Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Bat-Mania Roundtable

Special Topics in Media

This week Special Topics in Media hosts a "Bat-Mania Roundtable" as part of our Season 2 RETRO REWIND focus on Frank Miller's Batman:The Dark Knight Returns (1986). In this episode, the dialogic duo is joined by another pair of super scholars Karen Anderson-Lain and Kyle Hammonds, as well as comic shop proprietor Brian "Buck" Berlin. The panel discuss personal encounters with Batman literature and expand our understanding of its varied commercial and educational utilities. Finally, the group considers the eerie parallels that may speak to why this fictional character remains an American mainstay in the public consciousness.
Hosts: Garret Castleberry, Scott McMurry
Panelists: Karen Anderson-Lain, Kyle Hammonds, Brian Berlin
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.
Ways to Connect with us online:
Follow and engage with Special Topics in Media on Twitter at @podcast_topics.
"Like" to follow our Special Topics in Media Page on Facebook (search Special Topics in Media).
Join the Special Topics in Media Facebook Group and share your reviews of the film or this episode.
Follow Kyla Hammonds's wider media insights in the Facebook Group MovieTalk, with Kyle Hammonds.
Subscribe to Dr. Castleberry's academic YouTube Channel.
Garret's academic website is available at https://garretcastleberry.academia.edu/.