Throughout this work, I highlight how Marvel writers and artists use a tactic called the Trojan Stereotype to subvert hegemonic representations of the Asian American body within the same Orientalist tropes used to characterize the Asian American body.
I made the decision to focus on these three characters to focus on representations American superheroes of Asian ethnic background and to focus on ethnic characters that played prominent roles in contemporary Marvel comics. For my research I focused on three contemporary Asian American Marvel superheroes: the nuclear powered Hazmat, the “Hypermind” Amadeus Cho, and Jimmy Woo leader of a former criminal organization. My research focuses on mainstream publications of the superhero while many Comics Studies scholarship focuses on independent autobiographical narratives. This research is a unique contribution to Asian American Studies and Comics Studies be examining contemporary means of cultural productions of the Asian American body as superhero in light of issues of race, class, and gender. I examine the authorship and depiction of the Asian American superhero in Marvel Comics focusing on representations of gender, race, class, and sexuality, and my intent is to uncover postcolonial themes in the creative works of the writers and artists. This thesis is an examination of Asian American identity and the image of the superhero in Marvel comic books. To further focus the research, Marvel’s crossover story arc Civil War will be used as a case study to reflect the concept of a shift from propaganda to political or establishment critique within the modern superhero comic genre. Using the theories of Herb, Gramsci, and Foucault, as well as the writers and producers themselves this thesis will identify and analyse the role that Captain America plays within the Marvel Comics universe, and the implications that his use has for representations of nationalism, geopolitics, and American identity. Using the character Captain America as the main focus for research this project will examine the changing attitudes of comic book producers ,who fall under Gramsci’s term ‘organic intellectuals,’ particularly since the attacks on America in September 11th, 2001. This dissertation will explore the ways that superhero comics interact and reflect issues of nationalism and its depiction with regards to issues such as war, government, and the polar extremes the nationalism can illicit.
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