Tag Archives: Beth Davies-Stofka

When it comes to the classroom, not all comic Bibles are created equal

The Kingstone Bible
The Kingstone Bible

There are many different angles from which to consider comic book Bibles and plenty of excellent scholarship already shared on Sacred and Sequential. I don’t intend to go over this ground again but instead to consider comic Bibles from the perspective of Religious Education pedagogy; what might educators need to consider before they bring comic book Bibles into the classroom as materials for study and learning. I am not concerned therefore, with comics as tools for evangelising or as supposed miracle cures for reluctant readers. Instead I am coming from the perspective of English mainstream education where Religious Education is a legal requirement. Of course, this is a situation that is not always present in other countries but hopefully I can stir up useful questions and pedagogical judgements that should surround our classroom materials used by all students, regardless of the medium. Or encourage you to think about using comics in your classrooms, because I really think they are a fantastic, much under-appreciated resource!

Continue reading When it comes to the classroom, not all comic Bibles are created equal

Transcript: Comix Scholars List Discusses Indian Comics and Manga

imageBased out of the University of Florida’s Comics Studies track within the the Department of English, the Comix-Scholars Discussion List (COMIX-SCHOLARS-L) hosts lively and diverse free, digital conversation between subscribed members invested in comics as a field of study. And sometimes that discussion turns to religion and comics, as it did on Wednesday, November 18th when S&S’s own Beth Davies-Stofka asked the List:

I’m tying up some loose ends on a writing project that relates to scholarship focused on religion in comics.

I have about 250 words that I can devote to the topic of the study of religion in Indian comics. I have Karline McLain’s book, India’s Immortal Comic Books, which I am regarding as a kind of “first” in the field of religious studies.

But I’d like to know if there is work being done on the subject in languages other than English.

Anyone know?

Continue reading Transcript: Comix Scholars List Discusses Indian Comics and Manga

ReligionLink Targets Comics, Misses a Lot

ReligionLink.com is, by its own description, “a non-partisan service of Religion Newswriters” that is “by journalists, for journalists.” So, it’s understandable that they encourage religion writers to think further on the intersection of the comics-based genre of superheroes and religion in recognition of Superman’s 75th anniversary and new film. Clearly, Rao endorses this viewpoint, too.

However, the “background and expert sources” they claim to provide prove sadly lacking; though lengthy and exhaustive-looking, it reads as the result of Google searching and Amazon browsing rather than an actual, knowledgeable resource. Their list of recommended books leaves out any title that isn’t Judeo-Christian, and, similarly, their article list includes one mention of Islam in regards to coverage of The 99; likewise, their manifest of three dozen experts seems to only include one focusing on Arabs (the esteemed Fedwa Malti-Douglas) and one on occult practices (the weirdly unattributed Christopher Knowles). They even get Professor Malti-Douglas’s URL wrong!

ReligionLink on Superheroes

But it’s easy to criticize. What else should have been there? Well… Continue reading ReligionLink Targets Comics, Misses a Lot

Writer Joshua Dysart on Religion in Unknown Soldier

Though the series was recently canceled by DC Comics, the Unknown Soldier has once again been nominated for an Eisner Award. Over at The Comic Book Bin, Beth Davies-Stofka conducted a multi-part interview with its writer Joshua Dysart, and, in this featured segment, she focuses on the role of religion in the series. Dysart tells Davies-Stofka:

There was virtually no conflict between the Christian culture and the Islamic culture as I saw it when I was traveling through Uganda. And I just was obsessed with that. I was fascinated by it.

Read the entirety of the interview for the role of religion in the main character’s life as well as subsequent parts that segue into discussions of general morality.