{"product_id":"mysterious-travelers-steve-ditko-and-the-search-for-a-new-liberal-identity-hardcover","title":"Mysterious Travelers: Steve Ditko and the Search for a New Liberal Identity - Hardcover","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eZack Kruse\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSteve Ditko (1927-2018) is one of the most important contributors to American comic books. As the cocreator of Spider-Man and sole creator of Doctor Strange, Ditko made an indelible mark on American popular culture. \u003ci\u003eMysterious Travelers: Steve Ditko and the Search for a New Liberal Identity \u003c\/i\u003eresets the conversation about his heady and powerful work. Always inward facing, Ditko's narratives employed superhero and supernatural fantasy in the service of self-examination, and with characters like the Question, Mr. A, and Static, Ditko turned ordinary superhero comics into philosophic treatises. Many of Ditko's philosophy-driven comics show a clear debt to ideas found in Ayn Rand's Objectivism. Unfortunately, readers often reduce Ditko's work to a mouthpiece for Rand's vision. \u003ci\u003eMysterious Travelers \u003c\/i\u003eunsettles this notion. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In this book, Zack Kruse argues that Ditko's philosophy draws on a complicated network of ideas that is best understood as mystic liberalism. Although Ditko is not the originator of mystic liberalism, his comics provide a unique window into how such an ideology operates in popular media. Examining selections of Ditko's output from 1953 to 1986, Kruse demonstrates how Ditko's comics provide insight into a unique strand of American thought that has had a lasting impact.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eZack Kruse\u003c\/b\u003e is a scholar of comics, film, and American literature. His essays have been published in \u003ci\u003eInks: The Journal of the Comics Studies Society\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eStudies in Comics\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eCritique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction. \u003c\/i\u003eHis comic strip, \u003ci\u003eMystery Solved!\u003c\/i\u003e, appeared in \u003ci\u003eSkeptical Inquirer\u003c\/i\u003e, and he is a regular contributor to a number of comic book podcasts\u003ci\u003e.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 286\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.69 x 9.21 x 6.14 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e February 01, 2021\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51790592868640,"sku":"9781496830531","price":198.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/0ba8295775810867ed2dc0bc62a43426.webp?v=1780680830","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/mysterious-travelers-steve-ditko-and-the-search-for-a-new-liberal-identity-hardcover","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}