Abstract
It is important to address the cultural influence of superheroes, especially given their incredible popularity at movie theatres and on home screens throughout the first quarter of the twenty-first century. As Tim Hanley points out in Not All Supermen, the genre has, in many ways, changed very little since Superman first burst into the national consciousness in 1938. Visual conventions, narrative tropes, character types, and beliefs were quickly solidified in comic books, and the genre still relies on these devices nearly a century later. Countless volumes detail the history of superheroes and the comic book industry and Hanley’s book is a welcome addition to the literature. But where most accounts romanticize the history of comic books, Hanley considers the negative influence of a genre that is so firmly rooted in the past.
The book’s subtitle, Sexism, Toxic Masculinity, and the Complex History of Superheroes, makes it clear from the outset that Hanley’s task is to consider the long-standing detrimental consequences of a genre that continues to celebrate straight, white, heteronormative masculinity as the pinnacle of heroism. As Hanley chronicles, the birth of superheroes at the tail end of the Great Depression and the onset of World War influenced the development of characters in ways still relevant today. The patriotic fervor courted by the likes of Superman and Captain America in the 1940s remains a component of their recent big screen outings. Moreover, Hanley focusing on how the singular vision of heroism crafted in the early days has resulted in the marginalization of other figures. The persistent misogyny, racism, violence, homophobia and xenophobia in superhero stories discussed by Hanley is nothing new for Comic Studies scholars. The expanding field of Comics Studies has seen the publication of numerous books addressing these topic in recent years, including All New, All Different: A History of Race and the American Superhero (Austin and Hamilton, University of Texas Press, 2019), Ms. Marvel’s America: No Normal (eds. Baldanzi and Rashid, University Press of Mississippi, 2020), Mixed-Race Superheroes (eds. Dagobovie-Mullins and Berlatsky, Rutgers University Press, 2021), Gendered Defenders: Marvel’s Heroines in Transmedia Spaces (eds. Carr and Carstarphen, Ohio State Press, 2022), Superheroes and Excess (eds. Brassett and Reynolds, Routledge Press, 2022), and Intersectional Feminist Readings of Comics (ed. Cox, Routledge Press, 2022). Not All Supermen is not as traditionally academic, nor as narrowly focused, as these other books. But what Hanley does add to the discussion is a very detailed and text focused chronology of the genre and how it has addressed (or not) the shifting socio-political expectations of readers.
Hanley thoroughly describes the content of hundreds of comics that have marked important points of development over the last 90 years. Hanley provides an exhaustive list of significant moments, such as first appearances of female characters like Wonder Woman and the Phantom Lady, or the emergence of non-white heroes like Luke Cage, Black Panther, and Black Lightning in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Though the discussion of these characters remains relatively factual (dates, titles, credits) and chronologically focused (which came first and which was influenced by other comics), Hanley does flesh out the history with details about how ground breaking characters were portrayed within the books and perceived by readers. Moreover, Hanley provides the relevant industrial and social context for each of these comics. Through the specificity of the details Hanley provides, he draws a relatively straight line from the inherited standards of the genre to the persistent flaws in how the genre treats women, people of color, and non-heteronormative characters. Hanley’s work is at its most effective when he addresses contemporary issues, like the sexism endured by Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) as part of The Avengers film franchise, both in the movies and promotional events surrounding it, clarifying how this unequal treatment is in large part historically determined by the genre.
As a comic book fan, reading Not All Supermen is familiar and nostalgic. I recall reading many of the stories Hanley mentions when they first came out, and the controversies that surrounded most of them. Hanley’s writing style is clear and accessible, facilitating a sense that readers are learning from someone who was “there” for many of these important developments, especially from the moment in the 1980s when the industry underwent major changes thanks to a shift to direct distribution. The real strength of this book is the thoroughness of the accounts. It will be helpful for younger audiences to understand the complex history of the format and why the genre has developed in the stilted way it has. However, as a Comic Book Studies scholar, I found Not All Supermen to be frustratingly disconnected from the larger field of research. Many of these themes have been dissected and studied more productively in other research (like the books mentioned above). This book will be a delight for superhero fans and a valuable historical source for those looking for context. I would not hesitate to use this book in my undergrad classes to provide historical background for addressing issues of sexism, racism, homophobia, and so on. But readers involved with post-undergraduate research into comics will be annoyed by the book’s relative lack of engagement with the field.