Keep religion AND atheism out of mainstream comics

I am so sick of writers downing Christianity and other religions and religious people in comics. It's annoying and petty and immature. you don't want religion in comics? fine. I don't read the medium for that any way. But i damn sure don't read it to be told I'm not smart for believing in God. It's sickening. I drop books that do that with a quickness. Atheists wouldnt like if I wrote their favorite hero praying and worshipping and I don't like when some hack of a writer writes a favorite character of mine undermining religion. The only fair solution is to not mention either side or favor either side in comics. Keep your disbelief to yourself and I'll keep my faith to myself. That's pure reason. atheists love that correct? Marvel and Dc should not mention or favor either side. Do what you want in Icon, Vertigo, Image or indie stuff but in mainstream comics that should be for everyone they should isolate no one.

Is this really that big of a problem?

The only time I can ever remember Marvel or DC referencing God in a modern comic was Peter thanking god for having Mary Jane. And yes, it irked me but hardly enough to rant over it.

True.

Here's a radical idea: let artists express themselves in any way they damn well want and if you don't like it, do your own or don't buy it or just, ya know, shut up XD

Religion, and atheism is a huge part or most people lives and it will continue to remain in comics books.

There are many religious characters, like daredevil, Bane and azrael and more as well as comic books that mention religion many times as part of the plot. So believers aren't alone.

@bumpyboo:

Express yourself in creator owned projects. Hell express yoruself in mainstream. Just not in a way that alienates anyone. Superman, Spider-man Hulk, Batmn etc. are supposed to be for every single person. Not just people who subscribe to one belif system. And if your expression can't sell or do what you want it to doin something creator owned then maybe you shouldnt be writing if you cant come up with an interesting story of your own.

Comics are a storytelling medium. Faith, or the lack of it, is a fairly big existential problem and can make for interesting and relatable storylines. If you're so immature and sensitive that you feel personally offended by a cartoon character on a page, just stop indulging in media all together. I'm an atheist, and I don't mind at all when comics talk about religion and faith, on the contrary, I think some of the best stories in fiction deal with faith or mythology in some manner. Preacher is one of my favorite comics. Paradise Lost and Anna Karenina are two of my favorite books. Religion is a part of everyday life, it's not disappearing from comics anytime soon.

@minuterice1924: Oh please. spare me the idea that every single take on a character must be considerate and representative of every single sub group. So someone did a thing with a character that you don't like. And what? XD It'll be rewritten soon enough, that is the beauty of modern comics. Nothing is sacred and everything is subject to change.

Well that's just....like your own opinion man.

What exactly are you referring to when you say a comic told you your not smart for believing in god? And they can't cut out religion or atheism if it's part of the character. Superman has christian values. But I'm not going to be offended because I don't have the same values. It's just part of who they are. Which, to me, makes them more believable as an actual person. Since everyone believes in something after all.

Melodramatic much?

Let's say your black. Would you buy a comic blatantly espousing a position that is offensive to black people? I doubt it. Don't trivialize what I'm saying into something as simple as, "They cant please everybody." No they can't. But they can avoid blatantly offending people.

duh. literally a pointless comment. I can't state someone else's opinion.

I'm on the fence on this issue of God myself, and I'm leaning toward atheism, but I thoroughly agree with you. I hate it when atheists push their disbelief on other people. Shut up bro, nobody wants to hear that crap.

However, I must agree with some of the posters, as well as you to an extent. I would rather not see someone push their belief on the reading public, and shame those who oppose their beliefs, but on some level, we have to know about these characters. We as readers and as people need to understand that people have a range of feelings about every topic under the sun, and for that to be shown on page would mean a lot to readers.

I think great writing in this situation would be to show that the atheist might understand why the other characters would feel the need to believe in a sort of godlike figure, despite not understanding why they do it in the first place. But that is only a reflection of me, lol. I don't know about other people.

Sorry for the TLDR post.

@dccomicsrule2011:

I'm melodramatic? Check out a thread called religion what do you think?

*Clears throat*

I just don't give a f*ck.

@minuterice1924: Well that's just........like your own opinion man.

...okay? What does that have to do with what I said? Religion and such is apart of everyday life matter we want to admit it or not, and comics is a medium that deals with everyday life. To omit that from such a medium is beyond ridiculous.

@minuterice1924: Your favorite character doesn't have to mirror your own values or religion. Daredevil is catholic, Guy Gardner is a right wing alpha male and The Question at least in early appearances, had Objectivist beliefs. I'm a left leaning atheist and these are three of my favorite characters. I think you're making mountains outta mole hills here.

@minuterice1924: I'm not trivialising it. But you are not the only person in the world who belongs in a minority and multi million dollar companies owe you nothing. Not saying it doesn't suck. Just saying if you care do something about it other than bitch on the internet.

and the sky is blue.

you missed thepoint. reread the first post. I never once state they have to mirror my beliefs. I cannot stress enough how much reading the first post is integral to having a meaningful discussion

I'm not being melodramatic. I'm stating an opinion. not when you run the risk of losing consumers because you blatantly insult them.

......I thought that about everyone in DC and Marvel knew that the Presence/TOAA existed?

I guess, I'm not reading the same comics as you. I mean Captain America believes in a god, The Fantastic Four have met god and Ghost Rider's abilities come from....you guessed right God. I even think some writers' works show a very spiritual side of them, First one comes to my mind is Morrision's Animal man and I think Lemire did a similar thing in his run.

Dude, religion fanatics and atheists are just as bad as each other forcing their views on people. What you're reading in comics is peoples opinions to this fanaticism that the world is kind of pushing. So take it with a grain of salt, and remember you can't have faith without doubt.

Thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis.

Artists are restricted enough by editors without people trying to completely ban them from handling serious topics. The suggestion that should be for "creator-owned projects" alone is laughable. If serious topics could only be handled in creator-owned projects, Dennis O'Neil would have never gotten his chance to speak out for the blacks in his Green Lantern run, and Gail Simone could never have made the first openly transgender character in a place people could actually see.

Collaring what artists are and are not able to express leads to a Dark Age, as it has always done, and as it would do again. If you don't want to hear people pontificate on religion then don't listen. But it's by writers and creators not being throttled by what you think they should be allowed to say that allows our culture to grow and become brighter.

@joygirl: *Noms you*

@minuterice1924: I read the initial post. You think mainstream comics are insulting to religious believers. I don't think that's true. That's why I chose to ignore that statement. You want me to believe it, post a scan of a superhero bashing religion. What I think is you want to read bland comic books.

Either way preacher is awesome

+1

Wow, really? Maybe deal with real life crap than complain about religion in comics...

Please take a chill pill OP, it's not the end of the world if a fictional character offends you.

Some people are just overly sensitive it seems. It's a comic book for god's sake(See what I did there?).
I don't care if fictional media makes a joke of anything I like or believe, people need to learn to take trivial things like these less serious. But then again, this is the internet.

I agree

I completely agree my friend.

Can I have an example? Because, for some reason, I don't think these writers "down religion". I think they show it in a different light, that they examined it, or even critique it and it's structure. I don't think I've ever seen a writer just blatantly say "f*ck God". That'd be to basic.

No. I don't believe in censorship. If you find something offensive, suck it up and not read it.

It is not a big deal at all.

No

Yep.

And @minuterice1924: Bumbyboo is black, didn't you know?

Btw, even athiest say "Thank God" or "Oh my God". It's just an expression.

I gotta disagree with OP here.

One of the best things of the Bendis/Maleev run on Daredevil was seeing Matt struggle with his life by his catholic faith. It was pathos, it was haunting, and it was dark.

On the other side of the coin, what would Spawn be if we kept all religion out of comics. I think i'll leave it with this.

I think a writer should be able to make his/her character believe in or not believe in whatever they want. Don't like it don't continue to read it. I know if I created a character he/she would have whatever beliefs I wanted him/her to have and no amount of complaining would change that.

@blade_r:

The OP states specifically that creator owned characters should be whatever the writer wants. Their comains re about mainstream characters of Marvel and DC

I find any comic book character from DC being an atheist hilarious.

Still, I personally think if a writer has permission to write a character, he/she should be able to do whatever they want with that character as long as the creator or whoever owns that character doesn't have a problem with it.

@immortal777: Why DC? I just want to know.

My opinion on religion - I think people that believe in the Christian/Catholic/Jewish/ect god are extremely naive based upon the world around us.

My opinion on this thread - Comics are the perfect place for a spiritual debate. Look at all the stuff that happens in them. Worlds ending and beginning. People with amazing powers. Aliens. Gods from other religions such as Thor, Odin, Zeus, Hercules. There are things here that both support and debunk things from the bible.

For me it comes down to the character specifically. As much as I don't like it, it makes sense for Superman to believe in god because of his parents. Small farming family, odds are their faith is decent. It makes sense for Stark to not believe in anything being as heavily involved in science as he is. It suits his character.

Best to just get the eff over it. I have.

@twentyfive: Because of characters like the Spectre, Phantom Stranger and etc.

@immortal777: Oh okay. So Marvel's counterparts to those characters would be the Watcher and other characters like him?

Not another Atheism vs. religion (more specifically Christianity) thread please.

@twentyfive: I couldn't say for Marvel.