Superheroes of the Round Table: Comics Connections to Medieval and Renaissance Literature

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McFarland, Oct 14, 2011 - Literary Criticism - 248 pages

Few scholars nursed on the literary canon would dispute that knowledge of Western literature benefits readers and writers of the superhero genre. This analysis of superhero comics as Romance literature shows that the reverse is true--knowledge of the superhero romance has something to teach critics of traditional literature. Establishing the comic genre as a cousin to Arthurian myth, Spenser, and Shakespeare, it uses comics to inform readings of The Faerie Queene, The Tempest, Malory's Morte and more, while employing authors like Ben Johnson to help explain comics by Alan Moore, Jack Kirby, and Grant Morrison and characters like Iron Man, the Hulk, the X-Men, and the Justice League. Scholars of comics, medieval and Renaissance literature alike will find it appealing.

 

Contents

Introduction
1
1 Double Identities and Arthegalls Yron Man
19
2 Kirbys Masque
51
3 By My So Potent Art
91
4 Arthur the FourColor King
142
5 Grant Morrisons Grail Quest
189
Notes
227
Bibliography
232
Index
237
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About the author (2011)

Jason Tondro is a senior designer on the Dungeons & Dragons team at Wizards of the Coast. He lives in Seattle, Washington.

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