Biography:

Ben Saunders is an academic expert in comic and cartoon studies, pop culture and English literature. He co-founded and directs the minor in Comic and Cartoon Studies, the first undergraduate minor of its kind in the country. Ben is in constant demand as a speaker at comics conventions and has lectured on everything from contemporary literary theory to the history of pornography to 1950s rock and roll.

Recent Media:

• Superman vs. Spider-Man is back. DC and Marvel are reprinting coveted crossover comics (CNN, March 1, 2024)
• Can Brits save the Fantastic Four from another flop? (BBC, Feb. 16, 2024)
• Here's how 'Iron Man' built the modern Marvel Cinematic Universe in 5 phases (Yahoo Entertainment, May 3, 2023)
• A look behind the curtain at the curation of OMSI’s latest Marvel exhibit with Ben Saunders (The Oregonian, Oct. 18, 2022)
• Comic-Con Museum Celebrates 60 Years Of Spider-Man With New Exhibit (Forbes, June 30, 2022)
• Superhero Lit 101: Why Penguin Classics’ Marvel Comics Anthologies Matter (Rolling Stone)
• Penguin Classics teams up with Marvel Comics in historic first (Bloomberg, March 31, 2022)
• From Thor's hammer to Iron Man sketches: COSI Marvel exhibit reminds people of hero in all (The Columbus Dispatch, Nov. 23, 2021)
• MSI reopens to the public with ‘Marvel’-ous exhibit (Chicago Sun-Times, March 2, 2021)
• Stunning exhibit of rare Marvel items finally ready for Henry Ford Museum visitors (Detroit Free Press, July 15, 2020)
• The 1950s queer black performers who inspired Little Richard (The Conversation, May 19, 2020)
• VIDEO: How America Made And Destroyed Superman (Al Jazeera, May 8, 2020)
• The Marvels of Comics (OregonNews, March 19, 2019)
• Interview: Ben Saunders, Chief Curator, Universe of Super Heroes - Telus World of Science Edmonton (GeekNerdNet, Feb. 9, 2020)
• Why studies Watchmen in school? Academics praise the highly teachable graphic novel (SYFY Wire, Nov. 11, 2019)
• Nearly 20 years after 9/11, is America too cynical for superheroes? (Deseret News, Sept. 10, 2019)
• Marvel Universe exhibit at Franklin Institute opens this weekend, and legions are expected to attend (The Philadelphia Inquirer, April 10, 2019)
• UO prof helps put the marvel in a Marvel Comics exhibit (OregonNews, March 20, 2019)
• Fans find superheroes relevant in US political, social debate (Voice of America, July 25, 2018)
• Marvel’s heroic comic and film history revealed in first look inside super-sized new MoPOP exhibit (GeekWire, April 19, 2018)
• MoPOP’s ‘MARVEL: Universe of Super Heroes’ is super fun for comics nerds and novices alike (Seattle Times, April 18, 2018)
• Prepare to geek out at the new MARVEL exhibit at MoPop (KING 5, April 18, 2018)
• Marvel Announces Giant Immersive Exhibit Launching This Spring (Forbes, Nov. 14, 2017)
• Comics U (Oregon Public Broadcasting, Oregon Art Beat, March 30, 2017)
• Too Many Words: 15 fantastic books to help you learn about comics (blastr, May 12, 2016)
• Raising Eyebrows (Eugene Weekly, May 12, 2016)
• Steve Duin: The enduring art of EC Comics (The Oregonian, April 20, 2016)
• Superman kicked aside for darker superheroes (Deseret News, Oct. 3, 2015)
• Comic-Con: pop culture party goes global (The San Diego Union-Tribune, July 4, 2015)
• Holy scholarship! (Cascade Magazine, Winter 2015)
• The real problem with Superman’s new writer isn’t bigotry, it’s fascism (The Atlantic, Feb. 19, 2013)
• VIDEO: The birth of the superhero (University of Oregon, Jan. 23, 2013)
• Superheroes on display at UO comics exhibit (The Oregonian, Oct. 19, 2009)