May 11, 2016
Isabel Millán publishes book chapter on Latina superheroes
Isabel Millán, assistant professor of American ethnic studies, published a book chapter on Latina superheroes in "Graphic Borders: Latino Comic Books Past, Present, and Future."
Millán's chapter, "Anya Sofía (Araña) Corazón: The Inner Webbings and Mexi-Ricanization of Spider-Girl," explores the initial conceptualization of Corazón and her subsequent transformations, both within the comic book — from Araña to Spider-Girl — and within the larger Marvel comic industry, including mass production, distribution and marketing. Major themes include racial formation, citizenship, migration, language, gender and sexuality.
Edited by Frederick Luis Aldama and Christopher González, the volume includes a comprehensive array of historical, formal and cognitive approaches to Latina/o comics and graphic novels that capture the distinctive and wide-ranging experiences of U.S. Latina/os. The volume was published in 2016 by University of Texas Press.
According to Lisa Sanchez Gonzalez's review, "Graphic Borders" is a "must read for anyone studying graphics and the emerging multicultural, multiracial, multisexual, multi-abled, multidimensional literary imagination that our artists and storytellers keep building, gorgeously, every day."