Comics and Citizenship (2023)

Martin, J. F., Killian, M., & Letizia, A. (2023). Comics and community: Exploring the relationship 

between society, education, and citizenship. In Jason D. DeHart (Ed.), Exploring comics and graphic novels in the classroom (pp. 203 – 228). IGI Global.

• Utilizes the setting, text, and form of comics to explore the relationship between society, education, and citizenship.

• These features are explored through analyses rooted in three distinct disciplines and applied to three superheroes whose narratives are often rooted in the communities in which they live: sociology (Daredevil and Hell’s Kitchen), psychology (Black Panther and Wakanda), and citizenship education (Batman and Gotham).

• Analyses highlight the potential of an interdisciplinary investigation of comics for providing opportunities for educators, researchers, and laypersons to (re)imagine what it means to live in a community with others.

“When examining Daredevil and Hell’s Kitchen, for example, special attention can be given to geography, space, and the conditions of social structures and institutions as contexts to (re)imagine communal and social arrangements. When interrogating Black Panther and Wakanda, consideration can also be given to the characters’ social roles, arrangements, and experiences, and the ways these social factors can inform Wakandans’ views of and treatment towards each other in morally relevant contexts–views that suggest alternate ways to (re)imagine social interactions. Lastly, examining Batman’s relationship to Gotham and vice versa can invite critical reflection and questions around both the relationship between legitimacy, justice, and democracy and the ways this relationship can reflect different socio-political imaginaries.”