This lecture by Giuseppe Martinico (Professor of Comparative Public Law at the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa) explores the representation of law and justice in comic books, focusing on Batman and the X-Men as central case studies. Far from being mere entertainment, comics act as powerful vehicles for legal imagination: they reflect dominant social anxieties and serve as accessible tools for legal and constitutional education. Drawing on legal theory and constitutional thought, the paper investigates how comics reveal the pathologies of law – from its incapacity to deliver justice in corrupt systems, as exemplified by Batman’s extralegal vigilantism, to its potential for exclusion and oppression, illustrated by the X-Men’s battles against discriminatory ‘anti-mutant’ laws. By engaging with themes such as populism, marginalisation, and the limits of legal authority, this analysis positions comics as critical sites where law is not only portrayed but questioned, reimagined, and contested.