Review: Death, Disability and the Superhero

Death, Disability and the Superhero by Jose Alaniz

University Press of Missouri, 2014

ISBN: 1628461179

Available: Print and ebook

This book is a beast. A heavy brick of text with a massive amount of research behind it, it’s not for casual comic book fans. But if you’re passionate about comic books and superheroes as a serious art form, a reflection of culture as much as any other fiction genre, this is a book for you. Alaniz starts out compiling themes and commentary on Golden Age superheroes and the ideals of culture they represented at the time. But the real meat is in his own research and take on the Silver Age of comics, the rise of Marvel and the expansion of superheroes from Ubermench to complicated characters.

Highly recommended because of the rarity of such studies on superheroes and disability culture.

Contains: discussion of violence, rape, and war

Book received from Netgalley.com

Reviewed for MonsterLibrarian.com