Tickets for this FREE community event are now available at the Bear Tooth Box Office only. This presentation is brought to you by Spenard Second Saturday and hosted at the Bear Tooth Theatrepub. Saturday October 12th @ 11:00am.

What’s the Topic?

When Wonder Woman Punched a Polar Bear: What Alaska Representation in Comic Books Says About Alaska and Outsiders

Cyclops of the X-Men was born here. The FBI pursued draft dodgers. Batman hunted a werewolf. And Godzilla attacked the pipeline. The history of Alaska in comic books and strips dates back to the 19th century, across multiple generations and trends. From true life travel adventures before the Klondike Gold Rush to pipeline construction to modern superhero antics, comics have tried to capture very different aspects of life in Alaska, to wildly varying success.

Who’s the Historian:

David Reamer is an academic and public scholar interested in the intersections of social justice, history, and community construction. David is the co-author, with Dr. Ian Hartmann, of the book Black Lives in Alaska: An African American History of the Far Northwest, published in 2022 by University of Washington Press. His other publications include journal and magazine articles on topics ranging from Jewish Alaska history to baseball to waffles, and his “Histories of Anchorage” series appears weekly in the Anchorage Daily News. Current research topics include the presentation of history on social media and early LGBT+ history in Alaska. Find him on Twitter, Instagram, Mastodon, and Threads at @ANC_Historian.

 Spenard 2nd Saturday is a volunteer-led neighborhood initiative with the mission to celebrate local businesses, champion the creatives, and give back to the community. Learn more and stay up to date at spenard2ndsaturday.com