Comic Book History Syllabus

[Avenger Assembled]

Hi all. This is the final project for my graduate teaching practicum. This is not the syllabus of a real class, it's of one I'd like to teach in the future.

It's an imaginary story. Aren't they all?

Professor: Dr. Michael Davis

Office: 123 Davis Hall

Office Hours: 11-2 PM Friday or by Appointment

Email: Davis123@ucdavis.edu

HISTORY 600

History of American Superhero Comics, 1938-2000

MWF 2-4 PM

Texts:

Gerard Jones. Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book (Basic Books, 2004)

Paul Lopes. Demanding Respect: The Evolution of the American Comic Book (Temple Press, 2009)

Bradford Wright. Comic Book Nation: The Transformation of Youth Culture in America (JHU Press, 2003)

Statement of Purpose:

The goal of this class is to educate students about the evolution of narratives of power, class, race, and gender in American superhero comic books from their inception at the height of the Great Depression through the birth of the modern ‘era’ of superhero stories. While traditionally treated as irrelevant fluff, sexually subversive, or dangerously fascist, superhero comic books speak to a profound part of American culture and chronicling the continued changes in the medium will help increase our understanding of the changes in American culture since the 1930s.

We will make use of extensive primary and secondary sources: reading comic books, pulp magazines, and contemporary trade publications as well as the evolving narrative about comic books emerging from cultural scholars.

This course will largely center around the following themes:

-The cultural origins of superhero stories in 1930s America and the changing nature of comic book publishers and storytellers

-The role that superheroes played in reinforcing and challenging wartime stereotypes in the 1940s

-The impact of movie serials and other ‘tie-in’ narratives

-The ‘reaction’ of the early Cold War as played out in the medium of superheroes

-Evolving narratives of race and gender in the context of the civil rights and feminist movements of the 1960s and 1970s

-The ‘postmodernist’ turn of the 1980s and its ramifications for the medium

-The confluence of gender and violence in contemporary comic books

-The collapse of the market in the 1990s and subsequent dawn of the Cinematic Age

In addition to the texts, several supplemental readings will be offered each week to give students a better context for their discussion. Students will be expected to understand particular cultural and narrative trends, not memorize particular dates and events in the history of the medium.

Assignments:

Students will be expected to take 1 MIDTERM exam halfway through the semester (i.e.; at the end of Week 4) and one FINAL at the end of the course at the end of Week 10. Students will be expected to write 2 5-page papers in the first and second halves of the semester where they will analyze a topic from the readings, discussion, or lecture preapproved by the instructor. Those papers will be due the 3th and 8th weeks of class, respectively.

Students will be expected to turn their assignments in on time, but reasonable accommodations will be made in the event of emergencies. Students will be expected to comply with all university anti-plagiarism policies and should understand that if they commit a violation their fate is outside the hands of their instructor.

Schedule:

Week 1: “Muscles, Mooks, and Mobsters”

Question:

What did pulp magazines offer their readers?

-Read Chapters 1-5 of Jones and Chapter 1 of Lopes

-Supplementary Reading:

Larry Widen Doc Savage, Arch Enemy of Evil

Review the primary sources about ‘physical culture’ founder Bernarr McFadden available at http://www.bernarrmacfadden.com/

DC Comics Superman in the 1940s

Week 2: “Wartime Heroes”

Question:

How did superhero comics reflect the popular narrative of WWII America?

-Read Chapters 5-10 of Jones and Chapter 2 of Lopes

-Supplementary Reading:

DC Comics, Wonder Woman Chronicles Vol. 1

DC Comics, The Shazam Family Archives Vol. 1

Marvel Comics, Marvel Masterworks Golden Age Captain America Comics Vol. 1

Week 3: “Reaction and Reform”

Question:

What caused the conservative reaction in postwar American pop culture?

-Read Chapters 11-12 of Jones

-Supplementary Reading:

Frederick Wertham, The Seduction of the Innocent

DC Comics, Superman in the 1950s

DC Comics, Batman in the 1950s

Gemstone Publishing, Vault of Horror

Gemstone Publishing, Crime SuspenStories

PAPER #1 DUE

Week 4: “Empowered Women”

Question:

How did American comic books reflect the changing gender norms of postwar America?

-Read Chapters 13-15 of Jones and Chapter 3 of Lopes

-Supplementary Reading:

DC Comics, Silver Age Wonder Woman Archives Vol. 1

DC Comics, Superman’s Girlfriend Lois Lane

DC Comics, Action Comics #252

Gloria Steinem, “Introduction,” in Wonder Woman 1972

Week 5: “Black Panthers and Red Men”

Question:

How did superhero stories attempt to address the changing social concerns of 1960s and 1970s America?

-Read Chapter 8 of Wright

-Supplementary Reading:

DC Comics, Superman in the 1970s

DC Comics, Denny O'Neill Green Lantern/Green Arrow Vol 1 and Vol 2

Marvel Comics, Essential Luke Cage/Power Man Vol. 1

Marvel Comics, Essential Ms. Marvel Vol. 1

MIDTERM ON FRIDAY

Week 6 : “Crisis on Infinite Tie-Ins”

Question:

Why did the ‘crossover’ craze of the 1980s happen?

-Read Chapter 9 of Wright and Chapter 4 of Lopes

-Supplementary Reading:

DC Comics, “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?”

DC Comics, Crisis on Infinite Earths

Marvel Comics, Secret Wars I

Week 7: “A for Alan Moore”

Question:

How did the postmodernist turn of the late 1980s change the nature of comic book storytelling?

-Read Chapter 10 of Wright and 5 of Lopes

-Supplementary Reading:

DC Comics, Watchmen

Marvel Comics, Squadron Supreme

DC Comics, Animal Man

PAPER #2 DUE

Week 8: “Inmates Running the Asylum”

Question:

What were some of the positive and negative consequences of ‘fans’ making up the business leadership of the comic book industry?

-Read Chapter 5 of Lopes and Epilogue of Wright

-Supplementary Reading:

DC Comics, All-Star Squadron

John Jackson Miller. "Nov. 17, 1992: A $30 Million Day — and the Days After," "The 1900s: 10 biggest events from 100 years in comics," CBGXtra.com (Dec. 12, 2005).

Carlson, KC. "KC Column: Scaling Mount Baron," Westfield Comics (Nov. 16, 2009) —

Week 9: “The Cold and the Dark”

Question:

In what ways did superhero comics succeed in their efforts to grapple with “real-world” concerns in the 1980s and 1990s? In what ways did they fail?

-Read Chapter 6 of Lopes and John Vouleris, “What Women Want,” http://www.comicsbulletin.com/soapbox/1 ... 759399.htm

-Supplementary reading:

DC Comics, The Death and Return of Superman

DC Comics, Green Lantern Vol 54

Marvel Comics, Alpha Flight #103-106

Week 10: “The Cinematic Age and the New Millenium”

Question:

How did the changing nature of comic book storytelling reflect the shifting cultural turn of the 1990s and 200s?

-Supplementary Reading:

DC Comics, Kingdom Come

Marvel Comics, Ultimates Vol. 1

Marvel Comics, The Amazing Spiderman #36

FINAL ON FRIDAY

[Dr Archeville]

I want to take this course.

[Fox]

I'm not even in college anymore and I'd take this course.

[Quinn]

Ditto.

[KnightDisciple]

I want to take this course.

This. So very much this.

It looks right up there with a course I took entitled: The Hero Quest and the Holy Grail in Literature, Art and Film.

[N/A]

I would harvest my own mother's kidneys to take this course.