By John MacDonald On episode 36 of the Religion Prof Podcast, Dr. James McGrath and Matthew Brake shared their interpretations of Nietzsche’s overman in relation to the Batman mythos in popular culture. McGrath raises the point that it is young Bruce Wayne’s response to his family tragedy that raises him from the level of the…
Tag: Batman
Grant Morrison, Superheroes, and The Post-Traumatic Christian
By Matthew Brake I was talking the other day to a friend, and the topic of our spiritual journeys came up. This person told me about the burnout and discouragement they felt, not only being involved in different churches, but in the whole “Jesus thing” in general. I then relayed my own story: involvement in…
Evil and the Bat, Part Three: The Meaning of THE RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE
By Raymond Lam (Read Part Two of this blog series here) In this third and final exploration of Batman and the “theology” constructed by Grant Morrison over the decade of 2008–18, we dive into The Return of Bruce Wayne (RBW) (2010), one of Morrison’s finest Batman works and one that elevated the idea of Bruce Wayne to…
Evil and the Bat: Part Two: Free Will’s Confrontation with Time and Destiny
By Raymond Lam (Read Part One of this blog series here) In my first entry, I attempted to explain how the theology of the DC Universe came to be (over a decade between 2008 and 2018) defined by the metaphysical conflict between Batman, DC’s ultimate human archetype or ideal, and Darkseid, who serves as not…
Vision: Batman V Superman – Dawn of Justice
By Stephen Garner ***A version of this article previously appeared in Stimulus: The New Zealand Journal of Christian Thought and Practice,23, no. 2 (2016): 43-45., and is used here with permission from the author and the journal. If you like superheroes, then it doesn’t get much better than current cinema and television. Not only are…
Evil and The Bat: Time and Destiny From Final Crisis to Dark Nights Metal, 2008-2018
By Raymond Lam Evil is at once profound and overused, haunting and trite. Thanks to its deep roots in Western theology and philosophy, it has been the “go-to” theme for so many for our entertainment mediums. Yet we are not always sure how we can tell a story about it in a way that gives…
CFP: Theology and Batman
Editors: Matthew William Brake and Rev. C. K. Robertson, Ph.D. In 2019, Batman turned 80 years old. First appearing in Detective Comics #27, that famous title hit #1000 back in March. Since his debut, Batman has been a cultural force across multiple medium, whether in the comics that spawned him, the 1960s campy television series, the…
Batman, the Joker, and Nietzsche’s übermensch: A Discussion with James McGrath and Matthew Brake
Hello friends! A few weeks ago at the Batman conference at Bowling Green State University, which I discuss with some friends here, I presented a panel with James McGrath on the Friedrich Nietzsche’s übermensch. Specifically, James and I discussed, in conversation with a work by our friend Chuck Robertson, who best fits the description of…
Debriefing the Batman Conference
Hello friends! A few weeks ago, I was able to attend a conference at Bowling Green State University celebrating the 80th anniversary of Batman. It was a very fun conference. I presented twice: once on the depiction of evil in Grant Morrison’s Batman run, and on Joker and Nietzsche. While there, I was able to…
Chaos and Order in the Works of Grant Morrison
By Abigail Bilby Religious scholars argue that the battle between chaos and order has been in existence since before humans were able to conceive of it (Mobley p. 16). Ever since their arrival, humans have carried an obsession with the idea of chaotic beings and events existing in direct conflict with what is considered to…
Pop Culture and Theology 