Christianity and Comics
Stories We Tell About Heaven and Hell
1st Edition
Published on 15. March 2024
314 pages
978-1-9788-2824-7 (ISBN)
Description
The Bible has inspired Western art and literature for centuries, so it is no surprise that Christian iconography, characters, and stories have also appeared in many comic books. Yet the sheer stylistic range of these comics is stunning. They include books from Christian publishers, as well as underground comix with religious themes and a vast array of DC, Marvel, and Dark Horse titles, from Hellboy to Preacher.
Christianity and Comics presents an 80-year history of the various ways that the comics industry has drawn from biblical source material. It explores how some publishers specifically targeted Christian audiences with titles like Catholic Comics, books featuring heroic versions of Oral Roberts and Billy Graham, and special religious-themed editions of Archie. But it also considers how popular mainstream comics like Daredevil, The Sandman, Ghost Rider, and Batman are infused with Christian themes and imagery.
Comics scholar Blair Davis pays special attention to how the medium's unique use of panels, word balloons, captions, and serialized storytelling have provided vehicles for telling familiar biblical tales in new ways. Spanning the Golden Age of comics to the present day, this book charts how comics have both reflected and influenced Americans' changing attitudes towards religion.
Christianity and Comics presents an 80-year history of the various ways that the comics industry has drawn from biblical source material. It explores how some publishers specifically targeted Christian audiences with titles like Catholic Comics, books featuring heroic versions of Oral Roberts and Billy Graham, and special religious-themed editions of Archie. But it also considers how popular mainstream comics like Daredevil, The Sandman, Ghost Rider, and Batman are infused with Christian themes and imagery.
Comics scholar Blair Davis pays special attention to how the medium's unique use of panels, word balloons, captions, and serialized storytelling have provided vehicles for telling familiar biblical tales in new ways. Spanning the Golden Age of comics to the present day, this book charts how comics have both reflected and influenced Americans' changing attitudes towards religion.
Reviews / Votes
"Davis' Christianity and Comics is how histories of popular culture topics should be written. The detail and use of rarely cited primary sources is commendable. . . . His work provides the most comprehensive history of how Christianity and its spiritual tropes have been used in sequential art." (Reading Religion) "Davis reminds readers of theology's reach into the broader culture, for both good and ill." (The Gospel Coalition) "Christianity and Comics is an impressively encyclopedic overview of how U.S. comics have engaged with Christianity over the course of eight decades. Davis writes in a lucid and welcoming style, showing us how comics have promoted Christianity, have critiqued it, and have fused Christian motifs and themes into the larger tapestry of comics storytelling."- Lee Konstantinou (author of The Last Samurai Reread)
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New Brunswick NJ
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Illustrations
36 B-W and 24 color images
File size
22,46 MB
ISBN-13
978-1-9788-2824-7 (9781978828247)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
03/2024
Rutgers University Press
€37.50
Shipment within 3-4 weeks
Book
03/2024
Rutgers University Press
€74.00
Shipment within 3-4 weeks
Person
BLAIR DAVIS is a professor in the College of Communication at DePaul University in Chicago. His books include Comic Book Women, as well as The Battle for the Bs, Movie Comics: Page to Screen/Screen to Page, and Comic Book Movies, all from Rutgers University Press.
