Nickie D. Phillips - Comic Book Crime: Truth, Justice, and the American Way

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COMIC BOOK CRIME

ALTERNATIVE CRIMINOLOGY SERIES
General Editor: Jeff Ferrell

Pissing on Demand: Workplace Drug
Testing and the Rise of the Detox Industry
Ken Tunnell

Empire of Scrounge: Inside the Urban
Underground of Dumpster Diving,
Trash Picking, and Street Scavenging
Jeff Ferrell

Prison, Inc.: A Convict Exposes
Life inside a Private Prison
by K.C. Carceral, edited by
Thomas J. Bernard

The Terrorist Identity: Explaining
the Terrorist Threat
Michael P. Arena and Bruce A. Arrigo

Terrorism as Crime: From Oklahoma
City to Al-Qaeda and Beyond
Mark S. Hamm

Our Bodies, Our Crimes: The Policing
of Womens Reproduction in America
Jeanne Flavin

Graffiti Lives: Beyond the Tag in
New Yorks Urban Underground
Gregory J. Snyder

Crimes of Dissent: Civil
Disobedience, Criminal Justice,
and the Politics of Conscience
Jarret S. Lovell

The Culture of Punishment:
Prison, Society, and Spectacle
Michelle Brown

Who You Claim: Performing Gang
Identity in School and on the Streets
Robert Garot

5 Grams: Crack Cocaine, Rap
Music, and the War on Drugs
Dimitri A. Bogazianos

Judging Addicts: Drug Courts and
Coercion in the Justice System
Rebecca Tiger

Courting Kids: Inside an
Experimental Youth Court
Carla J. Barrett

The Spectacular Few: Prisoner Radicalization
and the Evolving Terrorist Threat
Mark S. Hamm

Comic Book Crime: Truth, Justice,
and the American Way
Nickie D. Phillips and Staci Strobl

NICKIE D. PHILLIPS AND STACI STROBL

TRUTH, JUSTICE, AND
THE AMERICAN WAY

NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York and London
www.nyupress.org

2013 by New York University
All rights reserved

References to Internet websites (URLs) were accurate at the time of writing. Neither the author nor New York University Press is responsible for URLs that may have expired or changed since the manuscript was prepared.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Phillips, Nickie D.
Comic Book Crime : Truth, Justice, and the American Way / Nickie D. Phillips and Staci Strobl.
pages cm. (Alternative Criminology Series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8147-6787-0 (cl : acid-free paper)
ISBN 978-0-8147-6788-7 (pb : acid-free paper)
1. Comic books, strips, etc.History and criticism. 2. Crime in literature. 3. Justice in literature. 4. Social values in literature. 5. Literature and societyUnited StatesHistory. I. Strobl, Staci. II. Title.
PN6725.P48 2013
741.5973dc23
2012050855

New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper, and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability. We strive to use environmentally responsible suppliers and materials to the greatest extent possible in publishing our books.

Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Some books write themselves. This was not one of them, and so we wish to thank everyone who helped us along the way. Our hard work would have been futile without the guidance and support of many people. In particular we would like to thank Dr. Jeff Ferrell, of Texas Christian University and the University of Kent, and Dr. Mark Hamm, of Indiana State University, who discovered our first comic book project and provided the encouragement and inspiration without which none of our subsequent research would have happened. While some scholars we knew looked askance at us early-career criminologists focusing on comic books, Ferrell and Hamm saved us from internalizing too much of that judgment and doubt. We also profusely thank our editor, Ilene Kalish, New York University Press, for helping us shape our big idea into something that other people might want to read, Emily Wright, our copyeditor, and Despina Papazoglou Gimbel for their help, particularly in organizing the comic book images and finalizing the manuscript.

We also want to acknowledge Dr. Franklin Wilson, of Indiana State University, for tirelessly organizing the International Crime, Media, and Popular Culture Studies Conference so that we had a safe haven to retreat to each year to take comic books, and other popular cultural artifacts, very, very seriously. The Professional Staff Congress for the City University of New York provided grant money for our research on Arab Americans in comic books, and Provost Timothy J. Houlihan, Director of Media Relations Richard Relkin, and others at St. Francis College offered resources and encouragement at key moments. Dr. Maki Haberfeld, John Jay College, has always supported our diverse and sometimes odd interests, in addition to being a close friend.

We also would like to call out to several comic book fans and retailers who kept us well stocked and answered our industry questions, big and small: David Cruz, Muhammed Nashir, and Tom Lupo at Galaxy Comics (Brooklyn), the crew at Jim Hanleys Universe and in particular the Speak On It! group (Manhattan), Forbidden Planet (Manhattan), Bergen Comics (Brooklyn), and Al Mejias (the New York Manga & Comics meet-up).

Special thanks also go out to Dr. Mary Tabakow, American University at Dubai, and Chad Denton, University of Missouri at Columbia, for reading early drafts of the book and providing comments, and to comics scholar Dr. Jonathan Gray, John Jay College, for liking our work enough to include it in his popular comic book course. Comics writer Greg Rucka kindly read a draft of an early article of ours and helped to fine-tune our thinking in preparation for writing this book. Communications scholar Dr. Patrick Collins had encouraging words along the way, accompanied by clips of interesting comic book articles. Jose Rivera was a steadfast companion at many a comic book convention. And, the Reynolds House Inn in Roscoe, New York, provided the perfect lodging for a marathon revision retreat.

Freelance journalist Karen Iris Tucker selflessly read and improved our grammar and style so that we did not embarrass ourselves too badly along the way. Professor Matt Michaels, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, helped orchestrate our sampling and otherwise provided much-needed methodological assistance. In addition, Tuckers and Michaelss emotional support along the way was unsurpassed, and we cannot acknowledge them enough in these pages.

Finally, we must thank our friends and family, particularly our parents, for believing that we really were writing a book and that it would eventually be published. Our refrains of sometime next year did not grow as old as they should have.