies, and audience reception and influence on storylines.

Bodies in Flux

Bodies in Flux PDF

Author: Barbara Braid

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2019-08-26

Total Pages: 180

ISBN-13: 9004408762

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This volume discusses fluidity of the post-human bodies on various cultural and social examples – from the cyber relations to others and to self, through fragmented, prosetheticised, monstrous or augmented body, to the dis/utopian fantasies.

Hero Maker: 12 Weeks to Superhero Fit

Hero Maker: 12 Weeks to Superhero Fit PDF

Author: Duffy Gaver

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Published: 2020-04-21

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 1250096642

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A breakout training and fitness book by Hollywood trainer and former Navy SEAL, Duffy Gaver, featuring the tried and true workouts used by movie stars like Chris Pratt and Brad Pitt. Former Marine sniper and ex-navy Seal, Duffy Gaver is the unsung hero of Hollywood. As a master trainer to the stars, he has transformed the bodies of actors such as Chris Hemsworth, Chris Pratt, Scarlett Johanson, Brad Pitt and many others. He is a Hero-Maker. He gets the most out of his clients by making them rethink their lives. For Duffy, the fitness industry sells a myth: it's all about the latest and greatest fads. Back in 1965, Larry Scott won the first Mr. Olympia. There was no Nike. No thermogenic products. No supplement industry. How did he do it then? With his will, his discipline, his desire. The things that big businesses can't manufacture. The first four minute mile, the first iron man triathlon, and the first world's strongest man all took place before 99% of today's companies even existed. What does this prove? None of this stuff is necessary. Inside Hero Maker, Duffy Gaver shares the knowledge and motivational sit-downs that get his stars to take hold of their own bodies. None of these stars bought their way to their impressive physiques; they earned it with old fashioned work and dedication. He will tell you what you need to do to look super heroic, and he will show you how you too can do this if you put yourself to the task. Inside, you will also find some of his game-changing workouts to help get you there.

Superhero Nutrition

Superhero Nutrition PDF

Author: Steve Zim

Publisher: Primedia Elaunch LLC

Published: 2018-07-16

Total Pages: 208

ISBN-13: 9781643164458

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Steve Zim has been a professional trainer in Los Angeles for nearly three decades. He has trained many professional athletes and A-list celebrities, helping them improve performance and get in shape to play challenging physical roles. During his career Zim has learned which nutrition strategies work best to help you get in shape quickly and maintain your new condition for life. Superhero Nutrition provides an easy-to-follow program that will allow you to get into the best shape of your life and maintain it. Superhero Nutrition is a two-part system: Part 1) You can integrate your current food choices into Superhero Nutrition. If you are vegan, Paleo, or follow Weight Watchers or South Beach etc., or if you have food allergies, intolerances or ethical or religious restrictions, your nutrition program will work with this system. Part 2) Zim also provides a detailed daily nutrition guide you can choose to follow, telling you what to eat and when. There is also a 54-page recipe guide that covers healthy breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert options. Included is a chapter on exercise that provides you with a 3-day-a-week lifting and cardio program. The success of this program has already been demonstrated by BuzzFeed personalities, whose "We Trained Like Superheroes for 30 Days" video went viral. https: //www.youtube.com/watch?v=okM3OYaBQGg