Untitled (Hemogoblin) & Untitled (HULK/AIDS)

Can You Save Superman? II features sculptural works that use original vintage comic books. The comic books are laser-cut to accommodate medical tubes used for collecting the blood of an HIV+ undetectable long-term survivor and an individual on PrEP. Eagles’ choice of comic books is not by accident. Each features a storyline that directly addresses HIV/AIDS

The Incredible Hulk, In the Shadow of AIDS was released by Marvel Comics in 1994. In this issue, the Hulk’s friend Jim – an African-American man dying of AIDS – wants the Hulk to transfuse his radioactive blood so it can save him. Inevitably, Hulk refuses to do so and his friend dies in the end.

Comic books and superheroes evolve and change to reflect the society of their time. Heroes capture what we strive for as a society as well as our shortcomings, and villains reflect our fears and anxieties. In this series, Jordan Eagles highlights how the fear of transmission and HIV/AIDS stigma, equating a diagnosis to imminent death, has evolved over the decades, despite advances in science and our understanding of the virus. A fear and stigma that persists to this day as we continue to fight this epidemic.

The New Guardians was a short-lived series by DC Comics featuring a group of superheroes, including the first openly gay superhero in DC Comics, Extraño, and a villain named Hemogoblin, released in 1988. Hemogoblin is a genetically engineered vampire with AIDS, created by white supremacists to attack, infect, and kill minorities with AIDS. Over the course of the first issue, Hemogoblin infects members of the New Guardians including Extraño who ultimately dies from the infection. Hemogoblin is subsequently killed in battle.