Unmasking Superhero Identities

Valdez, Jonathan Areola. Unmasking Identities: Superhero Representations of Asian Americans in Graphic Narratives. n.p.: San Diego State University, 2013.

Web resource:This web source is credible because there is an author. The author has a masters in Liberal Arts and Sciences from San Diego State University. Having graduated in 2013, Valdez knows more modern dilemmas and is more informed on different perspectives. The document was created to focus on the misrepresentations of Asian Americans in superhero comics. In his document Valdez also more generally sheds light on the issues of race, class, and gender. He claims that Marvel writers use a tactic called the Trojan Stereotype to depict their malicious ideas of the Asian American body. 


Lebel, Sabine. "'Tone Down the Boobs, Please!': Reading the Special Effect Body in Superhero Movies." CineAction, 77 (2009): 56-67.

Journal Article: Lebel's claim is that superheroes in today's society have overcome their small bodies in comic book beginnings and have become a preeminent part of North American pop culture. She backs up her claims by alluding to the continual re-embodiment of superheroes through generations of comic books and films. Lebel is a credible author because she provides evidence to support her claim that superhero body image plays a detrimental role in America's pop culture.


Dour, Halina J, and Sally A Theran. "The Interaction Between the Superhero Ideal and Maladaptive Perfectionism as Predictors of Unhealthy Eating Attitudes and Body Esteem." Body Image, 8.1 (2011): 93-96.

Scholarly Article: Halina Dour is a psychologist conducting research in her lab at UCLA. She claims that unhealthy eating habits and poor body self esteem is a result of the endorsement of the superhero body image and perfectionism. In her scholarly article she provides all of her sources in her paper. Conducting her research, Dour has discovered that the advocacy of superhero body image was significantly associated with unhealthy eating habits for our children. This article was sponsored by Elsevier Limited.