Super Skills, Super Reading: Literacy and Television Superheroes

What comes to mind when you think about superheroes? Strength, bravery, and heroism are common answers. However, superheroes do not only have physical strength, but they also have mental strengths and skills. Superheroes tend to have intelligence and detection skills which allow them to develop other skills. In this analysis of superhero literacy aimed at students, the connection between superhero media and larger theories of literacy are explored. The author uses six superhero television shows to show how literacy is portrayed in superhero media and how it reflects and shapes cultural ideas of literacy. The shows covered are Arrow, The Flash, Gotham, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Daredevil.

Perry Dantzler is an assistant professor in English and a faculty affiliate for integrative learning at Georgia Gwinnett College in Lawrenceville, Georgia. She has worked extensively on the field of new literacy studies which she employs as a theoretical and empirical lens to examine current media and culture.