This volume provides thorough coverage of some troublesome and seldom clarified issues that affect scholars who deal with nonprint media. When is it legitimate in teaching or publishing to "quote" a visual image from television, film or printed graphics? To quote the lines from a musical lyric? Why has the long tradition of fair use for printed material, which sanctions quoting without permission, been so slow in its extension to other media? How can scholars and publishers prudently behave in an area where media corporations are uncooperative or belligerent in dealing with requests to document arguments through the inclusion of copyrighted materials? This book offers a forum where scholars, lawyers, archivists, and federal administrators of copyright law express informed viewpoints about these issues.

In 1977 a single film called Star Wars exploded on the consciousness of the world. Since then the franchise, created by George Lucas, has become a global entertainment corporation. The merchandise of the original trilogy was largely confined to toys and games, but those games have since become computerized, the toys more sophisticated, and Star Wars has moved into the multi-media environment of the twenty-first century in ways unimaginable in the long-ago world of 1977. Computer games and web sites, novels, animated television shows, as well as a new trilogy of films, have all placed Star Wars at the center of world popular culture. Finding the Force of the Star Wars Franchise brings together contributors who critically analyze the Star Wars universe from many perspectives. Topics include war, foreign policy, gender roles, spirituality and religion, toy play and adult collecting, creative fandom, race, special effects, and mythology.

For more than 60 years, Captain America served as an iconic figure in popular culture, and one of Marvel Comics' flagship characters. He represented everything good and positive about the classic American ideal - truth, strength, liberty, and an unflappable belief that justice would always prevail. When his alter ego, Steve Rogers, was assassinated by a sniper outside a federal courthouse, his death rocked the comic world and left fans and critics with numerous questions about his life and how it ended. Did he die a political casualty of the Global War on Terrorism, or was it just another Marvel marketing ploy? Had he become an anachronism in tights, or was he still a self-conscious, larger than life figure who tried to bear the full existential weight of what American military power had become? And how is his death in the Civil War series to be reconciled with his second death, in Morrell and Breitweiser's series ""The Chosen?"" This book brings such speculations into sharper focus, compiling critical essays by a wide range of authors, including art and literary scholars, professors and graduate students, historians, and ""Captain America"" writers. The range of topics discussed include the ways in which Nazi Germany was represented in ""Captain America Comics"" from the 1940s to his resurrection in the 1960s; the creation of ""Captain America"" in light of the Jewish American experience; the relationship between Captain America and Captain Britain, who was featured in a few rare UK Marvel comics; the groundbreaking partnership between Captain America and one of the first mainstream African American superheroes, The Falcon; and, the various successful and unsuccessful attempts that were made to kill Captain America before his 'real' death.

As immediate and relevant as todaybs headlines, this book sets forth a bold argument with direct implications for political life in America and around the world. Combining incisive cultural analysis and keen religious insight, Robert Jewett and John Shelton Lawrence maintain that American crusading -- so powerfully embodied in popular entertainments -- has striking parallels with Islamic jihad and Israeli militancy.

According to Jewett and Lawrence, American civil religion has both a humane, constitutional tradition and a violent strand that is now coming to the fore. The crusade to rid the world of evil and bevildoersb derives from the same biblical tradition of zealous warfare and nationalism that spawns Islamic and Israeli radicalism. In America, where this tradition has been popularized by superheroic entertainments, the idea of zealous war is infused with a distinctive sense of mission that draws on secular and religious images. These crusading ideals are visible in such events as the settling of the western frontier, the World Wars, the Cold War, the Gulf War, and Americabs present war on terrorism.

In exploring the tradition of "zealous nationalism," which seeks to redeem the world by destroying enemies, the authors provide a fascinating access to the inner workings of the American psyche. They analyze the phenomenon of "zeal" -- the term itself is the biblical and cultural counterpart of the Islamic concept of "jihad" -- and address such consequential topics as the conspiracy theory of evil, the problem of stereotyping enemies, the mystique of violence, the obsession with victory, and the worship of national symbols such as flags.

This critical book, however, is alsoimmensely constructive. As Jewett and Lawrence point out, the same biblical tradition that allows for crusading mentalities also contains a critique of zealous warfare and a profound vision of impartial justice. This tradition of "prophetic realism" derives from the humane side of the biblical heritage, and the authors trace its manifestations within the American experience, including its supreme embodiment in Abraham Lincoln. Isaiahbs bswords into plowsharesb image is carved on the walls of the United Nations building, thus standing at the center of a globally focused civil religion. Grasping this vision honored by Judaism, Christianity, and Islam alike includes recognizing the dangers of zealous violence, the illusions of current crusading, and the promise of peaceful coexistence under international law.

Instructive, relevant, and urgent, "Captain America and the Crusade against Evil" is sure to provoke much soul-searching and wide debate.

From the Superman of comic books to Hollywood's big-screen action stars, Americans have long enjoyed a love affair with the superhero. In this engaging volume John Shelton Lawrence and Robert Jewett explore the historical and spiritual roots of the superhero myth and its deleterious effect on Americas democratic vision.

Arguing that the superhero is the antidemocratic counterpart of the classical monomyth described by Joseph Campbell, the authors show that the American version of the monomyth derives from tales of redemption. In settings where institutions and elected leaders always fail, the American monomyth offers heroes who combine elements of the selfless servant with the lone, zealous crusader who destroys evil. Taking the law into their own hands, these unelected figures assume total power to rid the community of its enemies, thus comprising a distinctively American form of pop fascism.

Drawing widely from books, films, TV programs, video games, and places of superhero worship on the World Wide Web, the authors trace the development of the American superhero during the twentieth century and expose the mythic patterns behind the most successful elements of pop culture. Lawrence and Jewett challenge readers to reconsider the relationship of this myth to traditional religious and social values, and they show how, ultimately, these antidemocratic narratives gain the spiritual loyalties of their audiences, in the process inviting them to join in crusades against evil.

Finally, the authors pose this provocative question: Can we take a holiday from democracy in our lives of fantasy and entertainment while preserving our commitment to democratic institutions and waysof life?

In 1977 a single film called Star Wars exploded on the consciousness of the world. Since then the franchise, created by George Lucas, has become a global entertainment corporation. The merchandise of the original trilogy was largely confined to toys and games, but those games have since become computerized, the toys more sophisticated, and Star Wars has moved into the multi-media environment of the twenty-first century in ways unimaginable in the long-ago world of 1977. Computer games and web sites, novels, animated television shows, as well as a new trilogy of films, have all placed Star Wars at the center of world popular culture. Finding the Force of the Star Wars Franchise brings together contributors who critically analyze the Star Wars universe from many perspectives. Topics include war, foreign policy, gender roles, spirituality and religion, toy play and adult collecting, creative fandom, race, special effects, and mythology.