Where to Place the Rocket

8/9/2019 Where to Place the Rocket

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Where to Place the Rocket?: Examining Golden Age Comics

through Foucault and Haraway

The analytical frameworks of Michel Foucault and Donna Haraway share a common set of

underlying assumptions, and so are well suited to be taken together when investigating the messages

conveyed by a set of images from the popular culture. Haraway takes Foucault's lead in recognizing

implicit power relationships in social narratives, and both recognize the reinforcement of these

structures in the social discourses of sex and sexuality. However, where Foucault tends to focus on

these dynamics in the context of state control and authority, Haraway's concentration is on the identities

created by a set of perceived dualisms that reinforce the narrative from which Foucault's interpretation

of power dynamics emerges.

In examining a given set of images, Foucault might attempt to show how proliferating

discourses of sexuality are deployed as a tactic of state control. Haraway, on the other hand, would

examine how the images reinforce (or challenge) the apparent dichotomies created along the axis of

male/female, human/animal and science/nature. As I will show, both of these frameworks can be

applied effectively to the selection of golden age comic book covers from the 1940s.

Foucault Heroism, Sexuality and the State

In The History of Sexuality, Foucault argues that one of the most vital tools of the state is the

right of life, to sustain it or to destroy it as an instrument of control1. He argues that the last century

has seen the motivation for war transform alongside the increase in state interest in the sexuality of its

subjects, such that wars are no longer waged in the name of a sovereign who must be defended; they

1 Michel Foucault, The History of Sexuality: Volume I, trans. By Robert Hurley (New York: Vintage Books, 1978), 136-7.


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are waged on behalf of the existence of everyone2.

As the individual is expected to maintain state-sanctioned modes of sexuality (those which

perpetuate state power), so too is the individual obligated to contribute to a war which is waged by the

state on his or her behalf. This intersection of sexuality, the right of life, and the obligation to support

this power dynamic (the wareffort) can be seen particularly in the selected comic book covers that

were published during World War II: Batman #17

(1943), Superman #18 (1942) and #23 (1943), and

Wonder Woman #12 (1945). The cover art of these

comics is laden with patriotism, violence justified as

liberation anddefense, and an injunction to support it

any way you can.

One interesting element that runs through

each of these covers is the centrality of the missile

(real or implied) in each, and its placement at a stand-

in for masculine virility. In Batman #17, Batman and

Robin appear to be riding on the back of a giant

American Eagle, flying in formation with a cadre of

allied fighter planes. The Eagle glares defiantly

downward at the enemy, while the Dynamic Duo ask

the reader to Keep the American Eagle flying! Buy War Bonds and Stamps!. A similar (if somewhat

more racially charged and historically inaccurate) rejoinder appears on Superman #18, which proclaims

War Savings Bonds and Stamps Do the Job on the Japanazis! [sic]. This time, the slogan is

accompanied by Superman, also flying down into enemy territory, glaring just like Batman's Eagle

while a giant, pink missile points down from between his muscular thighs.

2 Ibid.

The State at the Intersection of sexuality,power and war: Superman's giant pink

rocket will do the job on the "Japanazis".


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In the third cover, Superman #23, Superman has replaced the missile entirely, this time taking

the place of a torpedo, seen speeding through the water toward a submarine full of terrified Nazis.

Finally, Wonder Woman #12 jumps on the bandwagon, though this time the implications are subtly

reversed in several ways. Here, Wonder Woman is depicted struggling againsta missile which is

falling out of a cloudy sky. Wonder Woman's rocket is purple and nestled between her arms (a proper

lady, she is riding side-saddle) as she attempts to guide it into a net that is held aloft by a squadron of

scantily clad, winged Venusian maidens.

Taken together and individually, there are a

number of ways in which Foucault's analysis can

be applied to these images. In general, there is the

obvious injunction to support the war effort in

whatever way you can: in the first two examples

cited, this directly applies to the reader, who is

asked to support the war directly by purchasing

savings bonds and stamps from the government.

The state is protection from the Japanazis, a

conglomerate bogeyman whose aim is to bring the

American Eagle down. In both cases, the

offensive stance can be read as a defensive action,

making America safe.

Also tied into these particular images is masculine virility though Batman's massive bird is

arguably ambiguous, Superman's rocket is a comically blatant phallic stand-in. Taken together the

unspoken message is clear: the potency of American masculinity is as much at stake as civilian lives.

Even if this message is unintentional, it can be read as transmission from the subconscious of the

patriotic artist to the patriotic reader. Foucault would argue that one could hardly rely on the prurient

The Right of Life: Batman and Robin support

the American Way, and so should you.


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innocence of the artist or reader to avoid making the connection. The message stands, then - conflating

sexuality (however heavily veiled) with support for the war creates a dual obligation to the state, for

which politics is war pursued by other means3. Intentional or not, this maintains a power dynamic in

which the sexuality of the individual is dependent on support for the state, and the state requires virile

individuals to support its endeavors.

Wonder Woman's role in this dynamic is

somewhat more nuanced. Rather than taking a

masculine, offensive role, she plays to the defense,

guiding the enemy's missile away from its intended

target into a protective net, where it will be rendered

impotent. Taking the message from the Batman and

Superman covers, the enemy's virility is reduced by

Wonder Woman's contribution to the War, which is in

a much more feminine, defensive role. She is

effectively rejecting the rocket, feminizing it (it has a

nipple) and thus maintaining the power (and sexual

potency) of the state.

To what extent Wonder Woman challenges the

traditional role of women in relation to war is up to debate, and not like a solvable question. While still

supporting the state, does Wonder Woman's strength subvert the popular conception of femininity in

relation to masculine power, either as a fantasy or an exception? To take a different angle: what is the

implied relationship between women and technology, and does it support a broader narrative of gender

dynamics? Foucault refrains from speaking of gender in such specific terms, and so these questions is

better examined in the analytical context of Donna Haraway.

3 Ibid, 93.

Patriotism in Heels: Wonder Woman doesher part, reigning in the rockets of the

enem .


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Haraway Dualisms in Conflict

Like Foucault, Donna Haraway concentrates on modes of power in the discourses of gender and

sexuality. However, Haraway is more apt to pay attention to the use of different sets of dualisms to

lend a sense of legitimacy to origin stories4. To Haraway, this is not simply a tool of patriarchal

domination (though it has been used as such), but of a number of different (and sometimes opposing)

narratives derived from and guiding culture according to the politics of the storyteller. It is important,

though, to separate out these axes from one another, to show that they are mobile, dynamic, [and]

productive in creating a set of identities which challenge the paradigm from which they derive.

Three major dualisms which Haraway addresses include those of male/female, human/animal

and science/nature. A strictly Western, patriarchal

capitalist reading of these axes would place them in

conjunction: female is associated with animal/nature,

rendered into a category of otherness that places the

scientific, human male in a position of apparent

superiority. Looking at the comic book covers in the

collection, it is possible to see these dichotomies at work;

yet there is also room for alternative readings which

challenge this narrative of dominance. These narratives

can be explored in particular in Batman #61 (1950) and

Wonder Woman #31 (1948) and #44 (1950). Each of

these covers depicts an unspoken correlation between

gender and scientific/biological narratives.

The placement of science in Batman #61 and Wonder Woman #31 is particularly striking, in

4 Donna Haraway, Womens Place is in the Jungle inPrimate Visions: Gender, Race, and Nature in the World ofModern Science (Routledge, 1989), 289.

Men at Work: Batman and Robinengage in male bonding using cutting

edge Science.


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that the same scientific iconography is used in both covers to convey a complety different relationship

with the characters. In Batman #61, Batman and Robin work together, harmoniously assembling a

model of Batplane II using what we can presume is cutting edge science. We can assume this

because of the organized laboratory which surrounds them; detailed drawings on the walls behind them

complement the pile of engineering drafts, calipers and screwdrivers before them, while multicolored

liquids fill an array of glass jars on the table, replete with test tubes and mysterious glass flask in a

stand. The picture is one of paternal bonding, as Batman inculcates Robin into the mysteries of orderly

thinking and invention. Setting aside the costumes (for the moment), the scene is one of typical male

bonding in the absence of enemies or women. Science is a stand-in for the masculinity, both of which

are transmitted socially.

For Wonder Woman, the same pictures present a different story; in Wonder Woman #31, the

heroine stands vulnerable and minuscule in the

massive, wrinkled palm of a male scientist. We

know he is a scientist for the same reason we know

Batman and Robin are scientists: in the background

are the ubiquitous beakers and bubbling fluids, this

time towering menacingly over Wonder Woman's

head. The title places her in opposition, not just to

the man holding her, but to the shrinking formula

itself, as if it isscience against which she is

struggling.

The narrative of dualisms is reinforced by

another Wonder Woman cover, this time #44. Here,

Wonder Woman is shown in alliance with nature against a technological aggressor. She rides a giant

pink seahorse in a roiling purple sea, whip whirling like a lasso over her head as she combats a man

Science in Opposition: Wonder Woman

battles against Science (and the Man whowields it).


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riding inside a submarine with a flamethrower attached. Once more, Woman is placed in opposition to

Science, this time with an animal ally. It is interesting to note, however, that Wonder Woman's posture

is one of triumph in both instances. Though the identities that are established on these covers appear to

derive from stereotypical, patriarchal dichotomies, the superiority of science cannot be assumed from

these images. From this, we can derive a shift in the power dynamics created by the associated

dualisms.

To what extent these pictures challenge the gendered identity of the characters is a reflection of

larger historical changes at the time. Putting the

costumes back on reminds us that Batman and Robin,

while men practicing science, are also both named

after animals, while Wonder Woman exudes

masculinity in her aggressive posture and

musculature. The boundaries are blurred, and this is

what Haraway means when she suggests that the

narrative can be challenged, the axes moved in relation

to one another to create an alternative story which

challenges the dominance narrative in the traditional

West.

Foucault and Haraway: Modes of Power

Foucault and Haraway both talk about gender and power in popular discourse: Foucault in

terms of authority and state control, Haraway in the production of dualistic identity politics. Though

Underwater Dominatrix Cowgirl: Wonder

Woman uses a whip against a flamethrower,

both of which are under water...


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Foucault is easier to work with when it comes to spotting self-imposing power dynamics and

injunctions to participate in them, Haraway is more fun, in that she looks to the creation of new

identities borne out of the alternative narratives that can be created out of familiar images. Foucault's

story is valid, but relies on a specific reading of history (one that he seems to accept even as he

challenges its production). Haraway's process is more playful, creative and subversive, while still

maintaining the underlying seriousness of Foucault. This came in handy when analyzing the comic

book covers above, which allowed for a number of possible interpretations beyond simple unilateral

analysis within a single paradigm.

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Where to Place the Rocket