Silver Lining: The Emblematic Exemplum of Silver Surfer #40–43 (1990)

Abstract

This article examines how the Silver Surfer issues #40–43 relate to the American recession in 1990 and discusses the result with regard to the superhero genre and the medieval emblematic exemplum. Similar to Frank Miller’s Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (1986), the Surfer issues are a critical commentary on capitalism and American society. However, where Miller’s work delivers a clear message about how ordinary people can resist an unjust regime, in the Surfer issues there is no victory for the ordinary citizen. Instead, the reader is consoled in a cathartic way in identifying with a superhero stripped of his powers by the system. In a historical analysis of the comic story’s response-inviting devices, structure and techniques, the article demonstrates that while the issues feature traits typical of the superhero genre, they are also instances of the medieval genre of the emblematic exemplum. When read through this lens, the issues gain explanatory power in addition to their ability to move the readers. They explain what happens to society when bureaucrats take over, foreground the relation between comics and their readers and problematize the issue of what it means to be human.

Keywords

• Emblem
• Exemplum theory
• Historical analysis
• Politics
• Superheroes