In this "Prologue" preview to our RETRO SEASON of Special Topics in Media, host Garret Castleberry sits down with Scott McMurry to discuss one of our earliest seasons for Special Topics in Media. The dialogic duo offer a brief framework for the next mini-season on deck, a conversation series covering one of the most influential comic books in history, Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (1986).  Each episode will focus on a single entry in the four-part series, followed by a discussion on the topic of adaptation as well as a scholarly roundtable that examines the media artifact's continuing impact on American popular culture.


Hosts: Garret Castleberry, Scott McMurry

Producers: Garret Castleberry, Will McMurry (Audio Engineer), Alli Garner (Cover Art), Austin Foster (Music)

Recommended readings paired with Season Two "Batman: The Dark Knight Returns":
Frank Miller (with Klaus Jansen). Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. DC Comics, 1986.

Chris Gavaler. Superhero Comics. Bloomsbury Academic Press, 2017.

Robert Jewett & John Shelton Lawrence. The Myth of the American Superhero. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2002.

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Garret's academic website is available at https://garretcastleberry.academia.edu/.