Bringing back an old feature from the days of the By Rao! website, the following is offered for discussion and scrutiny:
Christian-based comics publisher and multimedia company Kingstone gives their answer, in video form, to “Why Comics?”
Rao want to know: What does this explanation/ad say to audiences? Moreover, why were these visuals selected to constitute their ad? Who is the intended audience?
Muslim identity and practices are featured more comics than ever, from mainstream titles like Ms. Marvelto independent graphic memoirs. This panel at the 2017 Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo (MICE) takes stock of this important growing field — including the brand-new book Muslim Superheroes: Comics, Islam, and Representation — and presents the perspectives of both academics and creators. Featuring discussion with Hussein Rashid (Religion Professor, Barnard College; Contributor, Muslim Superheroes), A. David Lewis (Instructor, MCPHS University; Co-Editor, Muslim Superheroes; writer, Kismet, Man of Fate), Sara Alfageeh (Illustrator, Co-Director, BOY/BYE series MIPSTERZ project), and Hillary Chute (English Professor, Northeastern Unitersity).
Those not fortunate enough to attend the 2017 American Academy of Religion annual conference, particularly its final morning of presentations, are in luck: We’re joined by a frequent Sacred & Sequential contributor, Iliff School of Theology’s Elizabeth Coody, for a redux of her paper, “The More Savage Sword: A Theory of Biblical Text Used for Shock.” For the podcast, visual input is offered by host A. David Lewis, but online audiences can follow her accompanying Prezi here.
In November, radio station KUOW sat done with both G. Willow Wilson and Reza Aslan to explore the question “What do our superheroes tell us about ourselves?” The conversation, of course, addressed morality and religion, what with Wilson being a Muslim writer perhaps best known for the Muslim superheroine Ms. Marvel and Aslan being a Religion Studies expert.
Aslan pointed out that superheroes have changed a lot since their conception nearly a century ago. The stories are darker. The heroes dwell in gray areas more often. The moral dilemmas are more compelling.
“We have to make these characters interesting by making them reflect the morality the world in which we live,” he said.
Wilson and Aslan said that one thing is clear: Change is constant, as is our resistance to change.
The over-thirty-minute conversation covered a range of issues and superhero properties, and it can be heard in full at the KUOW website.
On Saturday, November 18, 2017, the American Academy of Religion annual conference hosted the panel “Responses to Muslim Superheroes,” including presentations by Elizabeth Coody, Mohamed Hassan, Constance Kassor, and Aaron Ricker, with Scott Gardner as presider and A. David Lewis as respondent. Here are their presentations in their entirety from that morning session.
