Superbodies

Marvel Studios' approach to its Cinematic Universe--beginning with the release of Iron Man (2008)--has become the template for successful management of blockbuster film properties. Yet films featuring Marvel characters can be traced back to the 1940s, when the Captain America serial first appeared on the screen. This collection of new essays is the first to explore the historical, textual and cultural context of the larger cinematic Marvel universe, including serials, animated films, television movies, non-U.S. versions of Marvel characters, films that feature characters licensed by Marvel, and the contemporary Cinematic Universe as conceived by Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios. Films analyzed include Transformers (1986), Howard the Duck (1986), Blade (1998), Planet Hulk (2010), Iron Man: Rise of Technovore (2013), Elektra (2005), the Conan the Barbarian franchise (1982-1990), Ultimate Avengers (2006) and Ghost Rider (2007).

Based on the wildly popular segments broadcast during the Vancouver Olympics, Superbodies explores how genetics and DNA, the brain, muscles, lungs, heart and blood work together in extreme conditions. It’s an inside look that draws on Dr. Greg Wells’ research at Sick Kids Hospital and the University of Toronto and more than fifteen years’ experience working with Olympic athletes. Superbodies is a fascinating explanation of the human body and an easy-to-follow plan that shows how everyone can learn from the pros to improve their health and performance. Dr. Wells explains How the same training techniques that elite athletes follow can be even more effective for most people What’s happening inside your body when you’re exercising, and fighting illness What makes elite athletes such as pro-hockey players successful, and what you can learn from them Why little things can add up, and how simple choices can make a huge difference. Fascinating, easy-to-read and packed with full-colour illustrations and photographs, Superbodies shows how people of all ages and abilities can improve their own health and performance.

An examination of the art in superhero comics and how style influences comic narratives.

The accomplishments of pioneering doctors such as John Peter Mettauer, James Marion Sims, and Nathan Bozeman are well documented. It is also no secret that these nineteenth-century gynecologists performed experimental caesarean sections, ovariotomies, and obstetric fistula repairs primarily on poor and powerless women. Medical Bondage breaks new ground by exploring how and why physicians denied these women their full humanity yet valued them as “medical superbodies” highly suited for medical experimentation. In Medical Bondage, Cooper Owens examines a wide range of scientific literature and less formal communications in which gynecologists created and disseminated medical fictions about their patients, such as their belief that black enslaved women could withstand pain better than white “ladies.” Even as they were advancing medicine, these doctors were legitimizing, for decades to come, groundless theories related to whiteness and blackness, men and women, and the inferiority of other races or nationalities. Medical Bondage moves between southern plantations and northern urban centers to reveal how nineteenth-century American ideas about race, health, and status influenced doctor-patient relationships in sites of healing like slave cabins, medical colleges, and hospitals. It also retells the story of black enslaved women and of Irish immigrant women from the perspective of these exploited groups and thus restores for us a picture of their lives.

In his new book, Dr. Greg Wells offers concrete strategies on how to get better and stay better—not just for a few weeks or a few months, but for life. Optimal well-being is obtained through a commitment to the “holy trinity” of healthy living—eating better, moving better, sleeping better. Together these lead to peak physical performance. With tremendous insight into the physiology of the human body and the reasons mankind has evolved the way it has, The Ripple Effect exposes exercise and diet myths, inspiring you and leading you on a clear path to achieving a health and fitness transformation. With small—and very achievable—daily changes in your life, you'll see the incredible effects of aggregate gains that professional athletes know. You'll learn how: Eating broccoli provides the body with more protein per calorie than eating steak Using one teaspoon less of sugar per day would help you lose four pounds of fat per year Walking for fifteen minutes per day decreases your risk of cancer by fifty per cent Playing games like tennis can prevent Alzheimer’s disease Losing ninety minutes of sleep reduces daytime alertness by nearly a third Replacing an hour of television with an hour of sleep could help you lose over fourteen pounds in a year And much more.

From the bestselling author of The Ripple Effect, simple and innovative ways to fight fatigue, feel stronger and live better In a 24/7 world, it can be a real challenge to get proper rest and give your mind and body the opportunity to fully recharge. In this new book, Dr. Greg Wells outlines how small changes in the way you rest, refocus and recharge can help you improve your mental health, prevent illness and deliver optimal results. In high-performance athletic circles, “deliberate recovery” practices are the secret weapon of the very best. But you don’t have to be an elite athlete to benefit from these strategies. Rest, Refocus, Recharge offers simple and practical techniques that you can easily incorporate into your existing routine, including: Rest and sleep Relax and create Reflect and learn Recharge and focus Regenerate and perform