Daring to Address God: Confronting the Negligent Deity in Graphic Literature

The following is a paper originally presented on November 2, 2012 at Dordt College for The Christian Evasion of Popular Culture Conference.

This is what I sometimes do.  For fun.

Christianity, Counterculture, and Comics

The other week I made an impulse buy at my local comic book shop. Those of you who know me well may not think this is surprising, but actually I usually hold a pretty strict shopping list when it comes to physical, individual issues. This is both due to financial and time restraints. The cost of buying comics seems to grow in an inverse relationship with the amount of free time I have to read my purchases. To illustrate the seriousness of the situation, I don't even include any Batman titles on my regular reading list (unless, of course, it is written by Grant Morrison).

But that day I saw on the shelf an issue of Occupy Comics about the Occupy movement and the financial crisis and bailouts that spurred it. Now, you, dear reader, likely have your own opinions on this social/political occurrence. I don't really care about that. What I was really interested in was the fact that this issue contains an essay by Alan Moore (of Watchmen fame and self proclaimed wizard who is not to be trifled with) about the history of comics as counterculture and a medium of protest.

66 Days of Preacher: Day 7

Wow. It has been a while. You know how I get distracted? Well, I get distracted. But 66 Days of Preacher continues! We left off way back when on a cliffhanger. Have you been on the edge of your seat the entire time? Or did you figure I'd never get back to this? Well, surprise! I am definitely going to slog through all 66 issues of joyous theology, blasphemy, and depravity for your entertainment.

So, to briefly recap: Jesse and Tulip went with Cassidy's friend Si to visit a blind man that might know where God is. Meanwhile, Detectives Bridges and Tool are hunting a serial killer. Tool receives a tip that the killer wants to turn himself in. While Jesse goes into the blind man's building, Si stabs Tulip! And Cassidy finds something in Si's apartment...

Feel free to review for yourself:
Day One
Day Two
Day Three
Day Four
Day Five
Day Six

Standard Preacher NSFW protocols apply.

Job 7

A Contract With God

Therefore I will not restrain my mouth;

I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;

I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

66 Days of Preacher: Day 6

The adventure in New York continues! Detectives Tool and Bridges investigate further into the Reaver-Cleaver murders! Tulip and Jesse argue! Cassidy swears a lot! And Jesse continues to literally look for God...

Standard Preacher NSFW protocols apply.

66 Days of Preacher: Day 5

The next three issues act as a bit of an interlude. Jesse, Tulip, and Cassidy visit New York, escaping all the madness of Texas. No angels. No demons. No Saint of All Killers. Just sight seeing, looking for God, and a serial killer...

Standard Preacher NSFW protocols apply. 

66 Days of Preacher: Day 4

Well, here it is. Issue four of Preacher and it is great. Plenty of crazy stuff happens in these pages and the main MacGuffin, or plot, for the series is explained to us. By the end of this issue Jesse Custer will be on a mission.

And all of Heaven will be dead set on stopping him.

Standard Preacher NSFW protocols apply.

66 Days of Preacher: Day 3

Angels! Demons! Vampires! Saint of All Killers! Genesis! This issue brings us closer to the main plot line of the series and its theological thrust that compels me to write about Preacher.

Standard Preacher NSFW protocols apply.

66 Days of Preacher: Day 2

When we last left our exciting tale, our three protagonists were on the run from the police as well as the menacing Saint of All Killers. Bad things were about to happen. Well, more bad things. Let's get right to it!

66 Days of Preacher: Day 1

Okay, here we go. Whenever I pondered the possibility of exploring theology in graphic literature the first title that came to mind was Preacher. This series exists as 66 issues (as well as some one shots and spinoffs, but we'll leave them be for now) and is one of my favorite series I've ever read. It's right up there with Y: The Last Man and The Walking Dead. Written by Garth Ennis and drawn by Steve Dillon, Preacher is an awesome joyride of a story filled with some of the most insane scenarios I have seen in any storytelling medium.

It's also incredibly blasphemous, heretical, offensive, irreverent, and brilliant. I read through the series years ago, before the concept of Wednesday Theology ever occurred to me. So it's well past time I read through it again and write down some thoughts.

One issue at a time.

Since this is Preacher, be advised that everything that follows should be considered relatively to extremely Not Safe For Work. So, if you're faint of heart, easily offended, or, you know, my mother, you might not want to read on.

Sacrilegious Comics

I don’t think there’s a built-in conflict or controversial element between comics and religion. But, like film, it’s a visual medium, and it invites spectacle. Unlike film, though, it’s far less policed and less corporately involved, so more extreme — and, yes, more sacrilegious — works can make it through to the market. Frankly, being sacrilegious isn’t a bad thing in and of itself; there can still be a great and entertaining story there. There can even be a useful message to or between religious communities. It’s when a work sets out to insult or persecute another group when the line must be drawn. Personally, I don’t think either Preacher or Chosen crosses that line.

- A. David Lewis