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com The Religious Affiliation of Comic Book Characters God Squad Which major mainstream superheroes are most consistently portrayed as overtly religious? These are characters who go beyond simply exhibiting positive religious values, charity and heroism, but who openly exhibit religiosity tied to an organized religious affiliation, through prayer, verbally sharing their faith, worship service attendance, and other means. For the most part, these heroes have left their religious calling, but not their faith. A few angels/direct agents of God have been superheroes, even joining teams such as the Justice Society of America and the Justice League.
Source: Mike Benton, The Comic Book in America: An Illustrated History, Taylor Publishing Company: Dallas, Texas (1989), page 178. htm): "The original creators of comics, 60 or 70 years ago, were almost all Jewish and Italian kids from various parts of New York," notes DC Comics Executive Vice President and Publisher Paul Levitz. "And the characters they created were pseudo-whitebread Episcopalian. It was almost de rigueur back then to paint people in this idealized American image." Notable Writers of Religiously Themed Comic Book Stories It is no coincidence that some of the world's most popular and critically acclaimed comic book writers are the writers who have written the most comic book stories about overt religious themes and openly religious characters. These are writers who take their stories beyond stereotypical superheroic fisticuffs and explore fascinating, more complex themes and deeper aspects of their characters. These deeper themes, which often resonate with serious readers and garner accolades for the writers and their stories, include religion and spirituality. Comic book writers notable for their regular and insightful use of religious themes in their stories include writers who are Christian, Jewish, Hindu, agnostic, atheist, etc. These writers differ in their religious beliefs and backgrounds, but they are united in their desire to write more realistic, more human, more meaningful stories.
Grant Morrison Infinity Crusade identifies Marvel's Most Religious One of the few places in mainstream comics where a large number of major superheroes have been explicitly identified as religious was in Marvel's Infinity Crusade #1 (June 1993). In this issue, a powerful and mysterious being known as the "Goddess" kidnaps superheroes specifically identified as Marvel's most religious characters.
The emphasis of this page is on fictional characters who originated as comic book characters. Of course real-life people such as Pope John Paul II, St. Francis of Assisi, and Mother Teresa have been depicted in comic books (Marvel published one-shot comics about these prominent Catholics), but such people are not listed here. This page focuses on fictional comic book characters -- mostly from Marvel and DC -- who are adherents of real-world (not purely fictional) religions. We want this page to be as accurate as possible, backed up by objective, published information and not based on conjecture. We do not want this listing to be slanted toward any particular denominational or religious viewpoint. It is intended to accurately report the composition of comic book character religiosity.
Religious Affiliation of Notable Minor Characters in Comic Books - over 50 characters are listed, moved to a separate page purely for space considerations. These include Catholic, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, and Dutch Reformed clergy. Other religions represented on the list include: Hindu, Shinto, Jewish, Acanti, Polynesian traditional religion, Pagan, Muslim, Vodoun, Sikh, Thanagarian and Zoroastrian. Notable Lead Characters in Non-Superhero Comics Character Title Publisher Religious Affiliation David Qin Strangers in Paradise series (1993-present), by Terry Moore Abstract Studio (originally Antarctic Press;
Buddhist Major Super-Villains and Other Antagonists Most super-villains in mainstream comic books are atheists, agnostics, or simply non-religious. Aside from a few major villains, the list below primarily focuses on villains who have a known religious affiliation other than atheism.
lord of the underworld Minor Super-Villains and Other Antagonists The list below includes minor villains and antagonists, typically characters who have shown up in only a single issue or story arc. Most minor villains in mainstream comics are atheists, agnostic, or non-religious. The list below focuses on characters who have an identifiable religious affiliation. Frequently these minor characters were the result of a very simple idea on the part of the writer: Having heard about a particular minority religious group (ie, Vodoun, Santeria, Buddhism, Russian Orthodoxy) or mystical tradition the writer decides to base a villain on that idea. In other instances, villains have been created to embody a specific social issue or political debate, and have been envisioned as a "priest" or "reverend" with a group of followers. This is done in order to illustrate that the character's philosophy is not simply an idiosyncratic belief or the result of insanity, but is a position that has at least a nominally widespread following. These characters typically do not symbolize an entire denomination (although they are often depicted as Catholic or Protestant clergymen), so much as they stand for a specific idea or trait that can be found within religious groups as well within the general population. It may seem as though the large number of explicitly religious villain indicates an anti-religious bias in mainstream comic books. Since the 1930s (when Superman was created) until the present time, the proportion of Americans who profess identification with a specific organized religion has remained between 85% to 93%, with an additional 5% of the population claiming no specific religious identification, but claiming belief in God or a supreme being. Yet, the overwhelming majority (over 90%) of villains faced by mainstream superheros have been manifestly non-religious, anti-religious or atheist. The extreme disproportionate representation of non-religious characters among comic book villains is not mean to imply that lack of religious activity leads inexorably to villainy. It simply means that the types of individuals who become villains are most likely to be non-religous or atheist/agnostic in outlook, and that the religious villain is a relative rarity. Known as Real Name Major Enemy Notes Publisher Religious Affiliation Lady Lotus The Invaders Invaders vol.
Comics Research: New Mutants Website - The New Mutants was among the most overtly religious comic book series in mainstream comics * JLA: stands for "Justice League of America," the premiere superhero team of the DC Universe. The team has sometimes been known simply as the "Justice League." The team is sometimes referred to as "the League," not to be confused with the ancient DC Universe team known as "The League," introduced in Justice League of America #70 (October 2002). Seriously, though, is anybody who actually reads this page not going to know what "JLA" stands for? The line of comics was intended to take place in a word very similar to our own, with only limited differences, and no magic, pantheons of mythological gods, supertechnology, aliens, hidden races, etc. Despite many intriguing approaches and some (but not all) high quality stories and art, sales were generally poor for the New Universe line and the imprint was discontinued in late 1989 after less than three years and a combined total of 172 issues for the various series. Since then, New Universe characters have crossed over into the mainstream Marvel universe on a few limited occasions. This webpage includes information about Catholic superheroes, Jewish superheroes, Buddhist superheroes, Christian superheroes, Protestant superheroes, Methodist superheroes; Comic book religion / religious characters / religion comics / religion of superheroes / religion of super-heroes webpage created 27 July 2005.
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