Monica Flegel Knihy

Exploring the role of domestic pets in Victorian literature, this book analyzes their relationships with various family members, including heads of households and marginalized figures like orphans and same-sex couples. Integrating animal studies and queer theory, it reveals how pets reflect and challenge normative sexuality and reproduction within the home. By highlighting alternative familial structures beyond traditional heterosexual norms, it contributes to discussions in Victorian literature, culture, animal studies, and queer studies.

Focusing on the works of notable authors like Locke, Rousseau, and Dickens, Monica Flegel explores the development of child cruelty narratives influenced by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. She argues that the NSPCC's emergence not only transformed children's lives but also significantly impacted class dynamics in the portrayal of suffering and abuse. The book provides a critical interpretive framework for understanding these historical and social changes.

The reactionary Comicsgate campaign against alleged “forced” diversity in superhero comics revealed the extent to which comics have become a key battleground in America's Culture Wars. In the first in-depth scholarly study of Marvel Comics' most recent engagement with progressive politics, Superhero Culture Wars explores how the drive towards greater diversity among its characters and creators has interacted with the company's commercial marketing and its traditional fan base. Along the way the book covers such topics as: · Major characters such as Miles Morales's Spider-man, Kamala Khan's Ms. Marvel, Jane Foster's Thor, Sam Wilson's Captain America and the Secret Empire series' turncoat Captain America · Creators such as G. Willow Wilson, Jason Aaron, Nick Spencer and Michael Bendis · Marketing, the Marvel Universe, and online fan culture Superhero Culture Wars demonstrates how the marketing of Marvel comics as politically progressive has both indelibly shaped its in-world universe and characters, and led to conflicts between its corporate interests, its creators, and it audience.