Over the past eight years, comics-studies scholar T. Andrew Wahl traveled more than 10,000 miles around his home state to talk about comic books, superheroes and U.S. history as part of the Humanities Washington Speakers Bureau. But his current talk – “Comic-Book Reality: Superheroes and the Power of Representation” – will close its run in a virtual space with three free Zoom presentations over the next two weeks.
“I loved getting out on the road and sparking important community conversations using comics as a starting point,” said Wahl. “But the pandemic created amazing new opportunities to reach people. I’m thrilled to work with Humanities Washington and their local partners to offer this presentation three more times before retiring it.”
“Comic-Book Reality” explores how everything from social movements to business concerns to changing demographics helped shape the reality seen in the pages of comics. It also uses heroes such as Black Panther, Wonder Woman and Captain America to explore the important role media representation has played throughout out U.S. history.
With a new Speakers Bureau roster launching in July, these upcoming Zoom events will be the final three “Comic-Book Reality” presentations open to the general public. Anyone interested in attending can check out Humanities Washington’s event pages for details and to register:
- 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 16: Hosted by the Tacoma Public Library
- 6 p.m. Tuesday, June 29: Hosted by the North Olympic Library System
- 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 30: Hosted by the Anacortes Public Library
“One of the surprising upsides of the pandemic is how video conferencing allowed people to keep coming together,” said Wahl. “It’s also empowered people to join the conversation who might otherwise never have been able to attend. These last three talks should offer some vigorous conversations and be a fantastic capper to my ‘Comic-Book Reality’ run.”