English 481: Special Topic — The Literature of Comic Books, Graphic Novels, and Superheroes — The Hero’s Code Unit

Hero Code Unit Materials

“All sorts of Heroes are intrinsically of the same material; that given a great soul, open to the Divine Significance of Life, then there is given a man fit to speak of this, to sing of this, to fight and work for this, in a great, victorious, enduring manner; there is given a Hero, — the outward shape of whom will depend on the time and the environment he finds himself in.” (Thomas Carlyle

Secret Identities

• eJournal: Secret Identities
• Secret Identities Background Information (Wikipedia entry)
• The Scarlet Pimpernel (earliest precursor of the superhero)
  • Blackney Manor (site devoted to The Scarlet Pimpernel)
  • The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy (hypertext version of the novel)
    • The Scarlet Pimpernel Online Book Series
  • The Scarlet Pimpernel Musical
• Zorro (early hero inspiration for Batman and other superheroes)
  • Official Zorro Web Site
• The Phantom (the first costumed superhero)
  • Phantom Daily Comic Strip (King Features Syndicate)
  • The Phantom, The Ghost Who Walks History
• Spoof of Secret Identities (Halfbaked Ideas entry)

Identity Crisis

• eJournal: Identity Crisis, Chps. 1-7
  • eJournal: Identity Crisis, Chps. 1-3
  • eJournal: Identity Crisis, Chps. 4-7

The Hero Code

• eJournal: The Superhero’s Code of Conduct
• eJournal: The Supervillain’s Code of Conduct