{"id":6867,"date":"2018-05-02T08:00:08","date_gmt":"2018-05-02T14:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.library.depaul.press\/full-text\/?p=6867"},"modified":"2018-05-01T15:19:22","modified_gmt":"2018-05-01T21:19:22","slug":"alternate-universe-christianity-and-comic-books","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.library.depaul.press\/full-text\/2018\/05\/02\/alternate-universe-christianity-and-comic-books\/","title":{"rendered":"Alternate Universe: Christianity and Comic Books"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Easter<\/a>
Bible verses open and close this traditional story published by Marvel Comics (1993), told with color graphics and accessible language in speech bubbles.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Comic book readers have long been aware of a shared universe, where characters from different titles interact with each other and storylines mingle (think of the Avengers or the Justice League). The universe of Christian comics is probably less familiar to most readers, though College of Communication\u2019s Blair Davis<\/a> aims to change that. Dr. Davis has assembled a collection of Christian-themed comic books, funded through a Vincentian Endowment Fund grant, in support of his research and an upcoming book.\u00a0 He recently donated this collection to Special Collections and Archives, and the reception<\/a> to mark this occasion and to get a sneak preview of Davis\u2019s research is scheduled for May 17, 2018, at 4:00 pm in John T. Richardson Library room 115.<\/p>\n

\"Alpha<\/a>
An obvious allusion in this futuristic retelling of the Adam and Eve story (Alpha and Omega) with the temptation of a red planet, which turns out to be a black hole with all the evils (historical and imagined) of the universe. Spire Christian Comics, 1978.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A small display case on the first floor of the Richardson Library features a selection of covers from this collection.\u00a0 Items in the display case represent subgenres of Christian comic books and include traditional Bible stories illustrated in \u201ca contemporary style,\u201d Bible stories updated and retold with sci-fi futurism, didactic stories aimed at children with well-known or endearing characters, and a dark and dire anti-Catholic tract. \u00a0Some are published by religious presses (like Spire, Chick, and the Catechetical Guild) and others by mainstream publishers like Marvel and DC.<\/p>\n

\"Barney<\/a>
Story geared for children with mishaps and madcap adventures that ends in a tent revival and an explicit call for children to take Jesus as their personal savior.\u00a0 Published by Spire Comics, 1980, and illustrated by Al Hartley, of Archie Comics fame.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

These comic books are a complement to the ongoing 1st<\/sup> floor exhibit, Cheap Thrills or, Selections from DePaul\u2019s Pulps Collection<\/a>. Like pulps and dime novels, comic books are inexpensive and are designed for pleasure reading.\u00a0 These featured comic books, along with the dime novels and pulps, many of which are rare and fragile, can be consulted in Special Collections and Archives\u2019s reading room. The library also has a collection of graphic novels<\/a> that you can check out and read at your leisure.<\/p>\n

Please mark your calendars for May 17, 2018, at 4:00 p.m. to learn more about these and other examples of Christian comic books and their place in popular culture.\u00a0For questions or more information on our book collections, please contact\u00a0Nora Gabor<\/a>. To use these materials in an instruction session please contact\u00a0Morgen MacIntosh Hodgetts<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0submit a request for instruction<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To learn more about\u00a0DePaul Special Collections and Archives<\/a>, visit us in room 314 of the John T. Richardson Library or contact us at spca@depaul.libanswers.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Comic book readers have long been aware of a shared universe, where characters from different titles interact with each other and storylines mingle (think of the Avengers or the Justice League). The universe of Christian comics is probably less familiar to most readers, though College of Communication\u2019s Blair Davis aims to change that. Dr. Davis <\/p>\n

continue reading<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":6872,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[6,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","category-special-collections-and-archives"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8GMS7-1ML","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/news.library.depaul.press\/full-text\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/04\/DevilFrontandBack.jpg?fit=400%2C300&ssl=1&wsr","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.library.depaul.press\/full-text\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.library.depaul.press\/full-text\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.library.depaul.press\/full-text\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.library.depaul.press\/full-text\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.library.depaul.press\/full-text\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6867"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/news.library.depaul.press\/full-text\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6867\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6903,"href":"https:\/\/news.library.depaul.press\/full-text\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6867\/revisions\/6903"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.library.depaul.press\/full-text\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.library.depaul.press\/full-text\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.library.depaul.press\/full-text\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.library.depaul.press\/full-text\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}