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Preface Heroes have been with us since the very beginning. From gods like Zeus and Osiris to the more human Hercules and Samson, humanity has used heroes to teach morality to their youth. Likewise, for centuries, academics have studied these hero narratives in order to learn more about their respective societies. Today’s “superheroes”—from the all-powerful Superman to the “normal” but well-armed Punisher—have been mainstays in American popular culture for dec- ades, utilized by generations of Americans to perform this age-old role of estab- lishing morality and a sense of “right” in their youth. As America—and Americans—have changed since the latter days of the Great Depression, so too have our superheroes. In the 21st century, as superheroes have gone from domin- ating the printed page to dominating television and movie theaters, they have also become the focus of considerable academic study in an attempt to more fully understand both who we have been, who we are, and who we hope to be as a people. Like most fans, I was introduced to superhero comic books as a kid. I was around six when I was introduced to reruns of the 1960s Batman series starring Adam West. When I was seven, Star Wars was released, and comic books were put aside in favor of action figures. I was reintroduced to comics after graduating high school. Comics had gone mainstream, and I began to collect them obses- sively. I put them aside once again when I started having kids of my own (and simply couldn’t afford them). Ironically, it was the pursuit of my PhD that would bring me back to the genre. Once I’d reached the dissertation stage in 2007, I had no good ideas for a topic. It was a discussion with my major professor about the recent “death” of Captain America that set off a lightbulb in both our heads. I would examine the importance of comic books as primary historical sources by studying Captain America comics from 1941 to 2001. However, the most frustrat- ing aspect of my research was that I needed multiple sources to find even the most basic information on various heroes. I cannot count the hours spent going from book to book, Web site to Web site, searching for that one small piece of informa- tion, or the piles of books I went through to find some mention of the hero I was researching. If only there was one all-encompassing source from which to start researching superheroes. It is the purpose of this volume to be the best possible starting point for such research.