Table Of ContentGeorgia State State University University
ScholarWorks @ @ Georgia Georgia State State University University
Communication Theses Department of Communication
7-16-2008
A Genealogy Genealogy of of Absence Absence & & Evil: Evil: Tracing Tracing the the Nation's Nation's Borders Borders with with
Captain America America
Christian J. Steinmetz
Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/communication_theses
Part of the Communication Commons
Recommended Citation Citation
Steinmetz, Christian J., "A Genealogy of Absence & Evil: Tracing the Nation's Borders with Captain
America." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2008.
https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/communication_theses/38
This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Communication at ScholarWorks @
Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Communication Theses by an authorized
administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact
A GENEALOGY OF ABSENCE & EVIL:
TRACING THE NATION'S BORDERS WITH CAPTAIN AMERICA
by
CHRISTIAN STEINMETZ
Under the direction of Dr. Mary Stuckey
ABSTRACT
Although research has previously connected comic books and national ideology, there
has yet to be a study examining the role of villains in this relationship. By analyzing
representations of evil and villainy in the long-running series Captain America and
understanding them in light of the model of the circuit of culture, the transforming imaginary
space of the American nation can be traced.
INDEX WORDS: Comic Books, National Ideology, Captain America, Nation, Limit Attitude,
Circuit of Culture.
A GENEALOGY OF ABSENCE & EVIL:
TRACING THE NATION'S BORDERS WITH CAPTAIN AMERICA
By
CHRISTIAN STEINMETZ
A Thesis Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
Master of Arts
In the College of Arts and Sciences
Georgia State University
2008
Copyright by
Christian James Steinmetz
2008
A GENEALOGY OF ABSENCE & EVIL:
TRACING THE NATION'S BORDERS WITH CAPTAIN AMERICA
by
CHRISTIAN STEINMETZ
Committee Chair:
Committee:
Electronic Version Approved:
Office of Graduate Studies
College of Arts and Sciences
Georgia State University
August 2008
Mary Stuckey
Greg Smith
Ted Friedman
DEDICATION
For Kelly Jean. Thanks for being my support, my conscience and my companion in villainy.
iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This thesis would not have been possible without the guidance and support of my committee. I
am especially grateful to Mary Stuckey for never pressuring me to do something I did not want
to.
v
TABLE OF CONTENTS
DEDICATION iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS v
1 Introduction: A Genealogy of Evil and Absence in Captain America 1
Comic Books & Ideology 4
Comic Book Regulation, Representations and National Ideology 5
Comic Books: Identity, Consumption and Production 8
Conclusions From the General Literature on Comics and Ideology 11
Captain America in Scholarly Research 12
Methods & Theory 15
Theory 16
Conclusions on Theory 21
Research Strategy 21
The Role of the Researcher 23
The Moment of Regulation 25
The Moment of Representation 28
The Moments of Identity & Consumption 30
The Moment of Production 32
Data Collection 33
Conclusions on Method 35
Discussion: Implications, Strengths and Limitations 36
2 Border Disputes: Production, Consumption, Identity and the Captain America Nation 40
The Transformation of Comics into Subculture 43
vi
The Ten-Year Gap: Four Factors That Silenced Captain America 45
Advertising, Identity Construction and Negotiation: Communication between Captain
America's Consumers and Producers 54
Patriotism, Pedagogues and Consumerism: Captain America's Advertising Supporting
the National Narrative 55
Negotiating Meaning in Captain America's Letters Forum: 1960s-1970s 62
Negotiating Meaning in Captain America's Letters Forum: Mark Gruenwald's 1980s 76
The Destabilization of Captain America's National Narrative by Production Crises 82
Frustration, Bust and Boom: The National Narrative Disabled 84
Conclusion 89
3 Borders of Evil: Representations of the Nation's Fear, Hatred and Anxiety in
Captain America 91
The External Borders of Evil 93
Nazis: Devils, Racists & Nostalgia for a "Good War" 96
The Commie Smashing Cold War 101
Not us: Other Representations of Xenophobia 107
Arab Terrorism and America's Schizophrenic Borders 112
Conclusion: External Borders of Evil 118
The Internal Borders of Evil 119
Big Business: Suicidal Capitalists & the Corporate Entity 120
The Fifth Column: Spies and Sympathizers 125
Prejudiced Villains: The Borders To Civic Nationalism 127
Omnipresent Crime and Disciplined African-Americans 135
vii
MODOC = Machinery's Odium and Danger Outside the Community 138
Stolen Independence: Defamation, Domination and the Psychoanalyst's Couch 140
Government Corruption: "Those men are not my country" 144
Apathy & Nihilism: Chaos for the Sake of Chaos 150
Conclusion 157
4 Borders of Absence: Regulation, the Implicit and Failed Auditions 161
Regulated Absences: Adherence to and Violations of the Comics Code Authority 163
Adherence to the Code: Regulated Borders 166
Crossing Borders: Violations of the Comics Code 169
Implicit Absences: Sudden Revelations of the Invisible 175
Authenticity vs. Invisibility: African-Americans in Captain America 177
The Invisible Multi-Faceted Woman 181
There and Gone Again: Native Americans and Homosexuality 186
Wartime Schizophrenia 190
Conclusion 193
5 Conclusion: Necessary Villains 195
Works Cited 204
Comics Cited 207
viii
