The Role of Costume Color in Establishing a Fictional Superhero’s Identity

The Role of Costume Color in Establishing a Fictional Superhero’s Identity

The Case Study of Superman

Name：Tianyi Liang

Student Number: 124163970

Instructor: Dru Jeffries

Date of Submission: 10/7/2014

The Role of Costume Color in Establishing a Fictional Superhero’s Identity

The Case Study of Superman

Introduction

Costume colors play an important role in establishing the identity of fictional super heroes presented in comics (Einstein, 1984, pp: 12). The type of colors used by comic artists conveys symbolic image in the mind of the reader in heroic narratives (Einstein, 1984, pp: 21). These colors were repeatedly associated with these heroes such that people conceptualized them as their logos and therefore giving them identity (Dooley & Heller, 2005, pp: 5). There were colors associated with certain features of heroes such that one could easily recognize them  from the colors of their costume as displayed in comics. This study seeks to investigate the role the costume color of a most known American hero superman helped in revealing his identity; the red color indicated superman’s supernatural powers, green indicated loss of power, the gold color represented an antidote, while white color represented destruction. Superman was a famous an American mythological hero who was associated with characters that were beyond those of human. Common fiction to superman was his ability to go against time (Moore & Swan, 2009, pp: 9). He was gifted with superhuman powers that he could .............