The roster of Muslim superheroes in the comic book medium has grown over the years, as has the complexity of their depictions. Muslim Superheroes tracks the initial absence, reluctant inclusion, tokenistic employment, and then nuanced scripting of Islamic protagonists in the American superhero comic book market and beyond.

This scholarly anthology investigates the ways in which Muslim superhero characters fulfill, counter, or complicate Western stereotypes and navigate popular audience expectations globally, under the looming threat of Islamophobia. The contributors consider assumptions buried in the very notion of a character who is both a superhero and a Muslim with an interdisciplinary and international focus characteristic of both Islamic studies and comics studies scholarship. Muslim Superheroes investigates both intranational American racial formation and international American geopolitics, juxtaposed with social developments outside U.S. borders.

Providing unprecedented depth to the study of Muslim superheroes, this collection analyzes, through a series of close readings and comparative studies, how Muslim and non-Muslim comics creators and critics have produced, reproduced, and represented different conceptions of Islam and Muslimness embodied in the genre characters.

About the Author
A. David Lewis is a Faculty Member at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Online. Martin Lund is Swedish Research Council International Postdoc at Linnaeus University and Visiting Research Scholar at Gotham Center for New York City History at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York.

Reviews
The editors of this volume have gathered a team of scholars to examine the images of Muslims in American comics but also the powerful work emerging in Egypt, India and Kuwait. -- Matthew Reisz * Times Higher Education *
This timely and fascinating collection of essays edited by A. David Lewis and Martin Lund explores the universal through the specific-focusing on Islam and Muslim fictional characters to illuminate the modern fault lines of identity, race, religion, national security, and politics. -- Wajahat Ali
The anthology is not only a great academic contribution to this field but also a treat to read for anyone with an interest in comics or in the present tensions between Islamic and American cultures. -- Susanne Olsson
A nuanced and compelling analysis of the ways Muslim superheroes reflect and actualize the cultural and political tensions within and between the United States and the Muslim world. Essential reading for Islamic studies scholars, religious studies scholars, journalists, and policymakers. -- Todd Green



Book Information
ISBN 9780674975941
Author A. David Lewis
Format Paperback
Page Count 264
Imprint Ilex Foundation
Publisher Harvard University, Center for Hellenic Studies
Weight(grams) 431g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 15mm