Title: Mutants and mystics
Description: "Account of how comic book heroes have helped their creators and fans alike explore and express a wealth of paranormal experiences ignored by mainstream science. Delving deeply into the work of major figures in the field--from Jack Kirby's cosmic superhero sagas and Philip K. Dick's futuristic head-trips to Alan Moore's sex magic and Whitley Strieber's communion with visitors--Kripal shows how creators turned to science fiction to convey the reality of the inexplicable and the paranormal they experienced in their lives. Expanded consciousness found its language in the metaphors of sci-fi--incredible powers, unprecedented mutations, time-loops and vast intergalactic intelligences--and the deeper influences of mythology and religion that these in turn drew from; the wildly creative work that followed caught the imaginations of millions. Moving deftly from Cold War science and Fredric Wertham's anticomics crusade to gnostic revelation and alien abduction, Kripal spins out a hidden history of American culture, rich with mythical themes and shot through with an awareness that there are other realities far beyond our everyday understanding."--Jacket.
Subjects: American Science fiction, Myth in literature, History and criticism, Occultism in literature, Comic books, strips, American Fantasy fiction, Literature and myth, Superheroes in literature, Comic books, strips, etc., history and criticism, Science fiction, history and criticism, Fantasy fiction, history and criticism, Mythology in literature, Heroes in literature, American fiction, history and criticism
Places: United States