Episode #22: Studying Superheroes (When We Last Left Our Heroes)

The comic book, the strip, the superhero lark, they have traditionally been seen as a “low” cultural form - filled with coarse language, silly jokes, and subversive sentiments not worthy of critical attention. They have been overlooked by serious scholars and academics because they’re circulated in newspapers and sold at corner shops rather than hung in museums and galleries. Lately, however, the comic book is slowly beginning to gain the attention of serious academics. And it's not just Art Spiegelman’s Maus or Harvey Pekar’s American Splendour or Joe Sacco’s Palestine. Of late, even the more conventional corner shop comics have gained recognition in academic circles.