Superhero Ethics

What is it like to read a book about a world-ending pandemic in the time of Covid? How do we find shades of grey in a tale of a final battle between good and evil? And is it possible to tell a compelling story where the characters have almost no agency, and the plot is the least important part of the book?

What did Supernatural have to say about found family and the conflict between agency and determinism? Why did the ending of Castiel and Dean’s story cause so much controversy? And can Matthew, Jacob, & Ashley get through this episode without humming enough of “Carry On My Wayward Son” to get us all sued?

With the passing of Alex Trebek, we reflect on the impact of Jeopardy! and trivia contests. While trivia may not be a superpower, these competitions have a significant overlap with our fandoms. In this episode, we explore the show’s importance in our culture. What is the value of objective fact? Why was a show about knowing facts so popular? And just how should we pronounce ‘genre’?

What does it mean to be a fan with a critical eye? How do we relate to the stories we loved as kids, as we come to see some of their problematic aspects? How do we balance our values with the desire to be entertained in an imperfect world? Logan Grendel returns to the podcast as we talk about these questions and more.

Paul and I talk about tropes in our favorite movies and shows, using the Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit as our launch point. What makes a trope annoying or problematic, and where can they be helpful to a story, especially one involving superheroes? How does The Queen’s Gambit both embrace and subvert tropes in ways that make it such an engaging story? And we ponder the question: Is chess a superpower?

Season 2 of The Boys has wrapped up, and we’re diving into some of the ethical questions it raised. When superheroes are the product, who holds the real power? How did this season hold up a mirror to questions in our own world? And what role will AOC… I mean Congresswoman Neuman play in season 3—will she be an anti-hero, or the new big bad?

In part two of our history of comic book superheroes, we round out the golden age with a discussion of the Comics Code Authority, which sought to rescue America’s youth from the “10 cent plague!”