Pt. I. "That's the Problem With You Readers, You Know All the Plots": Time, Genre, and Narration -- 1. Comic Book Superheroes: An Introduction / Angela Ndalianis -- 2. 'Just Men in Tights': Rewriting Silver Age Comics in an Era of Multiplicity / Henry Jenkins -- 3. The Time of Heroes: Narrative, Progress, and Eternity in Miracleman / Paul Atkinson -- 4. 'Worlds Within Worlds': The Role of Superheroes in the Marvel and DC Universes / Jason Bainbridge -- 5. Baroque Mutants in the 21st Century?: Rethinking Genre Through the Superhero / Saige Walton -- Pt. II. "We Act Normal, Mom! I Want to Be Normal!": Superbodies, Identities, and Fans -- 6. Secret Identity Politics / Scott Bukatman -- 7. The Superhero as Labor: The Corporate Secret Identity / Greg M. Smith -- 8. When Fangirls Perform: The Gendered Fan Identity in Superhero Comics Fandom / Karen Healey -- 9. Recruiting an Amazon: The Collision of Old World Ideology and New World Identity in Wonder Woman / Clare Pitkethly -- 10. 'Oy Gevalt!': A Peek at the Development of Jewish Superheroines / Jennifer Dowling -- Pt. III. "I'm Just a Puppet Who Can See the Strings": Revisions, Retellings, and Auteurs -- 11. Entering the Green: Imaginal Space in Black Orchid / Sallye Sheppeard -- 12. The Mild-Mannered Reporter: How Clark Kent Surpassed Superman / Vanessa Russell -- 13. It's a Jungle in Here: Animal Man, Continuity Issues, and the Authorial Death Drive / Steven Zani -- 14. Morrison's Muscle Mystery Versus Everyday Reality ... and Other Parallel Worlds! / Martyn Pedler -- 15. Enter the Aleph: Superhero Worlds and Hypertime Realities / Angela Ndalianis.

Includes bibliographical references and index.