Titans: How Superheroes Can Help Us Make Sense of a Polarized World

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These days it seems like heroes fight each other more often than they fight villains. The hero-vs-hero trope so common in comic books and in superhero movies these days can provide us with a means of thinking about the deeply polarized state of modern politics and public opinion about civic life, morality, and even God. There is a real divide in our public life that nobody seems to be able to cross. It's easy to complain that people should be more willing to meet each other half-way, that politicians should be more willing to compromise in order to get things done, but there are plenty of important issues on which compromise really isn't possible. We see this problem dramatized in comics like Marvel's Civil War and Avengers vs X-Men; in DC's Kingdom Come and The Dark Knight Returns; and in film media like Daredevil, Batman v Superman, and Captain America: Civil War. The consequences of the conflicts that arise in these stories can serve as warnings about our current political environment. They're safe places in which we can see the logic of our political dysfunction carried to frightening (but perhaps inevitable?) conclusions. TITAM5 COHTEHTS Part I: Heroes oh the Page Part IL Heroes oh the Scheer ^CHHOWLEOBMEMTS A Word about Comic Book Citations Ihthoduhtioh, Pa nr / Superheroes as Myth Why We Need Superheroes The Moral Playground The Modern Myths Evolving Stories Some Objections The New Titanomachy Introduction, Part 2 Sometimes Superheroes Best Say What Needs to be Said Heroes on the Page Two Americas The Fight for Captain America Who Is Captain America? Through the Years The Man without a Country Just a Kid from Brooklyn The Commission and the Captain Captain America vs William Burnside Friends Divided RIP Steve Rogers (1918-2016)? No, Really: Who is Captain America? DCs Kingdom Come Superheroes as Despots Warring Factions Power and Order The Freedom to Be a Hero Freedom through Fear Freedom as Power A Dire Warning, But No Solution Gazing into the Abyss HIahvelsIww. War Tocqueville, Burke, and Civic Virtue The Fundamental Questions The Conflict Tocqueville and Civic Virtue Civic Restraint Freedom, Virtue, and Moral Chains Philosopher Kings in the Technocracy Civil War II Freedom and the Surveillance State The Problem of Foreknowledge The Conflict Predicting the Future? Everything Sticks The Problem of Induction You Need Proof The Clash Paradox Gazing into the Palantir A Warning The Dahh Knight Returns Why No Single Principle Is Sufficient Opposing the State The School(s) of Morals A Dark Future Superman’s Obedience to Authority Batman’s “One Rule” So to Answer Your Question . . . ^VENDERS VS H-HIeN Bigotry and the Problem of Power The Legacy of Hatred The Hatred of Mutants The Beginning of the Storm X-Men Divided The Return of the Phoenix Building a Perfect World Hope Summers, Spider-Man, and the Good of Power Hope and the Ultimate Sacrifice Power in the Service of Justice? He HOES OH THE 5cHE EH Daredevil The Prodigal Son, Retold Return and Redemption The Prodigal Story, Retold The Ill Intent Daredevil’s Return The Elder Brother The Political Implications Batman v Superman Mythology, Theodicy, and the Dawn of Justice The Generative Power of Myth The Messianic and the Mortal The Problem of Evil From Theodicy to Polity /ftehworo Where Do We Go from Here? What It Means to Be Reasonable Politics = Power? Bibuohraphv