Category Archives: academic

Rao Reads the Blogs

The blogosphere frequently has a great deal to offer on comics & religion. Here’s a taste of what’s currently being covered at some other notable sites:

The Comic Book Bin‘s “Religion and Comics” section has two new offerings from two of their contributing voices. First, Hevre St-Louis examines the 14 Stations of the Cross as sequential art: “My point in arguing this simple premise about the 14 stations and comic art is of course to show how omnipresent and an important part of world culture the comic book is.” Then, Andy Frisk remains with Christianity as he looks at the character of Thor, naturally tied to pagan Nordic religions, as a “warrior Christ,” specifically highlighting the God of Thunder’s portrayal by Mark Millar in Ultimates 2 as the epitome of this vision.

The Apocalypse Plan

ComicAttack.net‘s “Comics Are My Religion” offers insights from Jeff Jackson, this month focusing on (mis)portayals of Revelation in comics. Fortunately, one new book, The Apocalypse Plan by Rafael Nieves and Dan Dougherty, seems to get it right, at least in a creative manner. “Nieves’s book is not a literal retelling of Revelation, although it does wrestle with the literal sensibilities that most interpreters give it.”

Steve Bergson’s Jewish Comics blog provides an extensive and impressive account of the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) from a Hebraic perspective. Bergson delivers details not only on the panels that relate to Judaism but also on high-profile creators with backgrounds or works pertaining to the faith.

Finally, Faith in Four Colors both gives its Swedish recommendation of Graven Images: Religion in Comic Books and Graphic Novels (also covered by Jackson last month) and puts out a call for people’s personal experiences with Chick Tracts. Information on how to respond is available at the blog site.

Comics and Muslim Identity at Harvard

The Harvard University Center for Middle East Studies (CMES) has held a number of educator and creative workshops over the past year on comics and the Middle East. (See here and here.) This upcoming one at the end of April, though, is for all audiences and is open free to the public:

Comics and Muslim Identity at the Harvard University CMES
Flier for "Comics and Muslim Identity" at the Harvard University CMES

The day-long conference features talks by Jeffrey Melnick (University of Massachusetts, Boston), Hussein Rashid (Hofstra University), A. David Lewis (Boston University), Darby Orcutt (North Carolina State University), Laura Weinstein (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston), and Nasser Weddady (American Islamic Congress Civil Rights Outreach Director).

It’s worth noting that the day prior, they will be holding another workshop, this time focused on making comics that address Islam and the Middle East region. Fascinating from all angles!

Welcome Faith in Four Colors

By Rao! wants to welcome the Religion and Comics blog out of Lund University to the blogosphere at FaithInFourColors.blogspot.com. The English-language Swedish blog has much the same mission as this site, though taken from the perspective of a Ph.D. student in Theology and Religious Studies. Its statement of purpose details:

The purpose of this project is to observe comic book culture in interaction with the world to see how comics as texts and mythologies are used and looked upon through the lens of theories on the role of religion in contemporary society. This is to be done by looking at comics in four ways:
1.      The representation of religions and religious ideas in the service of religions;
2.      The representation of religions and religious ideas in the service of the comics;
3.      Contestation and critique of religions and religious ideas in comics;
4.      Comic book fandom as a type of ersatz religion in postmodern society.
One of the main perspectives applied to that the material surveyed here is that it is placed and produced within a context of theological and philosophical thoughts on the role of religion, to wit the still burning debate on the role of religion in society and the relationship between theology and atheism. This is done to try to further an understanding of how popular culture fits into debates in the public sphere and how such debates affect our entertainment.
Rao urges readers of this blog to also follow this companion site. Select posts from it may also be noted here (and properly credited) but only in synopsis form.
If you have additional sites that should be in the Blogroll or monitored for stories, please comment below or send an e-mail to religionandlit (at) gmail (dot) com.

Religion in Comics on Fanboy Radio

Talking Religion in Comics on Fanboy RadioEpisode #578 of Fanboy Radio features a discussion on “Religion in Comics with A. David Lewis and G. Willow Wilson.

The two were contributors to the book Graven Images: Religion in Comic Books & Graphic Novels for which Lewis was also a co-editor. Wilson had spoken at the conference of the same name back in 2008 and has since gone on to author Air from Vertigo Comics and her own prose novel The Butterfly Mosque. Lewis, an independent comics writer, is a Ph.D. candidate in Religion & Literature at Boston University.

Fanboy Radio is hosted by Scott Hinze with David Hopkins, Oliver Tulls, and Sean Jackson. It broadcasts live weekly on KTCU FM 88.7 and is available as a podcast free from iTunes.

Indian Comics

Does the imminent cancellation of Outsourced leave Aziz Ansari from Parks and Recreation, tweets from Deepak Chopra, and CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta as your only connection to Indian culture and Hinduism? Let’s correct that:

Liquid Comics. Good comics companies don’t die — they rebrand. When Virgin Comics, launched in 2006, moved from New York to Los Angeles in 2008, it became Liquid Comics, and it remains home to some sensational titles like India Authentic, Devi, and The Sadhu. One could do worse than sampling Hindu lore from Liquid Comics, either in print or digitally.

Chitrakatha: Indian Comics Beyond Balloons and Panels. This upcoming documentary from filmmaker Alok Sharma examines the native roots of comic book and comic strip making in India, spanning over three generations of artists. His film promises to show how alive the art truly is and the complex traditions from which it sprung.

Vimanarama. This stand-alone Vertigo graphic novel allows award-winning writer Grant Morrison to immerse his Western readers in a mix of Hindu lore and his own boggling storytelling. Perfect for the comic book reader steeped in British or American fare but uncertain as to how to tread into foreign territory. Post-orientalist, Vimanarama is a love letter to Bollywood, superheroes, and Jack Kirby as a vendatic guru!

India’s Immortal Comic Books: Gods, Kings, and Other Heroes. For the brainy and the brave, there is Karlin McLain’s book on the decades-old publication of Amar Chitra Katha which takes the interwoven lore of the Hindu gods and delivers it in accessible comic book form. Perfect for English-speaking scholars, India’s Immortal Comic Books looks at what make ACK “special to comic book lovers everywhere,” says Pradeep Sebastian of Businessworld.