Pre-Cloak Comic Superheroes: Tools for the Empowerment of Children

Abstract

This note explores the notion of comic superheroes as tools for the empowerment of children. The author details interventions in Rwanda and Brazil, and their different usages of superheroes. With a focus on the superhero’s pre-cloak stage—the stage prior to their employing superpowers—the author offers glimpses of current work in progress to help therapists empower orphaned children. While this area of research is at an early stage, its potential among health professionals is growing. Thus the comic superhero may be more than celluloid, as health professionals learn to use his superpowers.