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 research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census, Eu ...

. He holds a PhD in English Literature from

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

, a Masters in Philosophy in English Renaissance Literature from

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

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 research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and 26 schools of study. The annual income of the institution f ...

Career

Along with teaching English and courses in Comics Studies at the

, Saunders is the author of books discussing

John Donne John Donne ( ; 22 January 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 ...

, music, the artist

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

, and the appeal of

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

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 mass culture or pop culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as, popular art or mass art) and objects that are dominant or prevalent in a ...

. 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, dedicated to contemporary popular culture. It was founded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen in 2000 as the Experience Music Project. Since then MoPOP has organized ...

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

, showcases the history and impact of

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

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 prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books, sometimes referred to as the comics industry's equivalent of the Academy Awards. They are named in ...

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

History Channel History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...

documentary, ''

Superheroes Decoded ''Superheroes Decoded'' is a series of superhero documentaries that aired on History Channel. Analysts include Stan Lee and George R.R. Martin. Anthony Mackie, the actor who plays Falcon in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, also gives input. The se ...

''.

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 International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California since 1970. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego; but it is co ...

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 CCI's annual c ...

(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