The second half of Supermen! was an interesting read, to be polite about it. There is an Orientalist feel about the second half of this reading, presented in a very racist way, that was considerably milder in the beginning of the book. Specifically, the issue with The Claw showcases an ample amount of racial depictions and slurs.
What I found to be most interesting in this particular comic was not so much the Othering of the villain, which is seen in previous comics as well, but the connection made between the hero and villain through artistic renderings. The hero of this story is named Daredevil; the artists drawing our hero in costume made some rather unique choices about his appearance. First, he is double colored in red and black, showcasing the duality of the comic itself through his costume. Then there is the facial features of Daredevil: the same shape of the face as The Claw and demon horde with the slanted eyes and wicked looking grin. This can best be seen on pages 146 (the underlings faces as they emerge from the tunnel) and page 153 (Daredevil's face when he is in battle).
When readers see Daredevil out of costume he looks like the typical white male, or "cracker" if we want to keep with the racial slurs. Neat clothes, seemingly Southern accent, fishing with his gal on a sunny, bright, and peaceful American afternoon. Donning his superhero outfit, however, transforms the American Man into an Orientalist Other.
Not only does this bring attention to the ideology of the time, with WW2 taking place, but it reveals how the Other is just as strong in superheroes as it is in villains. One of the characteristics of the superhero is that he (or she) is beyond the norm. There is an added something that makes this person above average, which acts like a a sort of alienation for the superhero since s/he cannot ever be just the normal, average, guy/gal.
When readers see Daredevil out of costume he looks like the typical white male, or "cracker" if we want to keep with the racial slurs. Neat clothes, seemingly Southern accent, fishing with his gal on a sunny, bright, and peaceful American afternoon. Donning his superhero outfit, however, transforms the American Man into an Orientalist Other.
Not only does this bring attention to the ideology of the time, with WW2 taking place, but it reveals how the Other is just as strong in superheroes as it is in villains. One of the characteristics of the superhero is that he (or she) is beyond the norm. There is an added something that makes this person above average, which acts like a a sort of alienation for the superhero since s/he cannot ever be just the normal, average, guy/gal.
Getting off the Othering train, I wanted to briefly mention another artistic style that I noticed predominately in the second half of Supermen! and that is the use, of lack thereof, of boxes. A lot of the action scenes had the images coming out of the box, as if emphasizing how the force of the event or the strength of the hero could not be contained. This was also done with certain words, drawing the readers attention and also setting up a "start" to the next plot, like the break in scenes would be done today in film.