Since Superman first appeared in Action Comics #1 in 1938, the superhero has changed with the times to remain a relevant icon of American popular culture. This collection explores the evolution of the Superman character and demonstrates how his alterations mirror historical changes in American socie... [more]

This first-ever biography of American actress Anne Francis will enlighten her casual fans and earn a nod of agreement from her diehard admirers. The star of such 1950s cinematic classics as Forbidden Planet, Anne made the risky decision to transplant her talents to television and, as a result, her a... [more]

"Since his film debut in the 1940s, Batman and his alter ego Bruce Wayne have been a regular presence in movies. In various incarnations, Batman has remained an American icon, capturing the imagination of each successive generation of moviegoers. This study documents his live-action film adventures,... [more]

Starting in 1996, U.S. television saw an influx of super human female characters who could materialize objects like Sabrina the Teenage Witch, defeat evil like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and have premonitions like Charmed Phoebe. The extraordinary abilities of these women showed resistance to traditi... [more]

Written by international experts from a range of disciplines, these essays examine the uniquely British contribution to science fiction film and television, including Doctor Who, the Hammer Horror films, 28 Days Later, A Clockwork Orange, and many others. Viewing British SF as a cultural phenomenon ... [more]

The worlds of Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, and other modern epics feature the Chosen One, an adolescent boy who defeats the Dark Lord and battles the sorrows of the world. Television's Buffy the Vampire Slayer represents a different kind of epic - the heroine's journey, not the hero's. This provocat... [more]

This collection combines the academic and practical aspects of teaching by exploring the ways in which Buffy the Vampire Slayer is taught in international classrooms through both interdisciplinary and discipline-based approaches. Essays describe how Buffy can be used to explain and encourage further... [more]

This bibliographic guide to the 'Buffyverse' - the fictional worlds of the acclaimed television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003) and its spinoff Angel (1999-2004), as well as the original Buffy feature film of 1992 - is the largest and most inclusive work of its kind. The author organizes... [more]

"For more than 60 years, Captain America was one of Marvel Comics' flagship characters, representing truth, strength, liberty, and justice. This book discusses topics including the representation of Nazi Germany in comics from the 1940s to the 1960s; the creation of Captain America in light of the J... [more]

This filmography (including television and music video appearances) chronicles the career of Caroline Munro, a woman of humble beginnings whose chance entry in a 'Face of the Year' photo competition propelled her to international fame as a model and actress, and whose work in genre cinema has won he... [more]

"These essays from critical disciplines examine how comic books and graphic narratives move between various media, while merging youth and adult cultures and popular and high art. The articles feature international perspectives on comics and graphic novels published in the U.S., Canada, Great Britai... [more]

C.W. Sullivan III From Doctor Who to Lost, a select group of television series - The Prisoner, Twin Peaks, The X-Files, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Lost, Heroes, Doctor Who, and Star Trek - with strong elements of fantasy has achieved cult status. This work analyzes what makes these programs unique, a... [more]

Doctor Who is very much a part of British popular culture, and the Doctor has become a British icon. Nevertheless, thanks to BBC America as well as the Doctor's recent visits to the U.S., the series is becoming more susceptible to an 'American influence.' Doctor Who and recent spinoffs Torchwood and... [more]

This collection of fresh essays addresses a broad range of topics in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, both old and new. The book begins with the fan: There are essays on how the show is viewed and identified with, fan interactions with each other, reactions to changes, the wilde... [more]

This is a comprehensive sourcebook on the world's most famous vampire, with over 700 citations of domestic and international Dracula films, television programs, documentaries, adult features, animated works, and video games, as well as nearly a thousand comic books and stage adaptations. While they ... [more]

"From automatons to zombies, many fantastic elements have been cross-pollinated with the western genre. This A-to-Z encyclopedia of the Weird Western covers film, television, animation, dime novels, pulp fiction, comic books, novels, short stories and video and role-playing games."... [more]

Although he is most remembered for his vast collection of science fiction memorabilia and his frequent sci-fi convention appearances, Forrest J. Ackerman also left a sizeable body of work in print. The extensive bibliography includes listings of books, published letters, articles, fiction, verse, sp... [more]

"In the 1950s and '60s, a grassroots movement arose to celebrate comic books and strips, which were becoming increasingly important to American popular culture. As the art and literary form grew in popularity, a dedicated core began building an organized fandom network, modeled on the long-establish... [more]

"Full of practical advice and innovative ideas for librarians, educators, and archivists, this book provides a wide-reaching look at how graphic novels and comics can be used to their full advantage in educational settings. Topics include: the historically tenuous relationship between comics and lib... [more]

Sequential art combines the visual and the narrative in a way that readers have to interpret the images with the writing. Comics make a good fit with education because students are using a format that provides active engagement. This collection of essays is a wide-ranging look at current practices u... [more]

"When Lord Byron challenged his friends to write a ghost story, his summons brought forth a mad doctor intent on reanimation and a vampire drunk with bloodlust. The night modern horror was born was notoriously dark and stormy, as were the lives of those who wrote the most fearsome yet beloved tales ... [more]

"Created as a spinoff of Doctor Who, the BBC television series Torchwood is a unique blend of science fiction and fantasy, with much more of an adult flavor than its progenitor. With its memorable characters, adult language, subversive humor, and openly homosexual and bisexual storylines, Torchwood ... [more]

"For the better part of three decades romance comics were an American institution. Nearly 6,000 romance comics were published between 1947 and 1977, and there was a time when one of every five comics sold in the U.S. was a romance comic.
This is the first book devoted entirely to the rarely studi... [more]

"Offering an extensive, annotated guide for students, fans, and collectors of Marvel Comics, this work provides a detailed description of each comic along with a bibliographic citation listing the publication’s title, writers/artists, publisher, ISBN (if available), and a plot synopsis. One appendix... [more]

For decades, scholars have made the connection between the design of the superhero story and the mythology of the ancient folktale. This volume details how the workings of the superhero comics industry and the conventions of the medium have developed a culture like that of traditional epic storytell... [more]