"...offers an eclectic menu of treats that serve up a new and fresh look at a genre we rarely connect directly to the demands of the real world, much less plumb for key lessons about leadership." — ARMY Magazine

In the past decade, heroes and villains spawned from the pages of comic books have upended popular culture and revolutionized the entertainment industry. The narratives weave together a multitude of complementary and sometimes competing storylines, spun across decades, generations, and mediums, forming a complex tapestry that simultaneously captures the imagination and captivates the mind. These stories reveal our own vulnerabilities while casting an ideal to which we aspire. They pull at our deepest emotions and push us to the cusp of reality, and bring us back to Earth with a renewed hope of a better tomorrow. They are an endless source of powerful metaphors to help us learn and develop, then be the best versions of ourselves possible.

Through the lens of the superhero genre, each chapter explores contemporary challenges in leadership, team building, and conflict, while emphasizing the role of humanity and human nature in our own world.

Contributors: Ian Boley, Jo Brick, Mitch Brian, Max Brooks, Mike Burke, Kelsey Cipolla, Amelia Cohen-Levy, Mick Cook, Jeff Drake, Clara Engle, Candice Frost, Ronald Granieri, PhD, Heather S, Gregg, PhD, James Groves, Geoff Harkness, PhD, Theresa Hitchens, Kayla Hodges, Cory Hollon, PhD, Joshua Huminski, Erica Iverson, Alyssa Jones, Mathew Klickstein, Jonathan Klug, Matt Lancaster, Steve Leonard, Karolyn McEwen, Eric Muirhead, Jon Niccum, Kera Rolsen, Mick Ryan, Julie Still, Patrick Sullivan, Aaron Rahsaan Thomas, Dan Ward, Janeen Webb, PhD.

• Front Cover
• Half-Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Foreword
• Introduction
• PART I: GREAT RESPONSIBILITY
  • 1 Boys Will Be Boys
  • 2 Call it, Captain
  • 3 The Rise of a Reluctant Leader
  • 4 The Unexpected Hero
  • 5 The Command of Masks
  • 6 Ethical Excellence Through Decisive Dimness
• PART II: AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!
  • 7 Blood in the Inkwell
  • 8 We Could Be (Super)Heroes
  • 9 When Being a Superhero Ain’t So Super
  • 10 Lumberjanes and Team Building the Hardcore Lady-Type Way
  • 11 There Was an Idea
  • 12 The Ordinary, Everyday Superhero
• PART III: GREEN LANTERN’S LIGHT!
  • 13 The River of Truth
  • 14 They Only Lack the Light to Show the Way
  • 15 Could the Sokovia Accords Save the (Real) World?
  • 16 A Fitting End for His Kind
  • 17 Injustice for All
  • 18 It’s Not Just Black and White
  • 19 Black Vibranium in the Hour of Chaos
• PART IV: IT’S CLOBBERIN’ TIME!
  • 20 Who Runs the World? Squirrels!
  • 21 Your Cape and Cowl, Mr. Bond?
  • 22 Trick or Deceit
  • 23 Unbeatable
  • 24 The Veidt Method
• PART V: TO THE BATCAVE!
  • 25 I’ve Come to Save the World
  • 26 Your Ancestors Called It Magic, But You Call It Science
  • 27 Where Does He Get All Those Wonderful Toys?
  • 28 To the Warrior, Their Arms
  • 29 We Need to Be Put in Check
• PART VI: KNEEL BEFORE ZOD!
  • 30 The Caped Crusader and the Road to Radicalism
  • 31 Where Monsters Dwell
  • 32 Marvel Zombies
  • 33 Strip Mining the Superhero Archetype
  • 34 The New Gods
  • 35 ХАЙЛЬ ГИДРА!
• Contributors