Sandra Eckard is a professor of English at East Stroudsburg University, where she teaches writing, works with English Education students, and directs the Writing Studio, a space to help student writers. She specializes in teaching writing, tutoring writing, and using popular culture in the classroom.

Preface: The Importance of the Female CharacterAcknowledgementsIntroduction: Reflecting on Women in Popular CultureSandra EckardChapter 1: Stepping into the Role of Dynamic Protagonist:The Evolution of Peggy Carter from Romantic Interest to Covert OperativeMary T. ChristelChapter 2: Wonder Woman: Reading and Teaching Feminism with an Amazonian Princess in an Era of Jessica JonesP. L. ThomasChapter 3: Ms. Marvel as a New Kind of Superheroine: Analyzing Identity, Race, and Gender with ComicsSlimane AboulkacemChristopher FosterHannah R. GerberAna Marcela MontenegroChapter 4: Who Am I? A Discovery of Self Through Comics with Buffy, the Vampire SlayerJennifer MarmoChapter 5: Elekträs Cultural Power and Contradictions for Our TimesMichael D. KennedyChapter 6: The Power of Potts and Pens: Women¿s Roles in Iron Man and SupermanSandra EckardChapter 7: A Herös Journey for Diverse Women in Comics: Teaching Critical Visual Literacy Skills through Serenity and Parallel Texts Ms. Marvel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and GothamMargaret A. RobbinsChapter 8: ¿I Think About That Story A Lot, Actually:¿ V for Vendetta and Philosophy in a Community College Reading CourseJoaquin Muñoz

With the popularity of comic adaptations on television and at the movies, these current topics can be a great way to engage students by bringing characters and stories they connect with into the classroom to help them build the skills that they need to be successful. Comic Connections: Reflecting on Women in Popular Culture is designed to help teachers from middle school through college find exciting new strategies that they can use right away as part of their curricular goals. Each chapter has three pieces: comic relevance, classroom connections, and concluding thoughts/this format allows a reader to pick-and-choose where to start. Some readers might want to delve into the history of a comic to better understand characters and their usefulness, while other readers might want to pick up an activity, presentation, or project that they can fold into that day's lesson. This volume in Comic Connections series focuses on female characters-Wonder Woman, Peggy Carter, and Lois Lane, to name a few-with each chapter deconstructing a specific character to help students engage in meaningful conversations, writing projects, and other activities that will complement and enhance their literacy skills.