Panorama do Estudo da Superaventura

Abstract

This text outlines an overview of the research on the superhero genre throughout its existence. Through an exploratory bibliographical review, grounded in the arguments of Fredric Wertham, Amy Nyberg, Roberto Guedes, Waldomiro Vergueiro and Nildo Viana, this text verifies how the relation between the critics to the superhero genre and the publishing dynamics happens and what consequences result from that relationship. The research identifies three crucial points: the publication of Seduction of the Innocent, which led the superhero genre to depreciation while cultural good; the subsequent creation of the Comics Code Authority, which helped to sustain the academic depreciation by limiting the creative freedom of the artists responsible for the stories; and, the contemporary studies, which try to take the superhero genre seriously. The approach of these points indicates the need of a critical reading that is able of dealing with the ambiguity and the complexity of the superhero genre.