DEBUT SHOWING June 18, 2005, 7:30 PM on People TV Atlanta Comcast channel 24
The curators of The Breman Museum's exhibit of The Golden Age of Comic Books brought longtime Marvel Comics writer/editor and now author Danny Fingeroth in as a guest, to discuss his book Superman on the Couch, a look at what superheroes really tell us about ourselves and our society. Danny summarized his chapter on the prevalence of orphans among superheroes, along with motivations in general, leading to a lively discussion with the audience.
When I had picked up Danny's book some months prior to his speech, I remembered it bringing up a lot of intriguing points as to what motivates someone to fight for "truth, justice, and the American way" (to borrow the popular phrase). Personally, I know if I woke up one morning with the ability to fly, going out and stopping crimes wouldn't be high on my list of priorities.

Danny's presentation though did encourage a lot of discussion about the psyche of the super-hero, with the audience giving lots of interesting real-life examples (and why not, Batman actually has no "super powers"?). The backgrounds of some unlikely characters were brought up, such as the first costumed African-American superhero, the Black Panther, as well as who would have been the first African-American superheroine (Shadow Lass) if the editors at the time -- the mid60s -- had not gotten cold feet and decided to make her blue instead!

And finally, with this being the last episode taped in conjunction with the Breman's exhibit, finally got into the somewhat twisted thinking behind the creation of Wonder Woman. Her presence in comics history had been discussed in prior episodes, and the creator's claim to fame also includes the lie detector, but this time, we finally got to name him by name (Charles Moulton) during the show.

Danny currently produces Write Now! magazine for aspiring comic book writers, as well as teaches comics writing at New York University.
Still shots of Danny Fingeroth from his presentation at the Breman Museum on his book Superman on the Couch
Production credits for Episode 6: Chris Companik, Camera, Director, Producer; Danny Fingeroth, Writer
Click on remote to return to Episodes

GIANT SIZE COMIC BOOK SHOW is © Chris Companik and airs on People TV Atlanta on Comcast Channel 24, 7:30 PM every 4th Saturday night. All comic book/strip characters shown on this site as well as the show are © their respective owners.