In July of 2012, the Huffington Post reported that Representative Louie Gohmert (R-TX) responded to the Aurora movie theater shootings by stating that “the shootings […] were a result of ‘ongoing attacks on Judeo-Christian beliefs.'” These comments from The Heritage Foundation’s “Istook Live!” radio show have some ugly implications to them: not only do Batman movies attract primarily Judeo-Christian audiences (hmm, ok…) but that the victims of the shooting were paying the price for attacks on specifically this theology. Link this to the relatively Orientalist nature of the first and third films’ villains (i.e. Ra’s al Ghul), and there’s a growing strain (see previous “By Rao!” posts) of either Islamophobic or non-ecumenical taint artificially attaching itself to Batman’s mythos.
Rao wants to know: Is Batman becoming associated with a particular faith?
In honor of looking back upon a New Year, Rao wants to call out a writing by Richard De Angelis in June 2011 entitled, “Old Shul Justice.” In it, he looks again at the role(s) of Judaism in the rise and continuation of the U.S. comics medium, particularly through the lens of tikkun olam, “healing the world.”
Additionally, it includes a hugely useful bibliography of texts on Jews and comics (current as of 2011), both done in the comics form and as scholarly prose. De Angelis kindly includes a sample of Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey’s Comic Book Comics to help initiate the uncertain (as well as to Van Lente and Dunlavey’s wonderful Bad Twin Comics work!).
Over the summer, TheAvengers, The Amazing Spider-Man,and The Dark Knight Rises combined for over $1 billion domestically, which led Heeb Magazine‘s Arye Dworken to yearn for a “Jewish Superhero Blockbuster.” Overlooking the Jewish roots of Batman, Spider-Man, Thor, and Iron Man et al’s creators, Dworken nominates several second-tier superheroes for big-time cinema status, including Kitty Pryde (last seen played by Inception actress Ellen Page) and Batwoman (voiced at one point by The Closer‘s Kyra Sedgwick). While some on Dworken’s list have been on animated superhero shows for television, their religion was never a central (nor even noted) aspect of the characters.
On his blog, Rabbi Yair Robinson attempts to compile an initial list of comics and comics works related to Judaism. While admittedly “incomplete” and “imperfectly” done, it merits mention for its construction by an active clergyman looking at portrayals of his own faith in the medium. In addition to comics titles, he cites prose works like Arie Kaplan’s From Krakow to Krypton as essential reading (though one can read Kaplan’s own version of this overview, as well).
Other sites, such as Jewish Comics, have made similar attempts, but few seem to give mentions to works like Larry Hama’s G.I. Joe run or American Flagg. It’s incomplete, imperfect, and worth your consideration.
@ the intersection of religion and comics: Graphic Religion
