Superman says you can slap a jap: race and representation in comics

This purpose of this project is to place mainstream American comics firmly in a historical context in order to analyze ideas of race, gender, and politics from the late 1930s to the end of the 1970s. Using popular heroes, the background of writers, and an understanding of 20th century U.S. history, this study argues that these comics were a racial project: a purposeful attempt by writers, distributers, and artists to shape discourse on race, identity, and a desired political and social structure. The racial project of comics shifted and evolved during this time period from a white supremacist world view to a more positive and culturally significant one influenced and shaped by white understanding of the civil rights movements that affected the United States in the mid-20th century. While the efforts of companies like DC and Marvel were meant to evoke a sympathetic view of minorities through representation and plot lines that revolved around social issues of the time, the subsequent stories and characters were still trapped within a framework of stereotypes and racial ized ideas about people of color.