Exploring Intersections: Origins of Marvel Comics and Hip-Hop Culture, Pedagogy and Praxis

• In Event: Revolution Along the Margins: Exploring Speculative Counter-Story Through Hip-Hop and Comic Books

Abstract

New York is known for many things, including the birthplace of American Comics (Bainbridge, 2010) and Hip Hop. Hip Hop and Stan Lee’s Marvel comics were symbolically born in the 1960s and gained popularity in the 1980s and 1990s on a global level. Hip Hop and Marvel have both addressed social issues of the time (Sheeran, 2021) and have embraced cultural diversity. Both Marvel and Hip Hop have also provided a voice to marginalized populations. Lee (1974) wrote in the Origins of Marvel Comics about his character’s: “…the characters would be the kind of characters that I could personally relate to; they’d be flesh and blood, they’d have their faults and foibles, they’d be fallible and feisty, and-most important of all-inside their colorful, costumed booties they’d still have feet of clay” (Lee, 1974, p. 17). In this simple honest statement, Lee described the traits honored in the artist, scholars and mentors in the Hip Hop culture. Some of these traits, heavily used in the Hip Hop culture, include creating a sense of belonging, authenticity, and resistance.  This Chapter will not only discuss how the origins of Hip Hop and Marvel Comics are similar, but it will also discuss their intersections and explore how Marvel Comics can be used to inform and further develop Hip Hop Pedagogy and Praxis.

Author

• Tasha Iglesias, Utah State University