#45 The Power Of Comics With Matthew Smith

About the episode

Kevin and Sean interview Dr. Matthew Smith, Dean of the College of Humanities and Behavioral Sciences and Professor of Communication at Radford University, as well as the co-author of several books about comics, including The Power Of Comics: History, Form, and Culture. The trio discusses Matt’s journey with comics and how they influenced him, his life trajectory in becoming an author on comics, and how he became one of the curators for the Marvel Universe of Super-Heroes exhibit, which is a collaborative partnership with Marvel Studios. Then the group wraps up the interview with a game of “Explain a Comic Book Character Badly”

About the guest

Matthew J. Smith, Ph.D. is Dean of the College of Humanities and Behavioral Sciences and Professor of Communication at Radford University in Virginia. He holds a Ph.D. in Communication (1998) from Ohio University and has published eleven different books, including The Secret Origins of Comics Studies with Randy Duncan (Routledge, 2017) and The Power of Comics: History, Form and Culture, 2nd Edition (Continuum, 2015) with Randy Duncan and Paul Levitz. He is Past President of the Comics Studies Society, co-editor of the Routledge Advances in Comics Series, and co-curator of Marvel: Universe of Super Heroes, a traveling museum exhibit that has hosted more than 900,000 visitors in its four-year run. 

Links

• Marvel: Universe of Super Heroes exhibit
• The Power Of Comics - the first comics studies textbook written by Randy Duncan, Paul Levitz, and Matthew Smith.
• Advances in Comics Studies - A scholarly series for Routledge
• Comics Studies Society
• Marvel Spider-Man #36 Sept 11 Issue
• Reddit thread on “Explain a Comic Book Character Badly” 
• The Captioned Life Podcast website

Support our show - for free!

Give us a rating and review either on our website, Apple Podcasts, or on Podchaser.  If you like what we're doing, give us a shoutout on your social media and tag us @captionedlife and we'll make sure to include it and thank you in a future episode! Until next time!

About the image used in the show's graphics

"Comic Books" by Steven Miller, used under CC BY 2.0 / Desaturated from original.

ABOUT THE SHOW

A show for the most casual and dedicated fans of comics. Join Sean as he discovers what the world of comics and graphic novels has to offer from one-on-one interviews with industry professionals, round table discussions with passionate fans, and reviews on the latest comics, tv shows, and movies. New episodes every week. The Captioned Life is a part of the Comic Watch family.

• Follow us on social media & subscribe to the podcast
• The Captioned Life Podcast website
• Give The Podcast A Review
• Subscribe To Our YouTube Channel
• Donate To The Show via Ko-Fi

SHOW CREDITS

• Sean Winningham - Host, producer, & editor
• Image used in the show by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash
• Music used in the show: “Fine Line” by Geographer