Hot Pants and Spandex Suits

“In Hot Pants and Spandex Suits: Gender and Race in American Superhero Comics, Esther De Dauw has addressed the complexities of identity politics reflected in superhero comics from their earliest appearance eighty years ago. The superhero, a metaphor for the concerns of our culture, presents an apt topic for our understanding of the intersections of gender, race and national identity. The eighty-year span of the book offers us a mirror to our changing perceptions of identity politics and it is of interest to anyone interested in cultural, historical and media studies.”

~Joan Ormrod, author of Wonder Woman, the Female Body and Popular Culture

"Dr. Esther De Dauw asks us to reconsider the generic construct of the superhero and to ask not only who they serve, but how. More importantly, she shows how their high-minded words often obscure less lofty silences and thus also asks us who they be might harming."

~Martin Lund, Malmö University, author of Re-Constructing the Man of Steel

"Esther De Dauw’s book Hot Pants and Spandex Suits is well versed in gender and sexuality studies."

~Inks