Do The Gods Wear Capes? Spirituality, Fantasy, and Superheroes

by Saunders, Ben

• ISBN13: 9780826435569
• ISBN10: 0826435564
• eBook ISBN(s): 9781441113115
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-08-04
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• More Book Details

Summary

Ben Saunders shows that Superhero comics address deep emotional needs. From their earliest days, Superheroes have engaged with some of the most profound spiritual questions that a human being can face: What does it mean to be good? Why is there evil? Why can't I have what I want? How should I live, knowing that I must die? The book suggests these fantasies of power and romance are attempts to wrestle and negotiate with some fundamentally spiritual issues: the problem of evil, the inescapability of human imperfection, and the stark fact of mortality. Saunders argues that the best Superhero comics are not only significant aesthetic achievements - expressions of a misunderstood and under-appreciated art-form as distinctly American as Jazz or Rock & Roll - but that their aesthetic significance derives at least in part from their unique handling of these religious and spiritual themes. With chapters on Superman, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man, and Iron-Man, he considers these characters as artistic projections of our most primitive desires, and our highest aspirations.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements \ INTRODUCTION: The Power of Love \ 1. SUPERMAN: Truth, Justice, and All That Stuff \ 2. WONDER WOMAN: Bondage and Liberation \ 3. SPIDER-MAN: Heroic Failure and Spiritual Triumph \ 4. IRON MAN: Techno-Faith \ CODA: Modern Gods \ APPENDIX: Methods and Problems in Superhero Studies \ Notes \ Index