Investigating Heroes

David Simmons has written and published extensively on popular entertainment, covering subjects ranging from animated TV series to sword-and-sandal movies. He is a lecturer in film and television studies at the University of Northhampton in the UK.

• Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction (David Simmons)Part 1: Heroes and VillainsThe Redemption of HRG (Lynnette Porter)“I’m Different ... Special”: The Body of the Superhero (Bronwen Calvert)Elective Affinities: Heroes and the Contemporary Conception of the Family (Stan Beeler)“Last in My Class, Last on the Sports Field, I’m Not a Loser Anymore”: Centralizing the “Geek” in Quality Television (David Simmons)Part 2: Borrowings and IntertextsNaturalizing the Fantastic: Comics Archetypes (Julia Round)Superpowers and Super-Insight: How Back Story and Motivation Emerge through the Heroes Graphic Novels (Kristin M. Barton)“Niki’s Not Here Right Now”: Fragmented Identity in NBC’s Heroes (Laura Hilton)Science Fiction and the Uncanny Realism of Heroes (David Hipple)Super Style: Notes for a Stylistic Analysis (Sérgio Dias Branco)Part 3: Ideas and ConceptsHeroes, Control, and Regulation (Lorna Jowett) “You’re Broken. I Can Fix You”: Negotiating Concepts of U.S. Ideology (Torsten Caeners)Heroes’ Internationalism: Toward a Cosmopolitical Ethics in Mainstream American Television (Kenneth Chan)“This Power, It’s Bigger Than Me”: Time Travel as Narrative Device and Catalyst for Character Exposition (Kevin Lee Robinson)FilmographyAbout the ContributorsIndex

“David Simmons’ excellent collection of essays on the whole series takes all of it seriously, from inception to termination, and in it a variety of first-rank television scholars shed new light on all aspects of Heroes’ meteoric rise and fall.”—David Lavery, co-author of Saving the World: A Guide to Heroes; “David Simmons’ insightful anthology unlocks the mysteries behind the success and failure of this show by considering its place within the changing nature of television. Engaging, authoritative and rigorously researched, this book is a must-read for both the popular culture scholar and fan.”—Stacey Abbott, author of Celluloid Vampires and editor of The Cult TV Book.