The Christian Science Monitor visits the world of academia as it relates to the Silver Surfer. The subhead reads, Comic figures gain new academic respect as they enter the world of literary and critical analysis.
The story reads, in part...
Amid the spectacle of the world's largest comics convention, tens of thousands of attendees had Batman on the brain.
But only graduate student Kate McClancy came armed with an analysis of how an asylum in the Caped Crusader's world reflects the American debate over treatment of the mentally ill.
It's an obscure topic, to be sure. But Ms. McClancy's treatise was right at home at Comic-Con International, which was held here this past weekend.
Dozens of other scholars were tackling arcane subjects from "the geek as melodramatic hero" to "the problem of vigilante justice" in the famed graphic novel "Watchmen."
Just 15 years ago, many professors would have scoffed at the in-depth study of comics.
Now, comics are coming into their own in classrooms of all kinds, gaining an unprecedented level of respect and spawning serious debate over their greater meaning.
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