A resident of the Kansas City area for many years, Diana Richards is a life-long reader and collector of comic books. She started reading them before she could actually read, eventually amassing a collection of some 8,000 books and related materials. Diana retired in 2017, but in 2019 began a new career as a writing tutor at Johnson County Community College. In January of 2020 Diana transitioned to living full-time in her preferred gender. It was only then that she realized the very real connections between the superhero in fiction and the transgender in real life. Those fascinating connections are the subject of this presentation. Diana has delivered this talk to audiences at Young-Harris College in Georgia and at Johnson County Community College in Kansas. With plenty of time for questions and discussion, the event has proven to be immensely popular: ""Thanks for a great talk!"" ""Some of the best discussion we've had!"" “Your talk was awesome!"" “[Diana has] an excellent, warm, and approachable delivery.."""