Superhero Comics and Religion

Contributed by Terrence Wandtke, Independent Scholar

Overview:

Critical Studies of the Superhero Myth
Jewish Origins of the Superhero
Christian Examinations and Appropriations of the Superhero
Further Reading
Other Resources

Although comic strips and books as a medium predate the invention of the modern superhero, the historical foothold established by comic books in commercial terms does coincide with the debut of the American superhero. A synthesis of the masked heroes of adventure pulps with the soft science fiction and fantasy contexts of authors like Edgar Rice Burroughs and Robert E. Howard, superheroes have become the central figures in a genre that extends beyond the comic book medium. The focus of the following review is the critical connection between the comic book medium, the superhero genre, and the different religious perspectives on the superhero character trope.

Critical Studies of the Superhero Myth

Reynolds, Richard. Superheroes: A Modern Mythology. University Press of Mississippi, 1992.

Reynolds’ approach to the genre as a modern mythology would inspire many studies to come. Referring to Golden and Silver Age superheroes, seven essentials are used to clearly identify the historical phenomenon of the superhero character (including lost parents, the man-god, and the secret identity). While partly Campbellian monomyth, this sets up the superhero as a modern religious/secular myth to be constructed (by the semiotic use of costumes) and deconstructed (by key texts like The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen). Reynolds’ typology would inspire many others along similar lines, most notably Peter Coogan’s superhero definitions in Superhero: The Secret Origin of a Genre in 2006.

Lawrence, John Shelton and Robert Jewett. The Myth of the American Superhero. William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2002.

Lawrence and Jewett appropriate a Campbellian term to identify the “American” monomyth of the superhero as not a universal but cultural construction. While spending most of its time on texts other than superhero comics, this study is nevertheless an important contribution to superhero comic book studies. Referenced by many comics scholars, it exposes superheroes as less transcendent and more a nefarious product of America’s violent brand of humanism.

Saunders, Ben. Do the Gods Wear Capes? Spirituality, Fantasy, and Superheroes. Continuum, 2011.

Mentioning but mostly avoiding religious allegories like Mark Waid’s future history of superheroes Kingdom Come (DC Comics), Saunders understands superheroes as a manifestation of a human impulse to be better and “other”: a foundational impulse leading to religious belief. From this point of departure, he examines classic superheroes like Superman, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man, and Iron Man to reveal how their version of the “good” is tempered by a phenomenological approach to the “real.”

Mills, Anthony R. American Theology, Superhero Comics, and Cinema: The Marvel of Stan Lee and the Revolution of a Genre. Routledge, 2014.

According to Mills, the classic superhero story is a combination of ancient and modern mythologies conjoined by the idea that the hero is an autonomous individual who fights against the static other. Identifying Stan Lee’s devotion to realism as a disruptive force to this superhero story, the book examines this disruption in titles like The Fantastic Four and The X-Men. As these series develop over time, their stories take a theological turn that introduces moral ambiguity into a formerly stable and forever repeating superhero mythology.

Jewish Origins of the Superhero

Weinstein, Simcha. Up, Up, and Oy Vey: How Jewish History, Culture, and Values Shaped the Comic Book Superhero. Leviathan, 2007.

Weinstein begins with brief profiles of Jewish creators like Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the creators of Superman, and Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the architects of the Marvel universe, in order to explain his reading of Jewish themes in comic book stories. Light on historical context and deeper interpretation, the study walks a line between reclaiming a buried historical influence and gleaming Jewish moral lessons from stories of the Justice League and Fantastic Four.

Fingeroth, Danny. Disguised as Clark Kent: Jews, Comics, and the Creation of the Superhero. Continuum, 2007.

With a complex reading of the connection between the history of the comics industry, Jewish artists, and the superhero, Fingeroth makes a convincing argument about the Jewish influence on superheroes. Moving from the implicit ideas central to the Golden and Silver Age superhero stories to the explicit depiction of Judaism in modern superhero comic books, the study carefully maps out the complex situation of Jewish identity in the 20th century. With social pressures working against the full expression of that identity, comics came under fire as a lesser genre and a Jewish sense of otherness became central to an American genre and hero type.

Brod, Harry. Superman Is Jewish?: How Comic Book Superheroes Came to Serve Truth, Justice, and the Jewish-American Way. Free Press, 2012.

The goal of this study is less to trace an historical arc of Judaism in superhero comics than to examine Jewish themes in American comics in general and superhero comics in particular. Benefitting from the scholars who previously established the history of Jewish creators, Brod examines central figures like Superman with broad strokes that identify both Jewish influence and cultural appropriation. Identifying the Marvel bullpen of writers as a Jewish haven, the study furthers Fingeroth’s work; the book also draws critical connections between Will Eisner’s Spirit and Eisner’s creation of a realistic graphic novel focused on Jewish experience, and between the history of two Jewish comics creators, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, and Michael Chabon’s literary novel, The Amazing Adventures of Kavilier and Clay, loosely based on that history.

Christian Examinations and Appropriations of the Superhero

Zimmerman, David. Comic Book Character: Unleashing the Hero in Us All. InterVarsity, 2004.

Contending that the need for traditional heroes is part of the human psyche, Zimmerman argues this hero worship reveals a desire to seek a transcendent savior. Despite a simple point of departure, Zimmerman’s readings are often nuanced interpretations of modern superhero stories as cultural commentary (like the discrimination of mutants in The X-Men). However, the analysis of the multi-faceted history of vengeful heroes like Batman and The Punisher is made too broad by an effort to make a Biblical case against vengeance.

Brewer, H. Michael. Who Needs a Superhero?: Finding Virtue, Vice, and What’s Holy in Comics. Baker, 2004.

Identifying comics as a medium held in low esteem, Brewer asserts that superhero stories ask serious questions outside the confines of mainstream culture. Setting aside the conflation of the medium and the genre, the book works as a guide to spiritual growth that employs superhero stories rather than analyzes them. Themes like death and resurrection in Superman’s Doomsday arc do work with the Christian narratives and make a fine case study. But other themes, such as salvation in Iron Man’s story, are developed by selecting parts from the character’s long history.

Miles, Todd. Superheroes Can’t Save You: Epic Examples of Historic Heresies. B&H Publishing, 2018.

Dating back to the essay “Comics and the Super State” by Walter Ong, Christians have found fault with the excessive focus on power in superhero stories. Miles picks up on this thread with the problematic notion of Superman as a Christ-figure; he argues that this power fantasy undermines the humanity and sacrifice in the Jesus story. Working with the dichotomy of the sacred and the secular, the heroism of many popular superheroes (even Ant-Man) is associated with heresies of the ancient and modern worlds to set up a Biblically exclusive study of virtue.

Other Resources

The Christian Comic Arts Society

Comprised of critics, creators, and fans, the society has had a notable presence at comic book conventions, organizing events, and networking opportunities for people who create and/or write about comics. The emphases are on Christian readings of popular superhero comics as well as the promotion of Christian comics creators and comic book adaptations of the Bible. Their mission statement describes the goals of the organization to be sharing of the Christian message and faith.

Sacred and Sequential
@the intersection of religion and comics: graphic religion

http://www.sacredandsequential.org