Longtime Library Journal reviewer (and author of The Big Book of Masturbation) Martha Cornog gave the following plaudits in March of 2011 to Continuum International Publishing’s Graven Images: Religion in Comic Books & Graphic Novels, distinguishing it from attempts before it:

…Graven Images appears to be the first to take a broader and more academic approach, collecting 21 essays from a conference of the same name held at Boston University. While most of the contributors have faculty appointments, five are comics creators. Themes range across religions and denominations, from expected topics (animistic and Christian themes in the manga/anime Nausicaä) to surprising ones (connections between religion and underground comics).

VERDICT This varied and thoughtful collection invites more serious consideration of the medium thematically and hopefully presages additional conferences and collections.

Among her other credits, incidentally, Ms. Cornog is also the co-editor of Graphic Novels: Beyond the Basics and Mangatopia: Essays on Manga and Anime in the Modern World. And For SEX EDUCATION, See Librarian.

(NOTE: Bloomsbury acquired Continuum in 2011, and Graven Images continues as the imprint of Bloomsbury Academic.)