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====Frank Miller's Daredevil and the End Heroism====
The series begins with Paul Young's <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/081356381X/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=081356381X&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=3b1ce622c7e8377445d1d8913e7c4276 Frank Miller's Daredevil and the Ends of Heroism]</i>. Young, a professor of film and media studies at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH, engages both with Miller's work on Daredevil and how it compares to Miller's later legacy in comics. Young argues, "Daredevil was an early volley in the industry's shift from an oligopoly that assigned work-for-hire staff and freelance creators to write, draw, letter, color, and edit the adventures of corporate trademark characters to a more complex market in which retention of rights to characters and stories has become a common work incentive for creators." <ref> Paul Young, Frank Miller's Daredevil and the Ends of Heroism (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2016), 7. </ref> Further, Young acknowledges Miller's use of the comics medium to tell more expressionist stories.<ref> Young, Frank Miller's Daredevil, 12. </ref>
Young's focus on the medium itself relies on the theories of Scott McCloud as well as his own belief that proper study requires examining the comics themselves, printed on off-white newsprint rather than computer-retouched reprints. He also draws upon the techniques of film theory, specifically those for analyzing Soviet montage and film noir, as well as studies of crime novels. Young concludes that Miller's run on Daredevil helped the creator movement in comics and the weakening of the Comics Code. Further, it coincided with other shifts in media, such as in film tastes, and with the introduction of the direct sales system of comics, which also shook up the industry. Ultimately, Young uses his examination to reconcile the creative talent of Frank Miller in the 1980s with his later intolerance in the 2000s. Young's work also demonstrates the more personal nature of the Comics Culture monograph series, as this reconciliation acted as a catharsis for his inner conflict over the trajectory of Miller's work.
====Twelve Cent Archie====
Bart Beaty’s <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0813590450/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0813590450&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=231d0eb2c6d6b7abaefc4e33e1c4e7dd Twelve-Cent Archie]</i>, the fourth monograph in the series, continues the personal analysis of Young’s book. Beaty, an English professor at the University of Calgary and author of other comic book history monographs, examines a limited run of the Archie comics from the 1960s to counter the trend in comics studies that favor auteurism. Further, rather than order his book into regular chapters, he uses a multitude of short, 1- to 3-page chapter breaks to replicate the story length of the Archie comics. In this way, he challenges notions of what defines a monograph. These sections examine everything from character development, location, continuity (or lack thereof), race, gender, and the medium of comics itself. This level of close analysis offers a great opportunity for limited theoretical examination based on a handful of examples within the limited time frame of the twelve-cent run.
Though Beaty occasionally references events beyond the comics, either in the industry or other artifacts of popular culture in the 1960s, these are used primarily for context only when necessary. In rejecting auteurism in comics scholarship, Beaty counters the trend both from comics readers and scholars to dismiss Archie as unworthy of analysis or serious consideration. He also acknowledges gaps in the archive, as many of these comics have not been reprinted nor included in public collections and are only available through comics dealers for private purchase.<ref> Bart Beaty, Twelve-Cent Archie (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2017).</ref>
====Analyzing Superman and the Watchmen====
[[File:Superman_Gordon.jpg|thumbnail|left|250px|<i>Superman: The Persistence of an American Icon</i>by Ian Gordon]]
The second and third monograph in the series follows more established analytical discourses, though they also look to new archives and seek to complicate the power of branding. In the series' second book, Ian Gordon tracks the history of the Superman brand. Gordon, a professor of history at the National University of Singapore, writes in <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0813587514/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0813587514&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=8cfc74a701dbbc46f81ddb754fda413b Superman: The Persistence of an American Icon]</i>, "At any given time, or place, in his history, Superman is, and has long been, an amalgam of factors including myth, memory, nostalgia, intellectual property regimes like copyright and trademark, authors, readers, fans, collectors, comic books, comic strips, radio series, movie serials, television shows, animation, toys and collectibles, and feature films." <ref>Ian Gordon, Superman: The Persistence of an American Icon (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2017), 3.</ref>
Gordon draws upon mythological studies, auteur theory, an examination of the power of branding, and more to present a multi-layered analysis for a better understanding of Superman the character.<ref> Gordon, Superman, 10. </ref> Though Gordon's work retreads some of Superman's history, his most significant insight is in the public history of the character. Rather than tell the usual story of two boys from Cleveland or the making of various films, he explores and explicates how these events developed as the result of interactions between forces such as copyright law, merchandising, and fan interpretation. This focus offers a valuable shift in the historiography for the field of comics studies.
