Politicians to address budgeting for superhero-damaged cities at Comic Con

A California gubernatorial candidate will speak on a panel at San Diego Comic Con later this month about how he would budget for a superhero-damaged city.

It is a topic that will be particularly interesting to constituents who have raised concerns about the extensive damage wrought in recent superhero blockbusters.

John Chiang (D), California’s state treasurer, will speak about the “procedures, cost, time and legislative fallout” of citywide destruction such as what takes place in the popular Marvel movie “The Avengers” or DC Comics’s “Man of Steel.”

“Who would not want to take part in a discussion about what happens in the wake of the epic battles between good and evil in Marvel movies?” Chiang said in a statement to The Hill. “These movies are not only exceptionally well done, they are powerful allegories of what is happening in the actual world.”

The panel, which will include other state and local politicians, will take place at the San Diego Convention Center at 11 a.m. on July 22, according to the schedule.

{mosads}The other panel members are San Diego City Council member David Alvarez, Oceanside City Council member Esther Sanchez, California State Assembly member Nathan Fletcher and Lemon Grove Mayor Racquel Vasquez.

“Political activist and blogger Rena Marrocco hosts a viewing of a few epic battle scenes and talks to elected officials … about what it would take to repair the damage done if such battles happened in real life,” according to the panel description.

“Swap out the evil Doctor Octopus in Spider-Man for the Wall Street banks that strangled the economy and caused the Great Recession,” said Chiang. “Which poses a bigger existential threat to humanity: Doctor Victor von Doom or climate change? Art really does imitate life. No offense to Thor, but I would choose good public policy as a super power over his hammer.” 

The panel was first reported by the Los Angeles Times.

Chiang is not the only politician appearing at the convention, which is the largest comic book convention in the country. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) will also be there on Saturday to discuss his graphic novel series, “March.” Lewis first attended in 2013 and has become a popular guest.

– This story was updated at 9:49 p.m.