Call For Papers: Religion in Spider-Man Comics – A Textual Look at our Favorite Web-Slinger Volume Editor: George Tsakiridis, PhD Abstract and CV Due: October 1, 2021 Initial Final Paper Due: March 1, 2022 There are few comic book heroes that rise to the level of Spider-Man. He is the foundation for most of the…
Reflections on Theology and the Marvel Universe
By Gregory Stevenson In 2019 I had the privilege of working with an exceptional group of scholars as editor for Theology and the Marvel Universe. With the paperback edition now available (and thus at a thankfully cheaper price), this provides a good opportunity to reflect on why I think projects like this are important. Comic book…
What Have We Learned About Prince’s Theology Lately?
By Jonathan H. Harwell, co-editor, Theology and Prince (now released in paperback) Theology and Prince, the inaugural volume of the rapidly growing Theology and Pop Culture series from Lexington Books/Fortress Academic (see the review at Reading Religion here), has now been published in paperback at a lower list price of $39.99. I am honored to be a co-editor of this…
Analyzing Religion in Jonathan Hickman’s Powers of X #4
Once again, I’m happy to call attention to David Canham’s series of articles over at Sequart about Jonathan Hickman’s House of X/Powers of X series. In this entry, David looks at the compromises Charles Xavier, Magneto, and others make for the sake of the greater good. Here is an excerpt: “Many works of creative writing,…
Black Widow, Feminism, and Redemption
By Corey Patterson ***Editor’s Note: Corey originally wrote this piece in 2020 before the pandemic and before the Black Widow movie was delayed. If I was a better editor, I would’ve made sure to release this BEFORE Black Widow hit theaters. The original release date has been changed to the actual one. ~MB The long-waited…
Call for Papers: Theology and Vampires
Theology and Vampires From the ‘vampire craze’ of the eighteenth century, and up to contemporary takes on the genre, vampire narratives have been inextricably bound up with theological questions. In Bram Stoker’s Dracula and its many adaptations, the vampire is repelled by the crucifix and the consecrated Host. Two puncture wounds on the victim’s neck in…
For All Time, Always: Of Gods, Demiurges, Tricksters, and Creaturely Freedom
David Armstrong Caveat Lector:Spoilers follow below for Marvel’s Loki. As a show, Loki represents how far the Marvel Cinematic Universe has come on several metrics. One of them is surely the freedom with which the MCU can now approach its comic-book source material: when Iron Man first came out in 2009, probably no one expected to eventually see…
Analyzing Religion in Jonathan Hickman’s House of X #4
Hello Everyone! Once again, I want to draw attention to David Canham’s blog series over at Sequart about Jonathan Hickman’s House of X/Powers of X series. Canham does an excellent job in this piece of examining the use of martyrdom themes in House of X #4. Here is an excerpt: “Nightcrawler then transports himself and…
UNFINISHED BUSINESS: An Interview with Paul Levitz
Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down with Paul Levitz, former writer, editor, publisher, and president of DC Comics, about his most recent graphic novel for Dark Horse Comics entitled Unfinished Business, the story about a rabbi, a priest, and a minister who walk into bar. The catch is that they’re all dead and…
M.O.D.O.K. and the Vice of Ambition: If the Mundane Be Thy Doom!
By David Armstrong Caveat Lector: Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K.is rated TV-MA, and more importantly, spoilers follow for it below. Plenty of other people have written on what makes the Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing—M.O.D.O.K., for short—among the most ridiculous products of Marvel’s long publishing history, and therefore what is just so comedically perfect about the first (but hopefully…
