ebooks Cultural Revolution? by From Routledge in Arts-Photography

Review

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful. Rare moments of insightBy Malvin"Wonder Women" by Lillian S. Robinson is a well-written book that; in the end; serves to alert us to the fact that feminist superheroines remain an almost nonexistent subject matter in the mainstream American comic book world. Stretching personal anecdotes; Greek mythology; and humorous side comments over the thin frame of her subject matter; at times the book strikes the reader as being little more than an exercise in intellectual self-indulgence. In fact; the author concedes that she penned "Wonder Women" in part as a distraction while she was writing a more serious and emotionally demanding piece of scholarship about rape. Nevertheless; I found that the book did succeed at times in providing rare moments of insight into a little-noted corner of the cultural studies world.It was interesting to learn about the creator of Wonder Woman and his feminist ideals but disheartening to read about the comics rapid decline in the hands of his successors. But while the feminist movement resulted in the revival of the character in the 1970s; the overall impression one gets is that Wonder Woman and mainstream comics in general remain perpetually stuck many years behind the real world in their depictions of female characters.On that point; the author might have done well to follow the example set by Sherrie A. Inness (whose study of female action figures is published in the book "Action Chicks") who has found that risk-averse corporate marketing practices and parental anxieties about sex have conspired to make the toy store an overwhelmingly culturally conservative space that responds very slowly to cultural change. Might there be a similar dynamic at work in the comic publishing industry? We dont know; because on the one hand Ms. Robinsons book is conspicuously deficient in its failure to seriously discuss industrial practices and audience discourses; while on the other hand; we are treated to far too many of her cloyingly personal and random thoughts to engage in more meaningful analysis.Still; "Wonder Women" has many fine moments that make for a worthwhile read. I recommend the book to all readers who may be intrigued by its quirky fusion of comic book culture with feminism.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Muy buenoBy Ruth Garciacute;a Martiacute;nTodo a sido perfecto. Ha llegado antes de lo previsto y en perfectas condiciones. No tengo ninguna queja; muy al contrario.3 of 11 people found the following review helpful. Aspires to be Trina RobbinsBy Consumer in DurhamAt 150 pages; the book is still about 100 pages too long. One gets the feeling she is jealous of Trina Robbins (The Great Women Superheroes) and wants to write a book on comics just to show that if Trina can she can too. This is evident in that she keeps bringing up the other author to slam her.Further;the author admits to the weakness of her thesis; in that there are many examples of prefiminist comics and of postfeminist comics but that the transition between the two mindsets is not documented within the comics. So the book documents the endpoints but says nothing about the journey.