Kate Murphy presented her science fair project, “Analyzing Female Gender Roles in Marvel Comics from the Silver Age (1960) to the present to Dr. Bethany Brookshire from the “Science News” at the Intel International Science & Engineering Fair in Pittsburgh.
By: Amy Murphy
Have you ever had a dream come true? Well, Kate Murphy sure had hers come true with a once in a lifetime invitation to visit Marvel Comics Headquarters (HQ) in New York City.
“I was so excited that I was in shock for weeks! Then the editor said just come on down to New York for a tour. He thought I was from Hicksville, New York… just a few miles away NOT 10 hours away! The trip took a little more planning and many more emails to arrange, but it was worth it! It was awesome! It was so cool! And those are not phrases I use lightly.”
Murphy’s dream became a reality from a very unlikely beginning… the Hicksville High School Science Fair. Most people will wonder what a small, rural high school science fair has to do with a trip to Marvel Comics Headquarters in New York City. Well, the answer is EVERYTHING!
For her science fair project, Kate analyzed female gender roles in Marvel Comics from the Silver Age (1960) to the present. She read 788 Marvel Comic Books from 68 different titles and reviewed each of them on the following criteria: cover artwork, the Bechdel Test, story line, occupation, balance of power, female sexualization, violence against women, and total score on each issue.
For all her hard work, Kate earned a perfect 40 superior rating at her high school, district, regional, and Ohio State Science Fairs and qualified for the Intel International Science & Engineering Fair (ISEF). Among the awards she earned were The University of Toledo Psychology Award, the Top Behavioral Science Award, the Ohio Psychological Association Award, and the Turning Science Fiction into Science Fact Award.
But dreams don’t come true without a lot of hard work, dedication, caring individuals, and a little luck. “Without a lot of people pulling for me, I would never have been able to do this project…let alone make it to the International Science Fair and Marvel HQ,” explained Murphy. “I have to thank Kathy Laney for coordinating our Hicksville High School Science Fair and supporting me through both science fair and national quiz bowl competition. A big shout out goes to Alex Koch for giving me visiting scholar status at the Bowling Green State University Popular Culture Library. And last but not least, Jim Short, coordinator of the Northwest Ohio Science & Engineering Fair, made the trip to the Intel ISEF Fair possible. Without him, I wouldn’t have made it to Pittsburgh and gained national attention.”
And Murphy certainly gained media attention with interviews and articles running through Pittsburgh media outlets, international newspapers, and the most important article of all—an interview with Dr. Bethany Brookshire from the “Science News.” Her on-line article, “Teen Finds More Graphic Heroines Are ‘Super’” caught the attention of Executive Editorial Director of Marvel Digital Media Group Ryan Penagos. He was so intrigued by the article and Murphy’s project that he sent her a once in a lifetime invitation by email.
“When I first read it, I yelled out, ‘Mom, oh my God, they want me in New York’ without any context or explanation. When I could get my thoughts together and my Mom went, ‘What?’ I was able to get out, “Marvel invited me to New York!”
Since Penagos originally thought Kate was from Hicksville, New York rather than Ohio, it took a little longer for her to reach New York City. Murphy hit the Big Apple in late July. But the hurdles to reach Marvel HQ weren’t over yet. Murphy had to overcome the Lincoln Tunnel, Manhattan traffic jams, the absolute anonymity of Marvel’s unmarked building, heavy security, monitored elevators that only went to specific floors, and then a very close, personal ID check. Marvel takes its security seriously!
Kate was a little taken aback by all of the security measures. She just thought this was such an “awesome” invitation and tour that she didn’t realize how big of a deal it was. “During the tour, Ryan (Penagos) casually mentioned that he turns down thousands and thousands of invitations to tour Marvel HQ every year from both media outlets and fans. And in the next breath, he mentioned that the last three people to get this very same Marvel tour were Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, and Michael Pena from the ‘Ant Man Movie.’ I hadn’t realized how truly prestigious the tour was!”
At times during the tour, Murphy felt like she was even in a James Bond Movie. The most used and heard phrases were “This is top secret. No one has seen this. Promise not to tell anyone. For your eyes only!” Even Executive Editorial Director Penagos giving her the tour stopped several times and said, “Scoot over, and let me see too. I haven’t even seen this yet!” Among those top secret reveals will be exciting adventures coming out in Ms. Marvel, Spiderman, and Nightcrawler in October.
But the best was yet to come! Kate Murphy literally became a Woman of Marvel. She participated in the July 24th Women of Marvel Podcast and was interviewed by Judy Stephens, Marvel’s official podcast producer. Murphy spoke on the Special Fan Girl Friday Podcast, sponsored by Barnes & Noble to promote women and science. Kate will forever be archived on the Women of Marvel web site with her full podcast with the likes of Chris Hemsworth (Thor) and Paul Rudd (Ant Man).
“If you go on there (Marvel’s website), my week is literally right after Paul Rudd’s San Diego Comic Con interview. It’s really hard to believe that I am right there… of the same caliber as Marvel heroes!” shared Murphy. “And they didn’t just do a short, quick interview with me. The Women of Marvel podcast is about a half hour long, and they even promoted it on This Week in Marvel with Ryan Penagos. Fifteen minutes of me and Marvel comics going out to over three million people! It’s incredibly hard to believe, but you can find me on the Marvel weekly podcast with Star Lord and Kitty Pryde.”
Murphy said, “I thought this was just an incredibly awesome and exciting experience; but because I didn’t know how few Marvel HQ tours are granted each year, I didn’t realize how exciting ANY tour was to Marvel’s editors and illustrators.” They went all out for her. Kate met with and talked to the editors and illustrators of Magneto, Rocket Raccoon, Ms. Marvel, Ultimate Spiderman, and Giant-Sized Tiny Marvel to name just a few. Murphy heard over and over, “You read my comics, but you don’t have this one or this one. Here. Here. Have this variant, this cover, this San Diego Comic Con alternate (Only 5,000 were ever printed). Try this story line. You’ll like Electra.” But probably the most excited was the editor of A-Babies vs. X-Babies, Charles Beacham, who has only been with Marvel for a year, “You read MY comic! You’ve read all three so far? I have alternates. How many alternates would you like?” Kate left Marvel HQ with a VERY LARGE stack of RARE comic books.
“I’ve talked about the tour, the podcasts, and the great people at Marvel; but I can’t forget the Marvel HQ meeting rooms themselves,” explained Murphy. “Every meeting room is named after a specific Marvel character… Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America, etc. These rooms are unbelievable! Each is designed and decorated around its Marvel character. Because of security, there were very few and limited photo opportunities; but I was able to get a picture of the life-sized sculpture of Tony Stark in the Iron Man Room and a picture of the Hulk mural in the podcast room. Even though, we were told not to touch anything. I was told that Chris Hemsworth picked up his life-size hammer in the Thor Room. No one was going to say ‘NO’ to Thor.”
