Corpse crusaders : the zombie in American comics / Chera Kee.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kee, Chera, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Zombies in comics.

Horror comic books, strips, etc--United States--History and criticism.

Horror comic books, strips, etc.

Comic books, strips, etc--United States--History and criticism.

Comic books, strips, etc.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xiii, 205 pages) : illustrations

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Ann Arbor : University of Michigan Press, 2024.

Summary:

In the popular imagination, zombies are scary, decomposing corpses hunting down the living. But since the 1930s, there have also been other zombies shambling across the panels of comic books--zombies that aren't quite what most people think zombies should be. There have been zombie slaves, zombie henchmen, talking zombies, beautiful zombies, and even zombie heroes. Using archival research into Golden Age comics and extended analyses of comics from the 1940s to today, Corpse Crusaders explores the profound influence early action/adventure and superheroic generic conventions had on shaping comic book zombies. It takes the reader from the 1940s superhero, The Purple Zombie, through 1950s revenge-from-the-grave zombies, to the 1970s anti-hero, Simon Garth ("The Zombie") and the gruesome heroes-turned-zombies of Marvel Zombies. In becoming immersed in superheroic logics early on, the zombie in comics became a figure that, unlike the traditional narrative uses of other monsters, actually served to defend the status quo. This continuing trend not only provides insight into the overwhelming influence superheroes have had on the comic book medium, but it also provides a unique opportunity to explore the ways in which zombiism and superheroism parallel each other. Corpse Crusaders explores the ways that truth, justice, and the American way have influenced the undead in comics and turned what is often a rebellious figure into one that works to save the day.

Contents:

Introduction: A brief (and heroic) history of the zombie in comics

Part 1: Mission. The Purple Zombies: superheroes and strongman zombies

Vengeance and villains: from the horror comics of the 1950s to Deadworld

Part 2: Identity. Tales of the zombie and Xombi: or, the curious case of the suffering zombie hardbodies

Gwen Dylan is not the girl she used to be: iZombie and female zombies in comics

Part 3: Powers. Conclusions: Blackest night and Marvel zombies-the hero as zombie.

Notes:

Title from eBook information screen..

Includes bibliographical references (pages 195-205) and index.

Description based on information from the publisher.

Has Supplement:

Supplement (work): Kee Chera, Corpse crusaders 1 online resource (21 additional images and a video slideshow)

ISBN:

9780472904501

0472904507

OCLC:

1416958864

Access Restriction:

Open Access Unrestricted online access