Peter Coogan - Superhero: The Secret Origin of A Genre

In 2006, MonkeyBrain Books published a much revised and expanded form of his dissertation as Superhero: The Secret Origin of a Genre (MonkeyBrain Press, 2006), with a forward by Batman-legend Dennis O'Neil. The book's main purpose is to define the superhero genre, and produce a standard definition for the term itself. Coogan writes:

“The term superhero is often applied to all sorts of characters and people from Beowulf and Luke Skywalker to Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan. These applications come out of a metaphoric use of the term to describe characters and people who seem a step above others in their class, whether epic, science fiction, or sports.”

He draws a distinction between terms used as metaphors and terms used literally, concluding that - at least part of - the problem is a lack of scholarly definition of the superhero genre.

Comics writer and critic Peter Sanderson, in his "Comics in Context" columns dealing with Coogan's Superhero, summarizes the contention over the term "superhero" by noting that some fictional characters not "explicitly portrayed as superhuman... nonetheless perform feats that real people would be unlikely to duplicate," citing Luke Skywalker and Jack Bauer as two examples. Coogan's remit, therefore, is to clarify these issues and:

“provide a basis for the study of superheroes and help to make more studies possible in the future.”

Sanderson also notes that Coogan - and his publisher, MonkeyBrain, who also publish Jess Nevins' annotations on Alan Moore's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen - are not following the common trend in academic circles to largely ignore the superhero genre when comics are discussed.

Coogan seeks to define not merely the superhero as a character, but also the genre itself, thereby discussing not just individual attributes, but types of story, noting that the superhero:

“is generically distinct, i.e., can be distinguished from characters of related genres (fantasy, science fiction, detective, etc.) by a preponderance of genre conventions.”

Coogan's definition makes reference to DC's lawsuit against Victor Fox, who published Wonder Man in 1939 (not to be confused with the similarly named Marvel hero), in imitation of Superman. The presiding Judge Learned Hand identified three defining characteristics in his ruling(see: here), which form a key part of Coogan's argument:

“These three elements–mission, powers, and identity, establish the core of the genre.”

Peter Sanderson, noted Marvel Comics historian and author of the Comics in Context blog at QuickStopEntertainment, while not agreeing completely with Coogan's points, nevertheless states that the book "should become a basic text for study of the superhero genre," recommending it to all fans of the genre.

(For more on Peter Sanderson's in-depth critique, commentary and analysis of Coogan's work, see Comics in Context #162, #163, #164, #165 and #166)