Graven images: religion in comic books and graphic novels

Graven Images: Religion in Comic Books and Graphic Novels. A. David Lewis and Christine Hoff Kraemer (Eds). New York and London: Continuum, 2010. xii + 366 pages, pb. £19.99, hb. £50.00, ISBN: 9780826430267. Reviewed by David Robertson, University of Edinburgh, UK, davidgrobertson@blueyonder.co.uk Keywords comics, popular culture, modern religiosity Comics have slowly but steadily moved towards acceptance as a legitimate art-form by mainstream literary critics and audiences over the past two or three decades. To a large degree, this has been due to comics’ re-branding as “graphic novels”, which suggested a more mature and literary content, and made them available in conventional bookshops in a self-contained format that was more recognisable, and therefore accessible, to an older, wealthier and more diverse audience. This process has been mirrored in the academy, and although early studies of comic books tended to concentrate upon their purported literary degeneracy and harmful effects on their youthful readership, objective and analytical study into the comics form has recently emerged. Journals such as ImageTexT and the Journal of Graphic Novels & Comics have done a great deal towards promoting the field of comics studies, as have conferences such as 2010’s Conference on Graphic Novels and Comics at Manchester Metropolitan University. Graven Images, itself the product of a 2008 Boston University conference, presents a collection of essays focusing specifically on religion in comics. Narratives about religion and transcendence have long been a prominent feature of comics, from the first self-described graphic novel, Will Eisner’s 1978 Contract with God, to Robert Crumb’s 2009 literal rendering of The Book of Genesis. Even Charles Schultz’ Peanuts frequently has Linus quote biblical scripture. In his foreword, Douglas Rushkoff asks, “Why do so many writers choose to explore their relationship to the gods through comics?” (ix). Although Rushkoff is dismissive of the role of the artist, his question is nonetheless perceptive: just what is it about the comics form which suits such discourses? Is it a result of the historical currents surrounding the creation of superheroes and their obvious status as analogues for the gods? Or, alternatively, is there something intrinsic about the form, or for that matter, the audience, which is suited to discussions about the transcendent? Graven Images sets out to answer this through an interdisciplinary collection of papers, designed to foster dialogue between scholars and creators, as well as promote the medium as a suitable candidate for academic criticism. It is divided into three sections. The first, “New Interpretations”, examines how comics engage with traditional religious themes, while the second, “Response and Rebellion”, seeks to demonstrate how traditional religious imagery has been subverted or controversially appropriated in comic books. The final section, “Postmodern Religiosity”, contains essays concerned with comics’ engagement with forms of religiosity outside of the traditional. Overall, the standard is impressive, although a number of chapters show a distinct lack of critical engagement, describing their source material, rather than engaging critically with it. For example, Merriman’s chapter on London as simultaneously numinous and desecrated in Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell’s Jack the Ripper meditation From Hell does not seem to do much beyond bringing out one of Moore’s intended subtexts. Similarly, Mahapatra’s comparison of reincarnation in superhero comics to Hindu scriptural traditions does not engage with the question of why this theme should be of importance to contemporary comics creators and readers. Furthermore, the Franco-Belgian comics tradition, Bandes Dessinées or Bédé, are unrepresented, despite having enjoyed a greater degree of critical and popular success in their own territories that American or British comics have in theirs for several decades. The most impressive chapters are those which engage most directly with the question raised in the introduction. Orcutt’s “Comics & Religion: Theoretical Connections” suggests several reasons why the comics medium should be suited to narratives concerning religion. Firstly, drawing from McCloud’s seminal Understanding Comics (1993), he argues that comics’ unique ability to leave aspects deliberately empty, for example the iconic, simplified faces of the protagonists typical of the Japanese Manga style, or the details of an event which takes place between the panels, invites the reader to fill the gaps from their own experience, leading to a greater degree of identification than would be possible with a movie or a novel. This has the effect of drawing the reader in, and therefore increases the proselytising potential of comics, which in turn explains the ubiquity of those ubiquitous Christian fundamentalist tracts that are often considered to be the world’s most-read comics. A second factor outlined by Orcutt is the manipulation of our perception of time. In comics, time can be slowed down and sped up, future and past can be shown side-by-side, and by utilising the gutter, the space between the panels, the mythical world may be shown, literally outside of time. These devices all mean that comics are suited to showing the mythical, and in particular narratives where the mythical interacts with the present. Grimshaw’s chapter on Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon’s Preacher includes a discussion of the cartoon as social critique, a tradition that goes back to Hogarth in the mid 18th century, and an important point which I feel Grimshaw could have made more of. Given that many of the works mentioned in Graven Images operate in some way as a critique, the question begged is, does the prominence of religious themes in a medium long associated with satire indicate that it is a particular concern among the demographic who read comics? Wilson’s chapter on René Guenon’s Perennialism includes the observation that alongside their frequent use of traditional religious symbolism, comics have a strong anti-clerical bias, suggesting an active attempt to reclaim these symbols of transcendence from elitist discourses. Graven Images suggests, then, that comics are a vibrant site for popular discourses concerning the role and form of religion in the modern world, as a result of some unique structural techniques and its traditionally subversive function of the form. As such, the book makes a valuable contribution to the burgeoning field of comics studies, as well as a fascinating look at one intersection of contemporary religiosity and popular culture.