The New Mutants examines how the American superhero became a cultural embodiment of the political aspirations of racial and gendered minorities in the post-WWII period. The book uncovers how the transformation of the superhero from an icon of white masculinity and patriotism before WWII into a genetic and species outcast in the 1960s made this figure of popular culture available for a variety of cosmopolitan visions of queer, feminist, and minority belonging across the latter half of the 20th century. This creative innovation placed value on the superhero’s literal and figurative openness to a ... More

The New Mutants examines how the American superhero became a cultural embodiment of the political aspirations of racial and gendered minorities in the post-WWII period. The book uncovers how the transformation of the superhero from an icon of white masculinity and patriotism before WWII into a genetic and species outcast in the 1960s made this figure of popular culture available for a variety of cosmopolitan visions of queer, feminist, and minority belonging across the latter half of the 20th century. This creative innovation placed value on the superhero’s literal and figurative openness to a heterogeneous world while centralizing women, racial minorities, and gender and sexual outlaws as the vanguard of a new generation of radical fantasy figures. Through a series of case studies of key comic book texts that modeled cosmopolitan ideals—including DC Comics’ The Justice League of America (1958) and Marvel Comics’ The Fantastic Four (1962) and The X-Men (1974)—The New Mutants shows how post-WWII comics allowed readers to fantasize about, and find common cause with, a vast range of global projects for political, social, and economic freedom.