Scott Bukatman- Matters of gravity (book)
Relationship between the new idea of the superhero and the dawn of special effects as well as being situated in a city. His emphasis is on superhero within the skyline of the cities therefore.
The Phenomenology of Superhero Cities.
- the phenomenon that human being encounter as conscious beings.
- describe an experience through how the world appears to a group of people.
- Experiences can be diverse between individual and individual however.
Post-modern concept of an uncentered city
Superheros inherit and embody many of these paradoxical tropes.
- the familiar/ strange
- the sunlit/ shadowed
- the planned/chaotic
- the sublime/ uncanny
Comics are rarely 'panelled' in a regular fashion. It ha an irregular playfulness.
The grid of New York can hold a great deal of complexity.
The architectural surfaces are broken down during battles, chases and confrontations.
Use of architectural plans to produce orderly fan static spaces, e.g. the designs of head quarters.
Super héros act as a mobile entity, the further support this the story and narrative is part of a saga. The popularisation trusts movement through the site
All have enhanced power of motions, either natural or technological, long with vehicles and utilities.
The superhero bold colours are blurred in movement against the metropolitan city colours.
Lois Lane "the red and blues, ran together, you see, so that's how he looked when he flew... a violet comet"
American superheros encapsulated and embodied the same utopian aspiration of modernity as the cities themselves.
Pervasive and appealing chaos, a hyperbolic spectacle of colour.
Audience: Adolescent and post adolescent males (male power fantasies) (displacement of sexual energy to aggression)
Categories: psychological and sociological
-negotiators of complex multiple roles
-secret identities
-authority and order
-outsider status
Silver surfer "I was born to soar... to ride the currents of space... not to be confined within a barren structure."
Rem Koolhaas- Grids and Grace
The superhero city is founded upon the relationship between grids and grace. The city becomes a place of grace by licensing a multitude of fantasies.
Totalitarian and democratic.
Behind closed doors, someone occupies an apartment and makes it their own. The universal grid outside hides all this.
Little Nemo 1905- Windsor McCay
Presents a dream landscape
Focuses on the urban city juxtaposed with metamorphosis and visionary architecture.
