Follow your favorite caped crusaders (and foes) to learn about the current world order. Mariano Turzi explains the main theories of international relations through Batman, Two-Face, and the Justice League. The Hulk illuminates Russia's foreign policy and Aquaman sheds light on climate change. The X-Men experience the same dramas as refugees and Tony Stark personifies modern warfare. How is Spiderman like the UN and Wonder Woman's soft power comparable to the European Union? You will learn about globalization through Flash and about American hegemony with Superman and Captain America. Even Bane and his face mask appear, anticipating the effects of the COVID-19 global pandemic. Taking superheroes and supervillains as myths or modern archetypes, the book invites you to a super-journey through the fascinating universe of structures, themes, protagonists, and problems of world affairs.

Superhero adventure comics have a long history of commenting upon American public opinion and government policy, and the surge in the popularity of comics since the events of September 11, 2001, ensures their continued relevance. This critical text examines the seventy-year history of comic book superheroes on film and in comic books and their reflections of the politics of their time. Superheroes addressed include Batman, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man, Superman, the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, and topics covered include American wars, conflicts, and public policy. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

Super Black places the appearance of black superheroes alongside broad and sweeping cultural trends in American politics and pop culture, which reveals how black superheroes are not disposable pop products, but rather a fascinating racial phenomenon through which futuristic expressions and fantastic visions of black racial identity and symbolic political meaning are presented. Adilifu Nama sees the value—and finds new avenues for exploring racial identity—in black superheroes who are often dismissed as sidekicks, imitators of established white heroes, or are accused of having no role outside of blaxploitation film contexts. Nama examines seminal black comic book superheroes such as Black Panther, Black Lightning, Storm, Luke Cage, Blade, the Falcon, Nubia, and others, some of whom also appear on the small and large screens, as well as how the imaginary black superhero has come to life in the image of President Barack Obama. Super Black explores how black superheroes are a powerful source of racial meaning, narrative, and imagination in American society that express a myriad of racial assumptions, political perspectives, and fantastic (re)imaginings of black identity. The book also demonstrates how these figures overtly represent or implicitly signify social discourse and accepted wisdom concerning notions of racial reciprocity, equality, forgiveness, and ultimately, racial justice.

Bringing together superhero scholars and key industry figures The Superhero Symbol unmasks how superheroes have become so pervasive in media, culture, and politics. This timely collection explores how these powerful icons are among the entertainment industry's most valuable intellectual properties, yet can be appropriated for everything from activism to cosplay and real-life vigilantism.

The Watchman didn't arrive in a Batmobile but drove a tan, four-door Pontiac. He was in costume, of course—a trench coat, motorcycle gloves, army boots, a domino mask, and a red hooded sweatshirt emblazoned with a W logo. Journalist Tea Krulos had spoken to him over the phone but never face-to-mask. By the end of the interview, he wasn't sure if the Watchman was delightfully eccentric or completely crazy. But he was going to find out. Heroes in the Night traces Krulos's journey into the strange subculture of Real Life Superheroes, random citizens who have adopted comic book&–style personas and hit the streets to fight injustice. Some concentrate on humanitarian or activist missions—helping the homeless, gathering donations for food banks, or delivering toys to children—while others actively patrol their neighborhoods looking for crime to fight. By day, these modern Clark Kents work as dishwashers, pencil pushers, and executives in Fortune 500 companies. But by night, only the Shadow knows. Well, the Shadow and Tea Krulos. Through historical research, extensive interviews, and many long hours walking patrol in Brooklyn, Seattle, San Diego, Minneapolis, and Vancouver, British Columbia, Krulos discovered what being a RLSH is all about. He shares not only their shining, triumphant moments but some of their ill-advised, terrifying disasters as well. It's all part of the life of a superhero. As the Watchman explains, &“If everyone made little changes in what they did, gave a little more to charity, watched out for their neighbors, we wouldn't have the problems that we have.&”

"Nationalist superheroes--such as Captain America, Captain Canuck, and Union Jack--often signify the 'nation-state' for readers, but how do these characters and comic books address issues of multiculturalism and geopolitical order? In his engaging book Captain America and the Nationalist Superhero, geographer Jason Dittmer traces the evolution of the comic book genre as it adapted to new national audiences. He argues that these iconic superheroes contribute to our contemporary understandings of national identity, the righteous use of power, and the role of the United States, Canada, and Britain in the world. Tracing the nationalist superhero genre from its World War II origins to contemporary manifestations throughout the world, Captain America and the Nationalist Superhero analyzes nearly one thousand comic books and audience responses to those books. Dittmer also interviews key comic book writers from Stan Lee and J.M. DeMatteis to Steve Englehart and Paul Cornell. At a time when popular culture is saturated with superheroes and their exploits, Captain America and the Nationalist Superhero highlights the unique relationship between popular culture and international relations."--Publisher's website.

Movies and television series are excellent tools for teaching political science and international relations. Understanding how stories in various film and television genres illustrate political ideas can better assist students and fans understand and appreciate the political subtext of these media products. This book examines politics through five film genres and their variants. Gangster movies focus on American and other organized crime. They reached their zenith in the films of Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese. Political thrillers express paranoia about secrecy and political conspiracies, while action movies channel anger at foreign and domestic threats to order. Superhero films and TV present modern characters who seek to serve society as they face personal struggles about their individual identities. War movies promote positive images of wars when conflicts are perceived as successful, but often include antiwar messages when wars turn out badly. Western movies fell out of favor in the 1970s and 1980s but have undergone a renaissance since the 1990s. Westerns can be taken as either political parables, or as meditations on policing, anarchy, community organization. The author argues that while these genres all offer escape, they also offer important political lessons.

Latinx Superheroes in Mainstream Comics offers the first thorough exploration of Latino/a superheroes in mainstream comic books, TV shows, and movies--Provided by publisher.

Superhero Rhetoric from Exceptionalism to Globalization: Up, Up and ...Abroad examines superhero narratives through the lens of American rhetoric and globalization. Michael Arthur Soares illustrates how deeply intertwined superhero narratives are with American political culture by analyzing, on the one hand, the rhetoric of American exceptionalism and the representation of American presidents in superhero narratives and, on the other, the prevalence of superhero rhetoric in speeches by American politicians. Turning toward the global mobility of the superhero genre, Soares then offers further insight into the ways in which cultural contexts inform transformations of superheroes and their narratives around the world and how American filmmakers have adjusted their narratives to guarantee their global reach and ability to place films in the global marketplace. Finally, the author considers real-life examples of licensed superhero iconography embodied by individuals around the world who seek to make change in their communities. Ultimately, the chapters examine the journey of superhero rhetoric and how it reaches out to global audiences, across cultural borders and back again.

The modern discipline of International Relations (IR) is largely an Anglo-American social science. It has been concerned mainly with the powerful states and actors in the global political economy and dominated by North American and European scholars. However, this focus can be seen as Eurocentrism. Decolonizing International Relations exposes the ways in which IR has consistently ignored questions of colonialism, imperialism, race, slavery, and dispossession in the non-European world. The first part of the book addresses the form and historical origins of Eurocentrism in IR. The second part examines the colonial and racialized constitution of international relations, which tends to be ignored by the discipline. The third part begins the task of retrieval and reconstruction, providing non-Eurocentric accounts of selected themes central to international relations. Critical scholars in IR and international law, concerned with the need to decolonize knowledge, have authored the chapters of this important volume. It will appeal to students and scholars of international relations, international law, and political economy, as well as those with a special interest in the politics of knowledge, postcolonial critique, international and regional historiography, and comparative politics. Contributions by: Antony Anghie, Alison J. Ayers, B. S. Chimni, James Thuo Gathii, Siba N'Zatioula Grovogui, Branwen Gruffydd Jones, Sandra Halperin, Sankaran Krishna, Mustapha Kamal Pasha, and Julian Saurin