Superheroes and Religion

[Iron_Legion87]

This thread is to discuss your favorite superhero with a religious background and what. Since I am a christian myself, I always get a kick out of seeing superheroes share in the faith or some sort of faith. I personally love how the Netflix Daredevil show handled Matt Murdock's catholic believes and his struggle with wanting to kill Kingpin and stuff. What about you all?

[KOSLOX]

My favorite superhero (Black Panther) is the religious leader of the Panther Cult and it's heavily tied to all of his actions. My only real problem is that his deity Bast is borrowed from Egyptian mythology rather than being a wholly new creation.

I'd personally like to see comics use stuff like Orishas in some form but there seems to be a huge cultural blindspot for African myth/belief systems in western society.

[Iron_Legion87]

Cool didn't know that about Black Panther. The only religious superheroes that I am aware of are, Daredevil, Nightcrawler, and Punisher (well he was religious at one point).

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Cool didn't know that about Black Panther. The only religious superheroes that I am aware of are, Daredevil, Nightcrawler, and Punisher (well he was religious at one point).

Regarding the Punisher, in the Mike Baron written graphic novel "Intruder" from the late 1980's/early 90's, if memory serves, Frank had studied for the priesthood for a time, but I can't recall if that had been shortly before or shortly after his family had been murdered. Obviously, the studying didn't take.

[Shawn Hopkins]

If it's still in continuity Frank has literally been to heaven and rejected it at least once. He'd rather be on Earth, doing his killing. He's been to Hell at least once, too. At least, Mephisto's version. So it's kind of an interesting situation where he has no faith even though he knows God, Heaven and at least some versions of Hell exist as an objective fact.

I always thought superhero comics don't do a good job of exploring the impacts their fantastic elements would have on real-world religions. For example, everyone in the D.C. Universe knows Superman, the purest and most good being on the planet, is an alien. That means they know that humanity is not alone, not chosen, not special. That's got to kick some worldviews around a bit.

[C_Miller]

I always enjoyed the philosophical debates between the atheist Mr. Terrific and Catholic Dr. Mid-Nite.

[Turn the Page]

I always thought Daredevil's Catholicism added a great deal of depth to the character, even though I'm not a religious person myself. The Mennonite was probably my favorite character from Jason Aaron's Punisher Max, and I also liked the priest guy from early issues of the Walking Dead, too. I'm cool with religious characters as long as they don't come off as excessively preachy.

[ed2962]

One thing I like about Nightcrawler is that his faith led him to be a compassionate person. He did the right thing cuz it was the right thing and genuinely cared about others and it mostly felt like his faith guided him.

I'm not religious but I thought the conversion he had with Logan (X-Men #160?) was well done. His first appearance in the 90's cartoon was good too I thought.

It's something I wouldn't mind seeing more of in mainstream comics, but it takes a smart and sensitive writer.

[HUTHAIFA]

You just write religious character like you write the regular people we talk to everyday. Most religious people arent preachy. The good people who happen to be religious usually just preach by how they treat others.

[Username taken]

You just write religious character like you write the regular people we talk to everyday. Most religious people arent preachy. The good people who happen to be religious usually just preach by how they treat others.

Exactly.

I come from a pretty religious background (like most folks from African backgrounds) and most folks around me are just normal people.

Writers should treat religious people like other normal people. It shouldn't necessarily be a crutch to support a character.

[MykeHavoc]

As an Atheist, I've always found it funny how attracted I am to religious characters or characters obviously infused with messianic traits. I find religious mythology in general to be fascinating, from any faith or background, so seeing it used to enhance comic characters is always, surprisingly, a welcome treat. As mentioned, Matt Murdock's struggle with his Catholicism and finding that balance between his beliefs and his very ironic alter-ego has always been a great read. It humanizes him and makes him all the more relatable. The Judeo-Christian elements to Superman have always been a favorite as well. The Norse mythology of Thor. The more recent addition of Wonder Woman into the Greek pantheon was the best run I've ever read of her. And not to mention the nearly religious elements carved from scratch that creators have introduced. Kirby immediately springs to mind. The New Gods/Fourth World stuff is its own universe worth of iconography. I've also loved the cults that spring up in association with Flash and the speed force, like Savitar's gang from Mark Waid, or the "Blood Will Run" arc from Geoff Johns. And speaking of Waid, I felt the biblical passages sewn throughout Kingdom Come were well used and added to the epic scope of the story.

I could go on and on. All in all, religious elements in comics is fine with me. As said, if it avoids becoming preachy, I'm A-ok with it.

[PretenderNX01]

Cool didn't know that about Black Panther. The only religious superheroes that I am aware of are, Daredevil, Nightcrawler, and Punisher (well he was religious at one point).

There's a whole website of the religious beliefs of superheroes
http://www.adherents.com/lit/comics/..._religion.html

I assume by "religious" you don't just mean Christian. Kitty Pryde and Ben Grimm are Jewish and Wonder Woman follows the Greek Gods.

Also I found http://www.comicbookreligion.com

[Iron_Legion87]

There's a whole website of the religious beliefs of superheroes
http://www.adherents.com/lit/comics/..._religion.html

I assume by "religious" you don't just mean Christian. Kitty Pryde and Ben Grimm are Jewish and Wonder Woman follows the Greek Gods.

Also I found http://www.comicbookreligion.com

Yea I like reading about all heroes who are religious ( not just Christian like myself). I am definitely gonna check out that site. I just find super heroes that are religious to be interesting because most live in a world full of super humans and such. I think more comics should address that especially with someone like Superman who does have Jesus parallels.

[Spike-X]

Then over in Kurt Busiek's Astro City you have heroes like The Confessor, and Christian super team The Crossbreed.

[PretenderNX01]

Superman may have been raised in the Judeo-Christian American culture, but he is a Raoist, meaning a follower of the Kryptonian God Rao.

I got the feeling religion and a belief in the god Rao dies out on Krypton like it did on Vulcan. Yelling "Great Rao" is like yelling "Great Scott!" it doesn't mean he worships Scott.