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The Hero Reloaded: The reinvention of the classical hero in contemporary mass media
Edited by Rosario López Gregoris and Cristóbal Macías Villalobos
[IVITRA Research in Linguistics and Literature 23] 2020
► pp. 1–18

From Hero to Superhero

The Update of an Archetype

| Universidad Autónoma de Madrid

This paper offers an analysis of the interpretative keys of the character of the superhero in comic books, in comparison with those of the hero of Classical Antiquity. It is not only that both characters come to play similar functions in their respective fictional universes, but there is also a genetic link between the latter and the former. And this relationship is two-way, since this dependency determines the contemporary rewritings of the ancient hero in comic books. Taking El héroe (The Hero), by the Spanish scriptwriter David Rubín, as a case study, this paper tries to exemplify that relationship, according to which an ancient hero such as Hercules immediately evokes the typical features of the superhero of comic book.

Keywords: classical hero, superhero, comic book, classical reception, El Héroe
Article outline
  • Classical tradition and comics?
  • Comics on (Greco-roman) classics
  • The superhero genre
  • To conclude: A round trip
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 10 March 2020
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ivitra.23.c1
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