This is a highly original collection of essays, demonstrating how comic books can be used as primary sources in the teaching and understanding of American history. "Comic Books and American Cultural History" is an anthology that examines the ways in which comic books can be used to understand the history of the United States. Over the last twenty years, there has been a proliferation of book-length works focusing on the history of comic books, but few of those books have emphasized their connection to American cultural history. These original essays demonstrate the different ways in which comic books can be used as resources. The book is divided into four parts: Part 1 examines comics and graphic novels that demonstrate the techniques of cultural history; the essays in Part 2 use comics and graphic novels as cultural artifacts; the third part of the book studies the concept of historical identity through the 20th century; and, the final section focuses on different treatments of contemporary American history. Discussing works that range from "Wonder Woman" and "Superman" to "American Flagg!" and "Ex Machina", this is a vivid collection that will be useful to anyone teaching or studying comic books in the classroom.
Introduction; "Comic Books as History Teachers"; By Matthew Pustz; Part I: Doing Cultural History Through Comic Books; 1. "How Wonder Woman Helped My Students 'Join the Conversation:' Comic Books as Teaching Tools in a History Methodology Course"; By Jessamyn Neuhaus; 2. "Comics as Primary Sources: The Case of Journey into Mohawk Country"; By Bridget M. Marshall; 3. "Transcending the Frontier Myth: Dime Novel Narration and (Jesse) Custer's Last Stand in Preacher"; By William Grady; 4. " 'Duel. I'll Give You a DUEL': Intimacy and History in Megan Kelso's Alexander Hamilton Trilogy"; By Alison Mandaville; Part II: Comic Books as Cultural Artifacts; 1. "American Golem: Reading America through Super-New Dealers and 'the Melting Pot'"; By Martin Lund; 2. " 'Dreams May End, But Love Never Does': Marriage and Materialism in American Romance Comics, 1947-1954"; By Jeanne Emerson Gardner; 3. "Parody and Propaganda: Fighting American and The Battle Against Crime and Communism in the 1950s"; By John Donovan; 4. "Grasping for Identity: The Hands of Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu"; By Peter Lee; 5. " 'Paralysis and Stagnation and Drift': America's Malaise as Demonstrated in Comic Books of the 1970s"; By Matthew Pustz; 6. "The Shopping Malls of Empire: Cultural Fragmentation, the New Media, and Consumerism in Howard Chaykin's American Flagg!"; By Matthew J. Costello; Part III: Comic Books and Historical Identity; 1. "Transformers and Monkey Kings: Gene Yang's American Born Chinese and the Quest for Identity"; By Todd S. Munson; 2. "Agent of Change: The Evolution and Enculturation of Nick Fury"; By Philip G. Payne and Paul S. Spaeth; 3. "The US HIV/AIDS Crisis and the Negotiation of Queer Identity in Superhero Comics, or, Is Northstar Still a A Fairy?"; By Ben Bolling; Part IV: Comic Books and Contemporary History; 1. "The Militarism of American Superheroes After 9/11"; By A. David Lewis; 2. "Septemeber 11, 2001: Witnessing History, Demythifying the Story in American Widow"; By Yves Davo; 3. " 'The Great Machine Doesn't Wear a Cape!': American Cultural Anxiety and the Post-9/11 Superhero"; By Jeff Geers.
