EC Comics recounts how, in the 1950s, EC published many sensationally-titled comics with serious, socially progressive themes—such as “Hate!,” “The Guilty!,” and “Judgment Day!”—and explores how they grappled with the civil rights struggle, anticommunist hysteria, and other forms of prejudice in America.

William Marston was an unusual man—a psychologist, a soft-porn pulp novelist, more than a bit of a carny, and the (self-declared) inventor of the lie detector. He was also the creator of Wonder Woman, the comic where he expressed two of his greatest passions: feminism and women in bondage. Noah Berlatsky takes us on a wild ride through the Wonder Woman comics of the 1940s, showing how Marston and illustrator Harry Peter came together to create a fictional universe that celebrated female empowerment and queer sexualities.

For over seventy-five years, Archie and the gang at Riverdale High have been America’s most iconic teenagers. Yet they have been relatively ignored by scholars—until now. Twelve-Cent Archie is both the first academic study of these comics and an innovative creative work in its own right. In a hundred short chapters, renowned comics scholar Bart Beaty takes us on a witty, eclectic tour of the Archie universe, addressing everything from the history of the American teenager to the mystery of Jughead’s hat.

In this groundbreaking new study, Andrew Hoberek examines Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’s landmark comic book series Watchmen from a variety of angles: as an artistic achievement, as a political statement, and as a self-conscious piece of intellectual property. He not only provides a historical context for appreciating how innovative Watchmen was in the 1980s, but also demonstrates the continued influence it has exerted on both comics and literature as a whole.

Superman is an icon of the American Way. Examining his many appearances over eighty years in comics, films, television series, and other media, Ian Gordon explores the dynamic process of mythmaking surrounding the character. Digging into comics archives, he reveals the prominent roles fans and collectors have played in remembering, interpreting, and reimagining Superman’s iconography.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, writer-artist Frank Miller turned Daredevil from a tepid-selling comic to an industry-wide success story, then left to establish a renowned and controversial career. A childhood fan of the comic, media scholar Paul Young presents a rigorous study of the artist’s influences and innovations, an examination of how Miller’s vision impacted the comics industry, and a reflection on how Daredevil taught him about the creative possibilities of comics while shaking his faith in superheroes.