Manchester University Press Sovereignty and Superheroes

Sovereignty and superheroes marks a major new contribution to the emerging field of comics studies and the growing literature on superheroes. Using a range of critical theorists including Giorgio Agamben, Judith Butler, Jacques Derrida, Donna Haraway, Martin Heidegger, Hannah Arendt and Carl Schmitt, the book examines superheroes as sovereigns, addressing amongst other things the complex treatment of law and violence, legitimacy and authority, states of emergency, the distinction between friend and enemy and alternative structures of kinship. The book considers all the main characters including Superman, Batman, Captain America, Wonder Woman and Iron Man along with a host of other heroes and heroines within the Marvel and DC universes, whilst also offering major studies of titles like Watchmen and Promethea. In a century thus far dominated by the exceptionalism of the war on terror, the book offers the perfect opportunity to think through the nature of sovereignty in such times of emergency. It not only guides the reader through some of the major story arcs in superhero comics but also serves as an excellent introduction to a range of writings on the nature of sovereignty and the many complex problems associated with its exercise. While superhero comics are wonderful allegories for many of these problems one of the main features of the book is to argue that superhero comics contribute something new to these debates in terms of their conception of the struggle between world building and world destroying conflicts. Sovereignty and superheroes will be of interest to academics and students of media and cultural studies, comics studies, political and critical theory and philosophy, and all those interested in the intersection between superhero comics, culture and politics.