LOS ANGELES - A woman in tights, a "queer" Flash and a black lead - all in a single bound. While Marvel and Sony dither about the diversity of their superhero lineups, DC Comics and Warner Bros. (in conjunction with New Line) punctured every Spandex ceiling on Wednesday when they announced an unprecedentedly diverse lineup of superhero movies. This article, like many others, highlights the lack of diversity in comic-based superhero movies. One aspect of it's content that caught my attention, however, were the examples used to show success in cast diversity. Films like The Hunger Games and Lucy use strong female roles and have had amazing success-- another reason to wonder why Marvel and DC are moving so slowly to do the same.

Superman on the Couch: What Superheroes Really Tell Us about Ourselves and Our Society is a work of popular comic book criticism that explores why comic book superheroes have continued to matter so much to so many of us over the past several decades. This article is a good reference for social learning theories, particularly identification and catharsis theory.