The dissertation analyzes superhero comics and their complex relationship to American popular geopolitics, the way nation and nationality are narrated through various popular texts. The analysis is focused on superhero comics published within the last three decades and shows how these comics not only reflect but actively take part in the ongoing formation and development of popular geopolitics and national identity construction within America.

Both masculinity and violence are central in analyzing the superhero s popular geopolitics, as masculinity itself arises as a determining factor in defining nationhood and nationality. In turn, superheroic masculinity is often defined through the use of violence, which is often portrayed as both empowering and natural. These questions of masculinity and violence are also linked to the questions of power and legality, which will be addressed through the concept of the state of exception. By introducing the state of exception as a way to analyze the superhero and his complex relationship to the state, the dissertation is able to analyze the superhero s characteristic contradictions in terms of power and democracy.

The final part of the dissertation examines these issues in the post-9/11 context. The attacks were a clear geopolitical violation of America s boundaries, and superhero comics attempted to offer their readers a way to respond to the events on 9/11 by promoting narratives of national unity and real-life heroism. However, this response soon gave way to a more complex geopolitical reading that began to question the very nature of superheroism.

The dissertation provides new and current cultural analysis of the way superhero comics form a popular discourse of the fantastic, while still retaining a connection to the real as they address such issues as 9/11 and its consequences through their heroes. More specifically, it examines the various conflicts and problems that arise from the discrepancy between superheroic ideals and American reality.