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15.4 The Dark Age: Superheroes in the 1980s

  • William Proctor
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Handbook of Comics and Graphic Narratives
Ein Kapitel aus dem Buch Handbook of Comics and Graphic Narratives

Abstract

This chapter historicizes the 1980s superhero comic, a decade that is often cited as a womb of revisionism (Klock 2002), and one that saw the maturation (see Duncan and Smith 2009) of the genre, with the emergence of the so-called ‘graphic novel’ announcing a brief but marked new-found respect for the comic book as a medium, and as literature (Brooker 2012). Considering the work of seminal authors and texts such as Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns (1986) Alan Moore and David Gibbons’ Watchmen (1986), and Marv Wolfman and George Perez’s Crisis on Infinite Earths (1986), this chapter aims to query and describe the way in which the 1980s is often viewed as animating the Dark Age of superheroes through an “‘adult’ ethos” (Brooker 2011, 25) where ‘grim and gritty’ violence and ‘realism’ becomes common-place in the decades after.

Abstract

This chapter historicizes the 1980s superhero comic, a decade that is often cited as a womb of revisionism (Klock 2002), and one that saw the maturation (see Duncan and Smith 2009) of the genre, with the emergence of the so-called ‘graphic novel’ announcing a brief but marked new-found respect for the comic book as a medium, and as literature (Brooker 2012). Considering the work of seminal authors and texts such as Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns (1986) Alan Moore and David Gibbons’ Watchmen (1986), and Marv Wolfman and George Perez’s Crisis on Infinite Earths (1986), this chapter aims to query and describe the way in which the 1980s is often viewed as animating the Dark Age of superheroes through an “‘adult’ ethos” (Brooker 2011, 25) where ‘grim and gritty’ violence and ‘realism’ becomes common-place in the decades after.

Kapitel in diesem Buch

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Editors’ Preface v
  3. Contents vii
  4. Comics Studies: Survey of the Field 1
  5. Part I: Systematic Aspects
  6. 1 Comics Terminology and Definitions 11
  7. 2 History, Formats, Genres 35
  8. 3 Text-Image Relations 81
  9. 4 Comics Narratology 99
  10. 5 Seriality 121
  11. 6 Adaptation 141
  12. Part II: Contexts and Themes
  13. 7 Politics 167
  14. 8 World-Building 181
  15. 9 Life Writing 201
  16. 10 Gender 219
  17. 11 Queerness 231
  18. 12 Science Comics 247
  19. 13 Postcolonial Perspectives 265
  20. 14 DocuComics in the Classroom 289
  21. 15 Superheroes
  22. 15.1 Historical Overview 311
  23. The Golden Age: Batman 317
  24. 15.3 The Silver Age: Nick Fury 331
  25. 15.4 The Dark Age: Superheroes in the 1980s 343
  26. Part III: Close Readings
  27. 16 Richard F. Outcault: The Yellow Kid 361
  28. 17 George Herriman: Krazy Kat 379
  29. 18 Winsor McCay: Little Nemo in Slumberland 387
  30. 19 Dave Sim: Cerebus 405
  31. 20 Will Eisner: A Contract with God 431
  32. 21 Raymond Briggs: When the Wind Blows 451
  33. 22 Art Spiegelman: Maus 467
  34. 23 Robert Crumb 481
  35. 24 Alan Moore: From Hell 499
  36. 25 Neil Gaiman: The Sandman 513
  37. 26 Alison Bechdel: Dykes to Watch Out For 529
  38. 27 Chris Ware: Jimmy Corrigan – The Smartest Kid on Earth 545
  39. 28 Daniel Clowes: Ghost World 561
  40. 29 Martin Rowson: The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman 573
  41. 30 Marjane Satrapi: Persepolis 589
  42. 31 Grant Morrison: Flex Mentallo 601
  43. Index of Subjects 619
  44. Index of Names 629
  45. List of Contributors 635
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110446968-019

Kapitel in diesem Buch

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Editors’ Preface v
  3. Contents vii
  4. Comics Studies: Survey of the Field 1
  5. Part I: Systematic Aspects
  6. 1 Comics Terminology and Definitions 11
  7. 2 History, Formats, Genres 35
  8. 3 Text-Image Relations 81
  9. 4 Comics Narratology 99
  10. 5 Seriality 121
  11. 6 Adaptation 141
  12. Part II: Contexts and Themes
  13. 7 Politics 167
  14. 8 World-Building 181
  15. 9 Life Writing 201
  16. 10 Gender 219
  17. 11 Queerness 231
  18. 12 Science Comics 247
  19. 13 Postcolonial Perspectives 265
  20. 14 DocuComics in the Classroom 289
  21. 15 Superheroes
  22. 15.1 Historical Overview 311
  23. The Golden Age: Batman 317
  24. 15.3 The Silver Age: Nick Fury 331
  25. 15.4 The Dark Age: Superheroes in the 1980s 343
  26. Part III: Close Readings
  27. 16 Richard F. Outcault: The Yellow Kid 361
  28. 17 George Herriman: Krazy Kat 379
  29. 18 Winsor McCay: Little Nemo in Slumberland 387
  30. 19 Dave Sim: Cerebus 405
  31. 20 Will Eisner: A Contract with God 431
  32. 21 Raymond Briggs: When the Wind Blows 451
  33. 22 Art Spiegelman: Maus 467
  34. 23 Robert Crumb 481
  35. 24 Alan Moore: From Hell 499
  36. 25 Neil Gaiman: The Sandman 513
  37. 26 Alison Bechdel: Dykes to Watch Out For 529
  38. 27 Chris Ware: Jimmy Corrigan – The Smartest Kid on Earth 545
  39. 28 Daniel Clowes: Ghost World 561
  40. 29 Martin Rowson: The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman 573
  41. 30 Marjane Satrapi: Persepolis 589
  42. 31 Grant Morrison: Flex Mentallo 601
  43. Index of Subjects 619
  44. Index of Names 629
  45. List of Contributors 635
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Heruntergeladen am 25.12.2025 von https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110446968-019/html?lang=de
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