It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's DePaul's Celebration of Superheroes

 

This week the DePaul Pop Culture Conference is back (after taking 2020 off for pretty obvious reasons) with a Celebration of Superheroes. This year the conference is virtual which means while it started on Saturday it is running through the end of the week so it is not too late to join in and have an amazing time.

Check out the website to listen to recordings of the key note speakers from Saturday which covered everything from the importance of diversity in superhero stories, to the stages of being a minority creator, from the structure of writing comics for DC and Marvel, to how to make fan vids.

In addition check out the pre-recorded "panels" which cover a wide range of topics including 

• Defining the Superhero
• Ethics and the Superhero
• ***Mental Health and Superhero Media***
• Politics and the Superhero
• Pulp, Noir, and the Gothic in Superhero Media
• Readership and Reception
• Representation I: Blackness and Superheroes
• Representation II: New (and Old Roles),Superheroes?
• Superheroes as Feminist Icons
• Superhero Games and Other Adaptations
• Superheroes on Television
• The Superhero Narrative 

Personally I really love we have the Mental Health and Superhero Media panel for many reasons including because it is an very important subject to discuss, May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and because I had the opportunity to be on the panel. 

I explore references to mental health in superhero media and how the Silk's solo run really stood apart for its discussions of mental health and for showing a superhero going to therapy every week. I give a longer presentation of these ideas in this years DePaul Pop Culture book. 

This topic was also meaningful for me because I have found great wisdom, love, understanding, and kindness in the mental health struggles that Superhero actors, writers, and creators have shared with the public. For example I love how Wentworth Miller (who plays Captain Cold in the DC TV Universe) phrased it in describing why he was so open about talking about mental health:

By choosing to show up and tell my story, by choosing to be here - like, here here - I trust I'm making it easier for someone, somewhere to tell their story. And maybe add a few more chapters.

Mental Health is a subject that we all need to get better at talking about and I feel like looking to Superheroes (and real life Superhero actors, writers, and creators) who talk about their own mental health and mental health support systems, is one way to ease into these conversations. 

This years conference is amazing like always and we are continuing the conversation on discord so if you ever though about coming to a DePaul conference but had issues with location or timing this is the year for you to explore and celebrate your love of fandom and your love of Superheroes.