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As a man, I'm flesh and blood, I can be ignored, I can be
destroyed; but as a symbol... as a symbol I can be incorruptible, I
can be everlasting". In the 2005 reboot of the Batman film
franchise, Batman Begins, Bruce Wayne articulates how the figure of
the superhero can serve as a transcendent icon. It is hard to
imagine a time when superheroes have been more pervasive in our
culture. Today, superheroes are intellectual property jealously
guarded by media conglomerates, icons co-opted by grassroots groups
as a four-color rebuttal to social inequities, masks people wear to
more confidently walk convention floors and city streets, and
bulletproof banners that embody regional and national identities.
From activism to cosplay, this collection unmasks the symbolic
function of superheroes. Bringing together superhero scholars from
a range of disciplines, alongside key industry figures such as
Harley Quinn co-creator Paul Dini, The Superhero Symbol provides
fresh perspectives on how characters like Captain America, Iron
Man, and Wonder Woman have engaged with media, culture, and
politics, to become the 'everlasting' symbols to which a young
Bruce Wayne once aspired.
In the summer of 2000 X-Men surpassed all box office expectations
and ushered in an era of unprecedented production of comic book
film adaptations. This trend, now in its second decade, has
blossomed into Hollywood's leading genre. From superheroes to
Spartan warriors, The Comic Book Film Adaptation offers the first
dedicated study to examine how comic books moved from the fringes
of popular culture to the center of mainstream film production.
Through in-depth analysis, industry interviews, and audience
research, this book charts the cause-and-effect of this influential
trend. It considers the cultural traumas, business demands, and
digital possibilities that Hollywood faced at the dawn of the
twenty-first century. The industry managed to meet these challenges
by exploiting comics and their existing audiences. However, studios
were caught off-guard when these comic book fans, empowered by
digital media, began to influence the success of these adaptations.
Nonetheless, filmmakers soon developed strategies to take advantage
of this intense fanbase, while codifying the trend into a more
lucrative genre, the comic book movie, which appealed to an even
wider audience. Central to this vibrant trend is a comic aesthetic
in which filmmakers utilize digital filmmaking technologies to
engage with the language and conventions of comics like never
before. The Comic Book Film Adaptation explores this unique moment
in which cinema is stimulated, challenged, and enriched by the
once-dismissed medium of comics.
As a man, I'm flesh and blood, I can be ignored, I can be
destroyed; but as a symbol... as a symbol I can be incorruptible, I
can be everlasting". In the 2005 reboot of the Batman film
franchise, Batman Begins, Bruce Wayne articulates how the figure of
the superhero can serve as a transcendent icon. It is hard to
imagine a time when superheroes have been more pervasive in our
culture. Today, superheroes are intellectual property jealously
guarded by media conglomerates, icons co-opted by grassroots groups
as a four-color rebuttal to social inequities, masks people wear to
more confidently walk convention floors and city streets, and
bulletproof banners that embody regional and national identities.
From activism to cosplay, this collection unmasks the symbolic
function of superheroes. Bringing together superhero scholars from
a range of disciplines, alongside key industry figures such as
Harley Quinn co-creator Paul Dini, The Superhero Symbol provides
fresh perspectives on how characters like Captain America, Iron
Man, and Wonder Woman have engaged with media, culture, and
politics, to become the 'everlasting' symbols to which a young
Bruce Wayne once aspired.
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