Recently there have been a bunch of comics either engaging with religion or taking religious elements and reworking them into their stories. Here’s the list of what I’ve been reading recently. (There will be a follow-up post on Golem-related comics)
Daisy
Dark Horse Comics
Link: https://www.darkhorse.com/Comics/3009-592/Daisy-1
This comic has a vibe going that is a little bit Dan Brown, some Golden Compass, Gnosticism, and chunks of biblical and extrabiblical material concerning the Nephilim. Gnostic stuff comes through most clearly with each universe being created by a demiurge rather than a single omnipotent deity. Basically, there’s a power struggle between (fallen) angels and the demiurge with humans and nephilim caught in the middle. [All five issues published]
A desperate mother’s five-year search for her missing son leads her to the small town of Brimount and to the mysterious Phillips family. Daisy Phillips, like many teenagers, has a hard time fitting in, but not for the usual reasons. Daisy stands eight-and-a-half feet tall and is still growing, but her troubles with ill health, daily ridicule, and custom-made clothing are only the tip of the iceberg. Daisy may well be descended from a race of cannibalistic giants spawned from the outcasts of Heaven!
https://www.darkhorse.com/Comics/3009-592/Daisy-1
9 Circles: A Marshal Law Story
Blood Moon Comics
Link: https://www.bloodmooncomicsllc.com/product-page/marshal-law
Basically a mash-up of the Western genre with Dante’s nine circles of Hell with the central protagonist, again a fallen angel (of vengenance/judgement), attempting to redeem himself through good works, be noticed by God, and returned to heaven. [First issue just released]
The demon cowboy Vengeance confronts his notion of right and wrong on a task from Heaven that he hopes will earn him God’s redemption by leading the End Time Witness through the 9 Circles of Hell.
https://www.bloodmooncomicsllc.com/product-page/marshal-law
Loaded Bible: Blood of my Blood
Image Comics
Link: https://imagecomics.com/comics/series/loaded-bible
The fourth series of the Loaded Bible comic continues it’s crusade against theocracy that will do anything, even dance with the Devil (in this case, Dracula), to maintain power of the human population of the post-apocalyptic world. Standing against the Church and the vampires feeding on humanity is the clone of Jesus Christ. [Five of six issues released so far]
See also: Religion and Comics – Wrap Up
Decades after the events of the original cult series, Jesus’ vampire-hunting clone is a bigger outlaw than ever, and now, he has to face a threat like no other. The church has cut a deal with the vampire nations to unite under their cloned savior—Dracula.
https://imagecomics.com/comics/series/loaded-bible
Seven Sons
Image Comics
Link: https://imagecomics.com/comics/series/seven-sons
This comic explores how a media-managed second coming of a saviour (one of seven inexplicably-born “brothers”) intersects with religious fundamentalism (here represented by Islamic extremists) and human freedom. There is also a mysterious stranger who may be the real second coming of Christ. A little short on the explanation of how this recent religion has displaced all others (with the exception of militant Islam) and plays with Christian names and motifs without any real suggestion that Christianity was present before (so perhaps an alternative Earth or we’ll get more details later?). [First two issues have been released so far]
SEVEN SONS is The Fugitive meets the Book of Revelation. Delph, a young man who may be the Second Coming of Christ, runs for his life as he attempts to learn the truth behind his existence.
https://imagecomics.com/comics/series/seven-sons
A Visit To Moscow
West Margin Press
Link:
https://www.westmarginpress.com/book-details/9781513128733/a-visit-to-moscow/
A little different from the other comics here in that this is a graphic retelling of a real world story – in this case an exploration of Jewish communities in the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
In 1965, an American rabbi travels to the Soviet Union to investigate reports of persecution of the Jewish community. Moscow welcomes him as a guest-but provides a strict schedule he and the rest of his group must follow. One afternoon, the rabbi slips away. With an address in hand and almost no knowledge of the Russian language, he embarks on a secret journey that will change his life forever. Inspired by the true experience of Rabbi Rafael Grossman, A Visit to Moscow captures the formidable perseverance and strength of the Jewish people during the ‘Let My People Go’ movement, a modern exodus that is often overlooked.
https://www.westmarginpress.com/book-details/9781513128733/a-visit-to-moscow/
No Angel
Black Mask Studios
Link: https://blackmaskstudios.com/no-angel/
Another comic that plays with the biblical Nephilim and their descendants, though rather than the typical villains, here they may be the only thing that stands against the forces of darkness. Only the first part of the story released at his point. Not really any deep theology here – more of an angels and guns style of story.
Religious texts from The Bible to the Sumerian tablets speak of strange creatures descending from the heavens and mating with humans, their children the superhuman heroes of myth. None of this ever meant anything to Iraq War veteran Hannah Gregory, until she found herself in the crosshairs of a dangerous cult convinced that she’s a descendant of these dangerous bloodlines… bloodlines they’re determined to eradicate.
No Angel is a cosmological and conspiratorial modern western in the style of Preacher meets The Da Vinci Code by way of Justified.
https://blackmaskstudios.com/no-angel/
Archangel 8
AWA Studios
Link: https://awastudios.net/series/archangel-8/
This comic series concerns an eighth archangel – beyond the “regular” seven of Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel (Roman Catholic tradition) and Raguel, Saraquel, and Remiel (Book of Enoch). This archangel is the one who carries out the “dirty” or “Black-ops” jobs for heaven. The story has similar themes to the movie, Legion (and the spin-off TV show, Dominion) or Tad Williams The Dirty Streets of Heaven novels where the relational dynamics between the different angels and their factions provides the grist for the mill of the story. [All five issues published]
In a world beyond the site (sic) of mortals, Heaven and Hell wage war for the souls of mankind, led by a legion of seven venerable Archangels. But there is an eighth mysterious Archangel, known only from Apocrypha, who operates under a different code. He faces the enemy on his own terms, and shows just how bad good can be.
https://awastudios.net/series/archangel-8/
The Endzeit Nephilim who have returned
Good reading