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…
Tag: Grant Morrison
Anti-Life Justifies My Ignorance: Evangelicalism and the Pandemic
By Matthew Brake Grant Morrison’s Final Crisis billed itself as “The Day Evil Won.” The evil New God Darkseid had finally attained the long sought for Anti-Life Equation, a macguffin that gave him the power to control and subjugate the minds of others. In Morrison’s story, Darkseid’s coming is heralded by a “Religion of Crime”…
Matthew Brake Discusses Animal Man on Deconstructing Comics
Hello everyone! Recently, Tim Young of the Deconstructing Comics podcast had me on to talk about Grant Morrison’s Animal Man comics run from DC Comics’ Vertigo imprint (now Black Label). Those of you who know me know that I love Morrison as a writer, and I often use him comics in my Religion and Literature class….
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…
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…
Matthew Brake on Sectarian Review Podcast Discussing Religion and Comics
Hey everyone! Recent I (Matt) had the opportunity to go on the Sectarian Review podcast, hosted by Danny Anderson. The Sectarian Review has become one of my go to podcasts. Danny let me come on and plug a new book series I’m co-editing with A. David Lewis for Claremont Press on Religion and Comics (there’s…
“HAPPY!” CHRISTMAS: POSSIBLY THE WEIRDEST ADVENT BLOG EVER
I (Matt) recently had a chance to contribute a piece to our friends over at Sacred & Sequential on the SyFy series Happy! It’s Christmas themes and overall message make it a perfect if bizarre Advent tale. “As I said, Happy! is an odd little story, but it is a Christmas story, and it captures…
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…
Grant Morrison, Final Crisis, and the Power of Apocalyptic Storytelling
By Julie Rivera Anyone that has heard a Grant Morrison interview can deduce that he has some interesting ideas about the world, which he portrays using metafiction, unique storytelling, and spirituality. While Morrison does not identify as a Christian, some of his works reflect Christian themes. His graphic novel Final Crisis uses the idea of…
Pop Culture and Theology 