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Knowles, Chris. Our Gods Wear Spandex: The Secret History of Comic Book Heroes. San Francisco: Red Wheel/Weiser, 2007. 
Added by: joachim (10/26/13, 6:47 PM)   Last edited by: joachim (3/29/21, 2:37 PM)
Resource type: Book
Language: en: English
ID no. (ISBN etc.): 1578634067
BibTeX citation key: Knowles2007
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Categories: General
Keywords: Intertextuality, Myth, Superhero, USA
Creators: Knowles
Publisher: Red Wheel/Weiser (San Francisco)
Views: 5/477
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Abstract
Was Superman’s arch nemesis Lex Luthor based on Aleister Crowley? Can Captain Marvel be linked to the Sun gods on antiquity? In Our Gods Wear Spandex, Christopher Knowles answers these questions and brings to light many other intriguing links between superheroes and the enchanted world of esoterica. Occult students and comic-book fans alike will discover countless fascinating connections, from little known facts such as that DC Comics editor Julius Schwartz started his career as H.P. Lovecraft’s agent, to the tantalizingly extensive influence of Madame Blavatsky’s Theosophy on the birth of comics, to the mystic roots of Superman. The book also traces the rise of the comic superheroes and how they relate to several cultural trends in the late 19th century, specifically the occult explosion in Western Europe and America. Knowles reveals the four basic superhero archetypes—the Messiah, the Golem, the Amazon, and the Brotherhood—and shows how the occult Bohemian underground of the early 20th century provided the inspiration for the modern comic book hero. With the popularity of occult comics writers like Invisibles creator Grant Morrison and V for Vendetta creator Alan Moore, the vast ComiCon audience is poised for someone to seriously introduce them to the esoteric mysteries. Chris Knowles is doing just that in this epic book. Chapters include Ancient of Days, Ascended Masters, God and Gangsters, Mad Scientists and Modern Sorcerers, and many more. From the ghettos of Prague to the halls of Valhalla to the Fortress of Solitude and the aisles of BEA and ComiCon, this is the first book to show the inextricable link between superheroes and the enchanted world of esoterica.

Table of Contents

I Want to Believe (xiii)

I. Superheroes, Reborn
1. Look, up in the Sky (3)
Invocation (3)
Decline and Fall (5)
2. Kingdom Come (9)
The Hero as Messiah (10)
Hollywood Homegrown Heroes (12)
3. The Cult of the Superhero (15)

II. Ancient Mysteries
4. Dawn of the Gods (23)
Sumer and Egypt (23)
Greece and Rome (26)
People of the Book (27)
The Norse Sagas (29)
5. An Empire of the Mind (31)
The Fruits of Empire (32)
The Radicals (33)
Spiritualism (34)
6. Secret Sects (37)
The Rosicrucians (38)
Freemasonry (39)
Other Christs (41)
7. The Victorian Occult Explosion (45)
The Coming Race: Edward Bulwer-Lytton and Vril (45)
Madame Blavatsky and Theosophy (49)
The Golden Dawn (52)
8. Occult Superstars (55)
Friedrich Nietzsche (55)
Aleister Crowley (57)
Harry Houdini (61)
Edgar Cayce (62)

III. Pulp Fiction
9. Literary Luminaries (65)
Edgar Allan Poe (66)
Arthur Conan Doyle (67)
Jules Verne (69)
H.G. Wells (70)
Bram Stoker (71)
10. The Pulps (73)
Hard-Boiled (74)
Tarzan (75)
Gladiators: The Pulp Superheroes (77)
Amazing Stories (83)
Weird Tales (84)
11. Raconteurs (87)
Edgar Rice Burroughs (87)
Sax Rohmer (89)
H.P. Lovecraft (91)
Robert E. Howard (94)
Dion Fortune (96)
Jack Parsons: Rocketman (97)

IV. The New Gods
12. Famous Funnies (103)
High Adventure (105)
Dirty Dealings (107)
Founding Fathers (108)
13. Who Will Save Us? (111)
Magic Men (112)
Mandrake the Magician (114)
Doctor Occult (115)
14. The Messiahs (119)
Superman (120)
Captain Marvel (124)
Captain Clones (127)
Super-Horus: Hawkman and the Falcon (130)
Captain America (131)
15. Silver Age Science Heroes (135)
The Pornography of Violence (136)
Seduction (137)
The Code (137)
The Silver Age (138)
Spider-Man (139)
The Silver Surfer (140)
16. The Golems (143)
Batman (146)
Dark Knight: The God of Vengeance (148)
Bat-Clones (151)
Kirby’s Rage: The Thing and the Hulk (153)
Death Dealers (154)
17. The Amazons (159)
Wonder Woman (160)
Others Just Like Her (164)
The Complex Elektra (167)
18. The Brotherhoods (169)
Teen Teams: The Legion and the Titans (172)
The Fantastic Four (173)
The X-Men (174)
Illuminati (177)
19. Wizards Redux (179)
Ibis the Invincible (179)
Doctor Fate (180)
Doctor Strange (180)
Constantine (181)
Mad Scientists (183)

V. Gods and Men
20. The Visionaries (189)
Jack Kirby (190)
Steve Englehart (197)
Alan Moore (199)
Neil Gaiman (202)
Grant Morrison (204)
Mike Mignola (205)
Alex Ross (207)
21. The Dream Lab: Comics and the Future (213)
22. Conclusion: Gods Within Us (217)
Spirit in the Sky (2219

Bibliography (223)
Index (227)


Added by: joachim  Last edited by: joachim
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