An allusion to “Candide” in Grant Morrison’s The Invisibles made Hugh O’Connor realize the relevance of other types of literature in the world of comic books.O’Connor is the guest curator for the just-launched Union Art Gallery exhibition, “Kapow! Superheroes.” The exhibition focuses on superheroes, such as Superman, Batman, The Fantastic Four and many others. It also features a scope of the genre through parodistic and satirical elements. The exhibit was created between the LSU Student Union Art Gallery Committee and the ToomSeum in Pittsburgh, Pa., which sent in some of the original art.O’Connor is a 20-year collector and expert of modern comic books.    “A lot of these comic books’ characters have gone from being just superheroes to cultural icons,” said O’Connor. “It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s superman! Even your grandmother who knits and does bingo on the weekends knows that it’s superman, and it’s become a cultural icon. That just kind of shows how far comic books have come in the past 71 years.”O’Connor said comic writers are not just making stories for the money, but taking their passions for literature and film and transcribing them into books.Another comic book collector, Oscar Shoenfelt III, contributed his valuable collection for the exhibit. Shoenfelt has been collecting since his childhood in the ‘60s. Spiderman was the first comic book he started reading and he said he owns Spiderman issues 1-77. “The original Spiderman was Peter Parker, and it wasn’t like he was a superhero all the time, said Shoenfelt. “He had a lot of problems. His uncle got killed, he lived with his aunt and kids picked on him. But he was also a superhero.”Shoenfelt said he liked Spiderman the most because it was someone he could relate to, where Superman was always perfect.”I think the student’s perspective is that they wanted an exhibit that they felt was relevant to them, and decided on a comic book and cartoon art show,” said Judi Stahl, Student Union Art Gallery director and adviser to the Union Art Gallery Committee.Stahl said the Union Art Gallery Committee expects to see anywhere from 4,000 to 4,500 people in the next six weeks. Freshmen orientation and youth group and summer camp participants will contribute to this number, all while experiencing a special appeal from the exhibit.The exhibit will continue through July 30 during the Union Art Gallery hours, Monday-Friday, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., and Sunday, 1 p.m. – 5 p.m. Cartoon shorts will also be featured through July 30, Monday-Friday, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m., and Sunday, 1 p.m. – 5 p.m. And superhero video games will be available every day through June 30, 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.—-Contact Jennifer Raines at [email protected]