ERIC Number: EJ1437190
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024
Pages: 12
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1521-7779
EISSN: N/A
Capes, Culture, and Racial Representation in Children's Superhero Narratives: A Critical Race Content Analysis of DC Graphic Novels for Kids
Christian M. Hines; Rene M. Rodriguez-Astacio; Henry Miller
Journal of Children's Literature, v50 n1 p10-21 2024
The story of American superheroes cannot be told without the publisher DC and its evolving audience. During the latter 1930s and early 1940s, DC Comics assembled a catalog of superheroes that became the archetype of the genre itself: Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman. As DC Comics' audience and market grew throughout the decades, the company's understanding of its readership expanded to include readers of color. Originally conceived as DC Zoom in 2018, the imprint was meant to create superhero narratives written for young audiences. In 2020, DC Zoom reorganized and bifurcated its products into two streams: DC Graphic Novels for Kids and DC Graphic Novels for Young Adults. The former is geared toward upper elementary students, while the latter is geared toward middle and high school audiences. The DC Graphic Novels for Kids imprint redresses the original narrative exclusion of DC Comics by centering new, young heroes of color alongside white superheroes. Importantly, these younger heroes of color are written by comic writers of color, which marks a departure from the historical origins of some of the most popular superheroes of color. In this article, the authors construct a critical race content analysis of DC Graphic Novels for Kids that feature characters of color to engage in that inquiry. Tensions and changes within superhero comic books frequently mirror larger sociopolitical shifts in the United States. Similar to reading children's literature, the consumption and engagement with graphic novels cannot be severed from the sociopolitical contexts in which such actions take place. This tradition of engagement continues to the modern day with DC Comics. A tension exists between narratives that ignore discussions of race and racism and literary moves that work as racialized characterization.
Descriptors: Literary Devices, Disproportionate Representation, Racial Factors, Cartoons, Novels, Popular Culture, Racism, Elementary Education, United States History, Social Change, Content Analysis, Social Problems, Minority Groups, Language Arts
Children's Literature Assembly. e-mail: info@childrensliteratureassembly.org; Web site: https://www.childrensliteratureassembly.org/journal.html
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Information Analyses
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A