In the UK, reading comics (particularly superhero comics) is often seen as a sign of poor literacy. Yet they are read in the hundreds of thousands, and their characters are familiar to many generations of readers. Project Hero sought to use superheroes as an entry point to a series of workshops that would explore what being a hero meant to a specific group of young men in HMP Reading & Young Offenders' Institute.

The target audience of five to eight men were housed in the Separated Prisoner Unit, a small space with less access to mainstream educational facilities, particularly the library. All were in the unit voluntarily to protect them from bullying or substance abuse while detained; all had low self-esteem and negative expectations of education. A partnership between Reading's library and museum services, prison education and South East Museums Libraries and Archives Council sought ways to utilise their individual strengths to meet the students' needs.

A series of workshops was devised that incorporated reading, discussions, drawing and writing. The workshops were designed to fully involve the students in a creative project that would also address the key skills curriculum. Communication skills were addressed through discussions on what a hero should be like, written work on ideas for superhero origins and commentaries on stories read to them. Problem-solving activities included printing a page of a graphic novel, chopping it up and allowing students to assemble it to see if they could follow the narrative. This is literacy by stealth. Everybody did everything, including me. It lessens tension and makes the group work better together; it also means that I am busy rather than sitting watching them work.

Not all students were familiar with superheroes, one even hated them, but everyone took part. The key was the discussions that they came to enjoy more and more. Mr Day, a prison officer, noted the change in the men's attitudes: "I've seen a tremendous difference in the lads - they debate and discuss things, it's brought the group together. The more powerful personalities are helping the younger ones. They've actually started thinking about each other; a transformation."

In early discussions students put forward famous criminals as heroes. Later, as they came closer to defining what a hero was for them, these figures were mentioned less and less. From discussing our heroes, we moved on to what makes heroes, what defines them. Superheroes are great for this as each exemplifies a particular code of heroism. The artwork was considered in depth and some of the students were keen to draw their own heroes. A professional artist took over the workshops at this point to provide additional support. The aim was to get each person to create a reason for each character's status as a hero; what defined them rather than just what special powers they had. The drawing really helped one student to learn self-control: "Before if I made a mistake I would tear it up. Now I sort it out."

Are superhero stories simplistic punch-ups? Not necessarily. It's a huge medium with hundreds of titles and a 70-year history. It's very easy to make assumptions about people's reading behaviour from what they're reading but it's the result of the interaction between reader and narrative that is most important, and this can be assessed.

In Daredevil: Wake Up, Daredevil (a blind superhero) is rarely seen. The narrative confounded one student. He'd been used to a clearer, more straightforward action-based style and this musing, meandering narrative had lost him after page six. Fortunately another student had also read the book. He said it was like the popular movies Reservoir Dogs or Pulp Fiction - stories that you had to work out. This student then summarised the story for the rest of the group: a reporter is trying to piece together what happened to a traumatised young boy who cannot speak about his experiences; all the reader sees are the violent disconnected drawings the young boy produces. Slowly both the reader and the reporter piece the narrative together.

The student was able to convey all the details without losing other students who had not read the book. I don't think any of the students had read a story before that tackled such powerful themes. And how did the students finally define a hero? "Someone who saves lives and gains nothing for themselves."

Inside Voices

The second part of the partnership, Inside Voices, was driven by Reading Museum. Each week a member of staff would bring in a loans box on a theme given by the students. In the workshop, students would discuss the history and our perceptions of the objects, and write short pieces of prose or poetry inspired by them. The students were greatly excited by the procession
of new objects that came in every week (Egyptian, Native American, smoking objects, natural history), and excelled at poetry in workshops led by a professional poet. Again, the students were supported all the way through.

The work was their own but everything was demonstrated; everyone took part in writing a group poem at the start of each session, with each person contributing a line. The students were proud that their work would feature on the Reading Museum website and be placed in the loans boxes to inspire school children and others to write their own versions. They loved the
fact that they were trusted to hold objects that were sometimes thousands of years old.

The Drunken Stone

You look like me after a night out on the town
Filling my belly with Stella
Swollen in the middle
Your face looks drunken
The writing looks like a recipe for fine wine
Fists like Mike Tyson
And a beard to hide away your fears
Fears of suffocation and the darkness

Dave

More on Inside Voices is on the Reading Museum website at www.readingmuseum.org.uk/handson/poems.htm.