ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts covered in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book uses superheroes as a vehicle to examine the ways in which different Americans thought about the US, about what was acceptable within it. It provides an introduction to the origins of the superhero genre, beginning in 1938 with the first publication of Superman. The book also looks at the US in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War as it underwent the problematic processes of resettlement. It also looks at the political climate that led to the creation of juvenile delinquency, communism, and homosexuality, the ways in which they operated and sustained themselves, and the forms of protest they adopted. The book engages with the striking responses to both Watergate and Vietnam offered by Marvel, as well as DC's carefully considered response to domestic politics and it's less carefully considered take on feminism through Wonder Woman and Lois Lane.
