http://hdl.handle.net/2451/63866 2026-04-10T13:47:24Z http://hdl.handle.net/2451/74869 Title: Utopia, Rebellion, and the Kingdom of Heaven in the Legion of Super-Heroes Authors: Mckee, Gabriel Abstract: Introduced in Adventure Comics #247 (1958), the Legion of Super-Heroes represents a teleology of the DC Universe: a future where a millennium of scientific and moral progress have led to a near-perfect society, governed by the principles embodied by Superman in the 20th century. In this utopian future, Earth is governed by a single, cooperative government; automation has eliminated the need for toil; artificial intelligence has diminished the role of tribalism in politics; and most of the inhabited planets of the galaxy have banded together in the mutually beneficial partnership of the United Planets, guarded by the Legion itself, a “superhero club” that grew to encompass dozens of members. This paper explores key moments in the Legion’s history—particularly its early stories of the 1950s, Paul Levitz’s stories of the 1970s, and Mark Waid and Barry Kitson’s “threeboot” Legion of the mid-2000s—in light of both anarchist utopianism and Christian conceptions of the Kingdom of Heaven. 2023-05-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2451/74868 Title: Office Copying Technology in the Flying Saucer Subculture: Gray Barker’s Saucerian Books Authors: Mckee, Gabriel Abstract: Gray Barker founded one of the first flying saucer fanzines, The Saucerian, in 1953. Over the following three decades, Barker operated one of the only publishers specializing in UFO books, often issuing works too unusual or eccentric for more mainstream presses. The path of Barker’s career as a publisher can be traced through a succession of printing techniques, varying with the expansion and contraction of his audience network. Throughout his career, Barker used office copying technology to produce his publications on a small scale for distribution to his core audience. This paper details the various printing and marketing methods used by Barker and his press in order to demonstrate the impact of print technology on subcultural communication and the growth of paranormal and conspiracist narratives in the pre-internet era. 2024-11-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2451/74867 Title: Malfunction and Transcendence: Machines, Free Will, and Spiritual Transformation in Star Trek Authors: Mckee, Gabriel Abstract: In its various incarnations, Star Trek has presented numerous malfunctioning machines. In exceeding or violating their programming, creations such as Nomad (TOS: “The Changeling”) and Lore (ST:TNG: “Datalore,” etc.) become villains to be overcome. In these instances, malfunction can be considered as a form of sin. There are other cases of malfunctions that represent the first signs of sentience, such as the Exocomps (ST:TNG: “Quality of Life”). Violated programming can also become a form of spiritual growth, as for a group of Borg who manifest signs of individuality after exposure to a computer virus (ST:TNG, “The Descent”). In a sense, the ability to violate programming—to exceed the options hard-wired in biology or code—is the basis of free will. But malfunction can be much more, as in the case of V’ger (ST:TMP), for whom malfunction becomes a model of transcendence. In combining human and alien, V’ger models a “third way” to radical spiritual transformation. In these and many other stories, a malfunctioning machine becomes a means of exploring questions of personhood, free will, and transcendence. This paper explores several malfunctioning machines in Star Trek, with particular attention to the the tension between between malfunction as a fall into sin and an ascension into a new category of being. Malfunctioning machines including V’ger, Hugh, and Nomad are discussed in the context of the Augustinian conception of sin, Walter Wink’s exploration of the language of power in the New Testament, and the reinterpretation of the Genesis narrative in texts such as The Apocryphon of John. 2023-05-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2451/74340 Title: The hand of Wilbur Mercer Authors: Mckee, Gabriel Abstract: Discusses the role of religion and ethics in Philip K. Dick's "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" in light of Dick's broader religious thought. Description: Preprint of a commissioned essay for Boom! Studios comics adaptation of Philip K. Dick's "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?", published in issue no. 21. 2011-02-01T00:00:00Z