COMING SOON: Superheroes and Psychoanalysis!

Hey you! Do you like comics? Do you live in the Boulder area? Have you already pieced together that I live in the Boulder area because you are madly in love with me and have been meticulously scouring my blog for a constellation of clues that suggest I, too, will fall madly in love with you if you show up unannounced on my doorstep on Saturday, May 25th, at 3 p.m. with a twinkle in your eye, a copy of The Catcher in the Rye, and a five-shot .38 calibre Charter Arms revolver up your sleeve? If so, boy, please don’t do that! Instead, consider peacefully attending an alternative activity, with an alternative Todd, to boot:

For those of you that know me as the singular artistic voice of this generation, a shining star in a sea of mundanity, I have some unfortunate news: it’s because I’ve been bred to be a hyper-creative superbeing by a very talented family. Some people call it being a nepo baby, I call it being the chosen one, but I digress. I haven’t had many chances to talk about it on Max Todd. (Dot! Com!), but I come from a very talented family, who I’ll be shamelessly plugging more in the coming months. I’ve already made mention of my sister’s blogging and writing and my mom’s incredible art portfolio, but today, let’s spotlight my dad, (Dr.) John Todd, who’s a Jungian psychoanalyst and my personal Batman. Legend has it that’s also what they call him down at the C. G. Jung Institute of Colorado, where he currently sits as director of training. He’s earned the former (more important) title thanks to his doctoral dissertation, a version of which was published in Psychological Perspectives as “Dreaming the Bat Out of the Shadow.” He simplified his work for listeners of Laura London’s Speaking of Jung podcast in episode 18, “Shadow of the Bat,” which is well worth the listen.

TL;DR (and that’s “Too Long; Do Read” this time around), he discusses redeeming the oft-demonized bat—how its bad reputation negatively affects conservation efforts in the outer world, and, through the image of the bat, how we foster compassion for the parts of ourselves relegated to the shadows. If it isn’t already apparent in my writing, I’ve always really resonated with this work, especially that bats—given their ability to see in the dark—are regarded by many cultures as light-bringers, able to guide us through our unconscious minds, where the rational are blind. Despite their association with disease, disgust, and demons in pop culture, this reverence has seemingly manifested again in western culture with the paradoxical popularity of Batman. Unlike the traditional bright and shining ideal superhero (which I have come to love just as much), Batman is, as my dad asserts, a beautiful reincarnation of the shaman: a spirit-guide donning the guise of his totem who wards off the unprocessed trauma and complexes within each of us. Batman is a superhero of the unconscious—he goes where we refuse to in our waking lives, and allows us to vicariously work through metastasized neuroses we are unequipped to face in our spiritually-deprived culture.

Believe it or not, my connections to these panelists don’t stop there. Mediating this discussion will be award-winning teacher (with Denver Public Schools from 1996 to 2022!) and startlingly avid comic book archivist Steve Replogle, who, along with his psychoanalyst wife Lara Newton, have basically been an honorary third pair of Todd family grandparents since 2006. Steve is just an all-around stellar guy—he’s a talented artist, he’s a witty speaker, and I’m not kidding when I say he knows more about comics than anyone I’ve ever met, no contest. If you’re in this for the deep cuts, Steve is sure to bring them.

Let’s not forget the event hosts, Time Warp Comics and Games on 28th street—my childhood comic shop. When my Dad found Time Warp, he loved it so much that every comic errand thereafter, he drove my sister and I past several Mile High Comics just for the bona fide Time Warp experience. Call us snobs all you want, but I’m a Time Warp loyalist to the end. The staff is always great, and I’m excited to see how they turn their space into a classy speakeasy environment capable of accommodating a leisurely Boulder-theater sized crowd. Okay, that’s not a promise. I’d say go easy on them, but I think I owe it to them to draw a crowd. If you’re planning on getting dinner nearby, they’re right next door to a Cosmos Pizza, the aptly-named Korea House Restaurant, and my dearest, darlingest Glacier Ice Cream—you will not be disappointed.

For a glorified ad, this has gone on long enough, but if you’re curious about more details of this event, comics, or the tragically inaccessible writings of Jung, I’ve attached Steve’s writeup below. If it sounds up your alley, we’d love to have you at Time Warp on Saturday, May 25th, at 3 PM. There will be goodies. You have a month to plan—I’d better see you all there. Just kidding. That’s not a threat of violence, just a threat of plummeting disillusionment. We’re talking, like, a Twilight: New Moon bout of depression. Be there.