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

by Ben Saunders

Overview

Brash, bold, and sometimes brutal, superheroes might seem to epitomize modern pop-culture at its most melodramatic and mindless. But according to Ben Saunders, the appeal of the superhero is fundamentally metaphysical - even spiritual - in nature. In chapter-length analyses of the early comic book adventures of Superman, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man, and Iron-Man, Saunders explores a number of complex philosophical and theological issues, including: the problem of evil; the will-to-power; the tension between intimacy and vulnerability; and the challenge of love, in the face of mortality. He concludes that comic book fantasies of the superhuman ironically reveal more than we might care to admit about our human limitations, even as they expose the falsehood of the characteristically modern opposition between religion and science. Clearly and passionately written, this insightful and at times exhilarating book should delight all readers who believe in the redemptive capacity of the imagination, regardless of whether they consider themselves comic book fans.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781441113115
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	06/02/2011
Series:	New Directions in Religion and Literature
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	192
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Ben Saunders is Associate Professor of English at the University of Oregon. He is author of Desiring Donne: Poetry, Sexuality, Interpretation (Harvard University Press, 2006) and co-editor, with Roger Beebe and Denise Fulbrook, of Rock Over the Edge: Essays in Popular Music Culture (Duke University Press, 2002).

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

Editorial Reviews

In this excellent book, four iconic superheroes serve as Saunders's role models for social and spiritual awareness...Saunders's superb essay on Wonder Woman at long last makes sense of the odd ideological mix of feminism, pseudo-Greco–Roman spirituality, and sadomasochism(?) underpinning the character. He is one of the few comic scholars who appreciates and understands this revolutionary and deeply spiritual character...This volume is highly recommended.” —Marc DiPaolo, Religious Studies Review

“Ben Saunders gets at the crossover between psychology and superheroes, and at the difficulties it imposes, in his excellent 2011 book about the intersection between religion and superheroes, Do the Gods Wear Capes?” —Noah Berlatsky, The Atlantic

“There have been many scholarly analyses of comic book superheroes recently, most of them thoughtful, some of them misguided. However, arguably the most sophisticated and the most human of these treatments is Ben Saunders' Do the Gods Wear Capes?'” —Jack David Eller, Anthropology Review Database

From the Publisher

There have been many scholarly analyses of comic book superheroes recently, most of them thoughtful, some of them misguided. However, arguably the most sophisticated and the most human of these treatments is Ben Saunders' Do the Gods Wear Capes?

Jack David Eller

Ben Saunders gets at the crossover between psychology and superheroes, and at the difficulties it imposes, in his excellent 2011 book about the intersection between religion and superheroes, Do the Gods Wear Capes?

Noah Berlatsky