Joseph Parrott flips through a book during his visit to the Lucy Shelton Caswell Reading Room — an extension of the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum — Thursday. Credit: Lucy Lawler | Lantern Reporter
What began as a passion project in summer 2021 for Joseph Parrott, an assistant professor in history, will soon become a reality.
Originally, Parrott wanted to invite Paul S. Hirsch, the award-winning author of “Pulp Empire: The Secret History of Comic Book Imperialism,” to give a talk at Ohio State, but after witnessing an influx of books and scholarly material about comics in recent years, he decided to organize an entire conference, he said. “Comics, Security, and the American Mission,” will be held online Thursday and in person at the Mershon Center for International Security Studies Friday, Parrott said.
“Comics and superheroes are in the conversation when people think about heroism and action,” Parrott said. “There’s this underlying kind of mythos around what makes a hero and, you know, what makes a kind of positive force in the world.”
Seven specialists will speak on foreign affairs, political messaging and their works relating to the cultural impacts of comic books, according to the Mershon Center’s website. The event is supported by Ohio State’s Department of History, the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum, the Mershon Center and the East Asian Studies Center.
Over the two-day period, attendees can participate in discussions about the historical and political undertones of prominent comic books and characters, Parrott said.
Hirsch will give the virtual keynote speech, Parrott said. He said Hirsch’s work offers new insight into comic books’ complex role in World War II and the Cold War.
Parrott said he will present one of his papers, “Sustaining the Good War: Nazis and American Virtue,” Friday. It explores the abundance of Nazi antagonists in comics and superhero fiction at large, he said.
“Comics kind of bring out the Nazis to offer that foil for the United States to once again rediscover its kind of, you know, value system,” Parrot said. “And so, that’s what this paper is about, exploring why that tends to happen and how comics have kind of represented that over and over again during moments of crisis.”
Zaynab Quadri, a postdoctoral scholar at the Mershon Center, said she will be a panelist Friday and present a paper based on a chapter of her dissertation on military contracting in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Called “‘I Have Successfully Privatized World Peace’: National Security in the Marvel Cinematic Universe,” the presentation analyzes the Marvel character Tony Stark, also known as Iron Man, she said.
“In the center of this extremely successful cultural juggernaut franchise that has eaten up all the scenery in Hollywood, you have this redemption arc,” Quadri said. “You have this private military contractor, you know, seeking to redeem himself through public service.”
The conference is intended to be compelling for comic book lovers and casual fans alike, Quadri said.
“We’re not just talking about, you know, dusty documents from the 19th century, which I think scares students a little bit,” Quadri said. “We’re thinking about something that is part of your own life and part of your own world.”
Parrott agreed with Quadri.
“Pop culture matters,” Parrott said. “This is an opportunity to get these folks who have just started writing books, I’d say in the last five or six years into a room together to talk about how we can use comics to really understand, you know, popular conceptions of power.”
More information about “Comics, Security, and the American Mission,” including how to register, can be found on the Mershon Center’s website. The event will be recorded and posted online at a later date.
