Batman Beyond Vengeance
by Alexi SargeantDespite its noir trappings and deeply dysfunctional Gotham, The Batman shows its protagonist growing in a way few other portrayals have. Continue Reading »
EC Comics and the Pulp Takeover of American Culture
by Mark JudgeFor better or worse, it’s an EC world, we just live in it.
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Don’t See Joker
by Alexi SargeantHollywood needs to learn that evil is not all that interesting. Continue Reading »
Superheroes and Saints
by Alexi SargeantStan Lee wrote heroes at a human scale whom we could relate to very directly, whose triumphs we could cheer, and hopefully emulate. Continue Reading »
The Gospel According to Jack Chick
by Samuel D. JamesFor those (like me) who grew up in conservative evangelical culture, Chick Tracts are instantly recognizable: the dark, apocalyptic artwork; the obscure human caricatures that somehow resemble everybody and nobody. And, of course, the fire-and-brimstone. Continue Reading »
Who was Jack T. Chick, Rabid Zealot or Misguided Cartoonist?
by Chap ClarkBecause the comic book genre has its own rules and standards, Chick was able to present his version of the Christian message with a vitriol that was remarkable—and yet permissible. Continue Reading »
Frames of Mind
by Roberto De La NovalMy attention span is waning. I’ve noted it for the past couple of years: no longer can I sit for hours with a single book before me—barely recognizable is my teenage self who marathoned through Harry Potter volumes the day they arrived at my door—and the convenient packaging of 25 minute episodes of my favorite TV-shows has so shaped me that even sitting through a two hour long movie is at times difficult. I’ve no doubt as to the cause of my attention shortage, though. The recurring itch to check phone, e-mail, and social media as I attempt to work through any text of depth or any movie of richness reminds me again and again that my ability to focus was exchanged over time for the instant gratifications of the alerts and messages my electronic devices have brought me. Continue Reading »
Sin, Redemption, and Spider-Man
by John B. KienkerGod so loved the world that he gave his only son. God so loved me that he has given me three sons. And last month, they discovered superheroes. Not a moment too soon, it turns out, as apparently overnight what I used to think of as our respectable middle-class home has become an alarming hive of after-school crime (or as my boys call it, “trouble”). So they fearlessly answer the call every afternoon, bounding around the house and the yard with hand-towel capes safety-pinned around their necks… . Continue Reading »
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