Superhero Shakespeare in Golden Age Comics

Darlena Ciraulo

doi:10.18778/2083-8530.24.09

Authors

Darlena Ciraulo University of Central Missouri, USA

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/2083-8530.24.09

Keywords:

Shakespeare, Superhero, Superpowers, Posthuman, Classics Illustrated, Stories by Famous Authors Illustrated

Abstract

Albert Lewis Kanter launched Classic Comics in 1941, a series of comic books that retold classic literature for a young audience. Five of Shakespeare’s celebrated plays appear in the collection. The popularity of Classics Illustrated encouraged Seaboard Publishing to issue a competitive brand, Stories by Famous Authors Illustrated (1949-51), which retold three Shakespearean dramas. Although both these enterprises aimed to reinforce a humanist perspective of education based on Western literature, the classic comics belie a Posthuman aesthetic by presenting Shakespearean characters in scenes and postures that recall Golden Age superheroes. By examining the Shakespearean covers of Classic Illustrated and Stories by Famous Authors, this essay explores how Shakespearean characters are reimagined as Superhuman in strength and power.

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Author Biography

Darlena Ciraulo, University of Central Missouri, USA

Darlena Ciraulo is Professor of English at the University of Central Missouri where she specializes in early modern British literature and Shakespeare. Her work on Shakespeare and appropriation has appeared in Philological Quarterly, Philosophy and Literature, Multicultural Shakespeare, and Borrowers and Lenders: The Journal of Shakespeare and Appropriation. She is co-editing a book, “Performing Shakespearean Appropriations: A Festschrift in Honor of Christy Desmet.” Her work on Shakespeare in popular culture has led to appropriation research on Shakespeare and outlaws (2021, Routledge); Shakespeare in Hollywood (2018, Arden); and Shakespeare and botanical illustration (2015, Routledge). Her research on Shakespeare in cartoons and comics are both forthcoming in 2022.

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