An Introduction to Infinite Kizes

I love superhero comics. And I'm also a Christian. A pretty conservative one, at that.

A lot of my friends like superhero comics as well. And a lot of those same friends are Christians too.

Perhaps it's a coindence. Maybe we're an oddity, like uninvited guests finding their way into the Batcave. Sure, it happens from time to time, but it's not like you see it everyday. After all, most of the people making comics these days don't seem particularly religious, so why would those who read them be? With so many demon-powered superheroes, hyper-violent fight scenes, and skimpily dressed femmes on the stands, you'd think the followers of Christ would be drawn to loftier pursuits.

But comics are also filled with epic battles of good versus evil, champions of righteousness dueling the servants of sin. Comic scribes and (more recently) film directors have latched onto the superhero as a mythological symbol, their adventures an allegory for our spiritual existence. Could it be that superhero fandom and a life of faith are a natural fit, a match made in...well, heaven?

As is prone to be the case with matters of God and culture, the truth most likely lies somewhere between these two possibilities (though my inner fanboy says it more heavily leans toward the latter). At times, comics provide us a perfectly valid analogy for theological truth, though they can just as easily completely fail to do so.

In this blog, I'll be trying my best to navigate the proper path through these ideas. Like I said, I love superheroes, so you won't find me going all Frederic Wertham on them. But, it would be just as foolish for me to automatically spiritualize everything in a cape and utility belt like others have done before time and time again.