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  • Book
  • © 2016

The Posthuman Body in Superhero Comics

Human, Superhuman, Transhuman, Post/Human

Palgrave Macmillan

Authors:

  • Investigates the underground root systems that connect the Transhuman, the Post/Human and the comic book Superhuman
  • Analyzes superheros through the lens of Post/Humanism
  • Introduces a fresh theoretical perspective to the question of reader-text relations

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Comics and Graphic Novels (PSCGN)

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Table of contents (11 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-viii
  2. What Is Posthumanism?

    • Scott Jeffery
    Pages 11-36
  3. The Rhizome of Comic Book Culture

    • Scott Jeffery
    Pages 37-67
  4. The Perfect Body

    • Scott Jeffery
    Pages 69-91
  5. The Cosmic Body

    • Scott Jeffery
    Pages 93-114
  6. The Military-Industrial Body

    • Scott Jeffery
    Pages 115-135
  7. Animal Bodies and Artificial Bodies

    • Scott Jeffery
    Pages 137-154
  8. Reading the Superhuman

    • Scott Jeffery
    Pages 155-173
  9. Readers on Transhumanism and Post/Humanism

    • Scott Jeffery
    Pages 175-204
  10. Towards a Theory of Reader-Text Assemblages

    • Scott Jeffery
    Pages 205-225
  11. The Posthuman Body in Superhero Comics

    • Scott Jeffery
    Pages 227-237
  12. Back Matter

    Pages 239-264

About this book

This book examines the concepts of Post/Humanism and Transhumanism as depicted in superhero comics. Recent decades have seen mainstream audiences embrace the comic book Superhuman. Meanwhile there has been increasing concern surrounding human enhancement technologies, with the techno-scientific movement of Transhumanism arguing that it is time humans took active control of their evolution.  Utilising Deleuze and Guattari’s notion of the rhizome as a non-hierarchical system of knowledge to conceptualize the superhero narrative in terms of its political, social and aesthetic relations to the history of human technological enhancement, this book draws upon a diverse range of texts to explore the way in which the posthuman has been represented in superhero comics, while simultaneously highlighting its shared historical development with Post/Humanist critical theory and the material techno-scientific practices of Transhumanism.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Perth College , University of the Highlands and Islands, Perth, United Kingdom

    Scott Jeffery

About the author

Scott Jeffery received his PhD from the School of Applied Social Science at Stirling University, UK in 2013. His time is currently divided between lecturing in sociology, stand-up comedy, and his blog Nth Mind which covers many topics related to Post/Humanism, comics studies, film, and the esoteric.

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 109.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access