Literature Review
The Hero with a Thousand Faces is a book about the hero’s journey throughout time. I believe it will be useful to me because it basically gives the blueprint of what makes a hero. Also, what trial and tribulations help form a champion of the people. I think this book will assist in preventing cliches. Lastly, understanding heroes of the past will be invaluable in creating heroes of the future.
Much like the title suggests Understanding Comics will help me better understand comics. It goes into detail about how comics are structured and the theory behind comic books. But also looking at comics as a way of communication. I have heard that the author Scott McCloud’s books Understanding Comics and Making Comics go hand in hand. Perhaps I will get the other one further down the line.
The topic of masculinity has often times come up in relation to comic books. Comic Book Masculinity and the New Black Superhero expands upon it. It also mentions Dwayne Mcduffie who has done the most for black superheroes in comics.
From Comics to Comic Books gives a detailed history of comic books. Just like with The Hero with a Thousand Faces this is history that I need to know. I am curious about how the comics in those times (1842 – 1936) reflected the world around them.
Stan Lee has been a hero of mine since I was a kid. It always amazed me how him and Jack Kirby created an entire comic book universe. I chose the journal Newsmaker: Stan Lee because I think it may have some information about him that I didn’t know before, but I doubt it.
Bibliography
Campbell, Joseph. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Mumbai, India: Yogi Impressions, 2017.
McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics. New York: HarperPerennial, 1994.
Brown, Jeffrey A. “Comic Book Masculinity and the New Black Superhero.” African American Review 33, no. 1 (1999): 25. https://doi.org/10.2307/2901299.
Gabilliet, Jean-Paul. “From Comics to Comic Books (1842–1936).” Of Comics and Men, 2009, 3–12. https://doi.org/10.14325/mississippi/9781604732672.003.0001.
“NEWSMAKER: STAN LEE.” American Libraries 45, no. 5 (May 1, 2014): 16–16. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/24603393?refreqid=search-gateway:5434f6841fe1fe75827f48988973320f.
