Department of English

Topic: Beware My Power - Superheroes and American Culture

This is a course on American superhero comics, their history and what they mean as an aspect of US culture. We will focus on the iconic characters that define public knowledge of the genre – Batman and Wonder Woman, Spider-Man and Ms. Marvel, for example – and also study the artists and writers who create their adventures. Uncovering how they engage both market forces and social reality with their fantastic fictions will be an important thread of our work. We will tackle the ways comics as a medium and the superhero as a genre take on the realities of race, gender, class, religion and national identity.

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