Greenflame

Jottings on science, religion, technology, pop culture, photography and faith from the Aotearoa New Zealand

Category: Comics

  • Religion and Comics – A Top 10 (Part 4)

    The trade paperback, Superman: Redemption, brings together three different Superman stories with religious contexts: Redemption: Action Comics #848 “If you believe, a man can fly” & Action Comics #849 “In good faith”. Angel: Superman #659. The Beast from Krypton: Superman #666. The stories are interesting because the writers use an existing ‘non-religious’ narrative world or character – Superman…

  • Religion and Comics – A Top 10 (Part 3)

    Today we look at The Tithe, a criminal investigation comic that is framed within the pluralistic religious context of the contemporary USA. As such, religion is present throughout the stories as part of the settings the characters inhabit, but the focus of the story is on the interaction of the characters within that context.

  • Religion and Comics – A Top 10 (Part 2)

    In this instalment – DC/Vertigo’s Lucifer, which is located in a clear theological and supernatural framework, and which wrestles with free will, power, and predestination. And some thoughts on getting the casting right for transferring the comic to other media.

  • Religion and Comics – A Top 10 (Part 1)

    Kingdom Come Publisher: DC Comics Writers: Mark Waid & Alex Ross Artist: Alex Ross Letterer: Todd Klein Kingdom Come pretty much has everything you could want in a comic: Interesting characters; familiar characters recast by circumstance; conflict; sacrifice; an apocalyptic edge; great art; redemption; and excellent storytelling. It’s one of my go-to comics for showing people…

  • Wakanda Forever – The Black Panther Theology Syllabus

    Matthew Brake over at the Popular Culture and Theology blog links through to Kimberly Hampton’s syllabus entitled “Wakanda Forever – The Black Panther Theology Syllabus“. Using the recent Marvel film “Black Panther” as a conversation start, the syllabus describes itself as: A beginning, and continually-expanding look at the different streams, both theological and non-theological, that…

  • I had the opportunity recently to peruse the samplings of two comic book vendors I don’t normally get a chance to visit, and to rummage through their stock looking for more material for Bible and popular culture resources, and also for the angels in popular culture research project. Down in Wellington, I had a look…

  • I was rereading a short popular article I wrote a few years back on religion and comic books with a view to expanding it into something with a bit more academic depth and focus. Something that moves from simply describing the interaction of religion and comic books (and graphic novels and other forms of narrative…

  • Our Christmas Eve evening service focused particularly upon the opening of John’s Gospel with the Word coming into the world – “The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.” (Jn 1:9). With glowsticks instead of candles (the wax on the carpet from previous years being avoided), the dimmed church highlighted that the smallest…

  • A reflection on how the changes in the recent history of the Green Lantern Corps in the DC Universe towards a more militaristic, political organisation change affection for beloved characters. Will be interesting to see future blog posts on this theme. I’m of the view that the scope of the changes to the GL mythos,…

  • An interesting looking online course Gender Through Comic Books | Canvas Network that partners a study of gender in comics with required reading materials being available to purchase through digital comic providers (in this case, Comixology). Wondering if such a model might work for distance/online theological education?