Jaq Greenspon
Once we get to the third piece, “American Superheroes in Japanese
Hands,” the work really starts coming into focus, and we get the kind of analysis
this book seems to demand of its contributors. Co-editor Denison looks at
merely replicated the character with their
but has made him their
own. She writes: “What
superhero genre, and the ease with which local variations on superheroes
can incorporate the early US characters that once offered them inspiration.”
Additionally, she gets the name of the American hero correct, with the hyphen,
something which gets missed in later chapters that mention him.
The next two sections, “Superheroes on World Screens: From Local
Productions to Transnational Blockbusters” and “The Politics, Morality, and
Socio-Cultural Impact of Superheroes on World Screens,” both generally bring
the academic back to the forefront. Even Chapter 4, “Heroes of Hall H,” with its
focus on Comic-Con International in general and Doctor Who in particular, is
which to view the superhero phenomenon, especially in how it relates back to
the United States.
For example, Daniel Martin’s piece about Blade of the Phantom
Master points out that “one of the most enduring debates taking place within
sense of Japanese-ness. Some critics regard anime as essentially stateless,
while others view the recognizably foreign qualities of anime as key to its
international appeal.” At the same time, in “Tu Mera Superman” Iain Robert
Smith looks at the qualities of an Indian version of the prototypical hero and
how his acquisition of powers, while the same in ability, come from a much more
culturally appropriate source (in this case, the Hindu monkey god Hanuman).
The only really disappointing piece is co-editor Ward’s contribution
“Fighting for Truth, Justice, and the Islamic Way.” While discussing the comic
and subsequent animated TV series centering around the Islamic-based hero
group The 99, she is slightly disingenuous in her presentation of data. While
2010 due to conservative bloggers, she only mentions in a footnote the show’s
date of this book. Additionally, she postulates the blogging effort to keep the
show off American airwaves “may be an aberration” when she cites another
show (Burka Avenger) with similar characteristics that has not received any
notice at all from those same conservative bloggers. However, it isn’t until the
end of that paragraph she concedes that while the Burka Avenger is widely
available on the Internet and smartphones, “it has only been aired in Pakistan
and has not yet tried to penetrate the US market.”
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