Writing an essay on comic books

[PanicA]

Hello Everyone!

I'm writing an extensive essay for school. As a topic I would like to compare the evidence of inequalities between genders and characters of different nationalities in some comic series when it first was published and a reasently released issue.

I'm not a big comic fan myself, I stick to webcomics, so I would very much appriciate if one more knowledged than me would enlighten me. I'm wondering whether there's prejudice in portrayal of women or non-caucasians characters in the early releases of Superman.

Thank you for your assistance!

Best Wishes/Amanda

(The same question will be posted on the forum for Batman and Spiderman)

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Superman, not really. I mean, Lois Lane was constantly a damsel in distress, but aside from that, the early Seigel & Shuster Superman comics weren't really known for gender or racial stereotyping. The Weisenger Era Superman comics from the fifties, though, that's a different story. There's all kinds of bizarre sexual and gender craziness going on in those comics.

The later Superman cartoons in the forties, once America had been bombed by the Japanese had some fairly unflattering Asian sterotypes in them, but those weren't the comics.

Are you limiting yourself to just Superman, Batman & Spider-Man? You might have better luck with Wonder Woman and The Blackhawks. Egg Fu is pretty bad, but not nearly as ragingly racist as Chop Chop.

[BoosterBronze]

If you check out the old Superman cartoons (you can grab them at Walmart for a buck) you'll see some wonderfully racist WWII propaganda shorts.

[PanicA]

Thanks for replying Borded at 3:00AM ! :)

I chose these three comics since it's the comics I have the most general knowledge about. I'm grateful for any additional tips though. The comics that you mentioned, do you know if new issues are still being printed?

/Amanda

[Connor28]

If your looking for early superman stories, archived editions would be your best bet! Although the price is a bit steep, you may be lucky enough to find some in your local library. Apart from that I am sure that there is some sort of Golden Age (1939-1956) superman fansite that would cover the topic your writing about.

[stealthwise]

Buy the Showcase Superman volume filled with reprints (it's $10 for 500 pages). There's plenty of stuff in there that has women in stereotypical situations, with Lois constantly trying to get Superman to reveal his identity in order to force him to marry her.

Also, do a net search for the "Superman is a Dick" website, they have plenty of covers containing questionable gender situations.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Thanks for replying Borded at 3:00AM ! :)

I chose these three comics since it's the comics I have the most general knowledge about. I'm grateful for any additional tips though. The comics that you mentioned, do you know if new issues are still being printed?

/Amanda

Wonder Woman is being revamped and will debut sometime in the summer with The OC writer Alan Heinberg at the helm, but it's likely that Egg Fu will not be making a reappearance..ever again.

Blackhawk's last regular series was in late eighties, early ninties and Chop Chop had been re-imagined as an actually competent Asian man, who was in many ways smarter, more ethical and an all round better man than the hero himself.