Coming in the fall: My new PIO 101 course at Marietta College

But what is a superhero and why do folks go full gaga over caped crusaders today in the age of the Marvel Cinematic Universe? This course traces the origin of the superhero in the cheap comics designed for pre-pubescent boys, wrestles with why humans are attracted to these men (and women) in tights, delves into the ethics and politics of superheroism (that is, vigilantism), and ends with a discussion of how the superhero genre has been turned inside-out by comics such as Watchmen and Deadpool.