Fantastic plastic: An analysis of the imitation--appropriation binary opposition using derridean deconstruction in Mars Ravelo's Lastikman and Jack Cole's Plastic Man

• Main Author: Escueta, Erik Paolo Bondoc
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2006
• Subjects: Comic books; strips; etc > Philippines; Caricatures and cartoons; Philippine wit and humor; American wit and humor; Comparative Literature
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/2115
• Institution: De La Salle University

So you want to know more about Philippine comic book superheroes huh? Well, you've come to the right place then. Basically, I compared two comic books - Mars Ravelo's Lastikman and Jack Cole's Plastic Man - or rather, the comic book remakes made by Gerry Alanguilan and Arnold Arre, and Kyle Baker, respectively. I used a deconstructive analysis, using the binary relationship of imitation and appropriation, to determine whether Lastikman in comic book form retains its Filipino-ness. It does, fortunately enough. But while it appears Lastikman does retain its Filipino-ness by appropriating the traditions of Philippine komiks, the question as to the definition of the Philippine superhero is something else entirely, which led me to further analyze Lastikman by way of how he breaks away from the general traits of foreign superheroes.