The naked hero and model man: costumed identity in comic book narratives

After the release of the film Superman Returns (2006), it was suggested that " It was inevitable .. . that after 9/11 America's greatest superhero would come back to protect the threatened city of Metropolis" (French 2006, 15). In a time of need, a vulnerable populace, even an entire nation, could feel shel tered by the power of Superman. This has held true since Superman's very first appearance in Action Comics #1 in 1938, but what has also always been clear is that domestic security is as important to Superman as national security. Superman's second-ever heroic adventure is not saving the world but sav ing the life of a victim of domestic violence threatened by a knife-wielding husband. Since the moment of his creation, therefore, this hero of heroes has defended the idea of the home as a place of refuge from violence.