Ben Saunders is a British-born academic and in 2011, founder of the first ever in the world Undergraduate Minor in Comics Studies at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...

. He holds a PhD in English Literature from

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

, a Masters in Philosophy in English Renaissance Literature from

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

and a Bachelor of the Arts degree with First Class Honors from the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a Public university, public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus university, campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and twenty-six schools of ...

Career

Along with teaching English and courses in Comics Studies at the

, Saunders is the author of books discussing

John Donne John Donne ( ; 1571 or 1572 – 31 March 1631) was an English poet, scholar, soldier and secretary born into a recusant family, who later became a clergy, cleric in the Church of England. Under Royal Patronage, he was made Dean of St Paul's, D ...

, music, the artist

Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (; born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comics artist, comic book artist, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He grew ...

, and the appeal of

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

heroes. He has traveled globally lecture as an authority on the history of comic books, and is the curator of multiple museum exhibitions on comic art and

popular culture Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of cultural practice, practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art

f. pop art F is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet. F may also refer to: Science and technology Mathematics * F or f, the number 15 (number), 15 in hexadecimal and higher positional systems * ''p'F'q'', the hypergeometric function * F-distributi ...

or mass art, sometimes contraste ...

. His most recent exhibition, Marvel: Universe of Super Heroes currently at the

Museum of Pop Culture The Museum of Pop Culture (or MoPOP) is a nonprofit museum in Seattle, Washington, United States, dedicated to contemporary popular culture. It was founded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen in 2000 as the Experience Music Project. Since then ...

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

, showcases the history and impact of

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

on the world of entertainment. Saunders also served as a judge for the 2012

Eisner Award The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are awards for creative achievement in American comic books. They are regarded as the most prestigious and significant awards in the comic industry and often referred ...

s for nominees published in 2011 and has appeared in the 2017

History Channel History (formerly and commonly known as the History Channel) is an American pay television television broadcaster, network and the flagship channel of A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney General Entertainme ...

documentary, '' Superheroes Decoded''.

Bibliography

* Comic Book Apocalypse: The Graphic World of Jack Kirby (co-edited with Charles Hatfield) (2016) * Do The Gods Wear Capes: Spirituality, Fantasy, and Superheroes (2011) * Desiring Donne: Poetry, Sexuality, Interpretation (2006) * Rock Over the Edge: Transformations in Popular Music Culture (co-edited with Denise Fulbrook and Roger Beebe) (2002) * Penguin Classics Marvel Collection Series (Series Editor, Series Introductions) (2022)

Museum exhibit curation

* ''Faster Than A Speeding Bullet: The Art of the Superhero,'' Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, Eugene, Oregon, 2009 * ''Good Grief! A Selection of Original Art From Fifty Years of Charles M Schulz’s Peanuts,'' Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, Eugene, Oregon, 2012 * ''Aliens, Monsters, and Madmen: The Art of EC Comics,'' Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, Eugene, Oregon, 2016 * ''Marvel: Universe of Super Heroes,'' Museum of Pop Culture, Seattle, Washington, 2018 * ''Spider-Man: Beyond Amazing - The Exhibition'', Comic-Con Museum, San Diego, California, 2022

Awards

San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con is a comic book convention and multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California, at the San Diego Convention Center. Founded in 1970, originally showcasing primarily comic books and science fiction/fant ...

Inkpot Award The Inkpot Award is an honor bestowed annually since 1974 by Comic-Con International. It is given to professionals in the fields of comic books, comic strips, animation, science fiction, and related areas of popular culture, at Comic-Con Internati ...

(July 21, 2023)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saunders, Benjamin Duke University alumni Living people University of Oregon faculty Writers from Cardiff 1968 births Alumni of the University of Cambridge Alumni of the University of East Anglia Inkpot Award winners