Sun Sep 23, 2012, 02:29 AM
WillParkinson (16,117 posts)
Religious persuasions of Comic Book Characters...Last edited Sun Sep 23, 2012, 06:16 AM USA/ET - Edit history (1)
http://www.adherents.com/lit/comics/comic_book_religion.html
Booster Gold (DC Comics) is an atheist. Pity I don't care for the character.
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14 replies, 1205 views
| Author | Time | Post | |
| WillParkinson | Sep 2012 | OP | |
| dimbear | Sep 2012 | #1 | |
| sakabatou | Sep 2012 | #3 | |
| dimbear | Sep 2012 | #4 | |
| sakabatou | Sep 2012 | #5 | |
| dimbear | Sep 2012 | #6 | |
| sakabatou | Sep 2012 | #7 | |
| Meshuga | Oct 2012 | #11 | |
| sakabatou | Oct 2012 | #12 | |
| Meshuga | Oct 2012 | #13 | |
| sakabatou | Oct 2012 | #14 | |
| sakabatou | Sep 2012 | #2 | |
| DonCoquixote | Oct 2012 | #8 | |
| dimbear | Oct 2012 | #9 | |
| Iggo | Oct 2012 | #10 |
Response to WillParkinson (Original post)
Mon Sep 24, 2012, 08:13 PM
dimbear (5,112 posts)
1. Don't know very many. Superman is clearly Jewish, and Batman is a stereoptypical
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WASP type, but beyond that hard to say. Spiderman might be Unitarian, tho. So much doubt.
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Response to dimbear (Reply #1)
Mon Sep 24, 2012, 08:46 PM
sakabatou (29,072 posts)
3. Says on the list he's Protestant
Response to sakabatou (Reply #3)
Mon Sep 24, 2012, 09:02 PM
dimbear (5,112 posts)
4. By "he" do you mean Peter Parker? Could be. Clark Kent is definitely Jewish,
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you can tell by his parents' Hebrew names.
(Not to say that one can't convert.) |
Response to dimbear (Reply #4)
Tue Sep 25, 2012, 12:16 AM
sakabatou (29,072 posts)
5. Kent is not a Jewish name
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It's Old English for "sharp" or "cut" I think.
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Response to sakabatou (Reply #5)
Tue Sep 25, 2012, 12:24 AM
dimbear (5,112 posts)
6. His birth parents. Kal el and so on.
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Jor el and so on. El is Hebrew for "lord."
Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster were both Jewish. |
Response to dimbear (Reply #6)
Tue Sep 25, 2012, 02:20 AM
sakabatou (29,072 posts)
7. Yes, their names are derived from Hebrew
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But Superman, the character, isn't Jewish.
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Response to sakabatou (Reply #7)
Mon Oct 15, 2012, 07:58 AM
Meshuga (6,084 posts)
11. He is not Jewish in the story but...
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The creators were Jewish and some say that they used the "Jewish immigrant" story trying to fit in the American society just like their parents did. At least for the initial concept.
Not only the parents of superman and superman's names were Hebrew but "Kent" is one of many americanizations of the name "Cohen." So I am sure superman spins the dreidel. |
Response to Meshuga (Reply #11)
Mon Oct 15, 2012, 03:48 PM
sakabatou (29,072 posts)
12. Nope.
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From Wikipedia: The modern name of Kent is derived from the Brythonic word Cantus meaning "rim" or "border".
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Response to sakabatou (Reply #12)
Mon Oct 15, 2012, 10:03 PM
Meshuga (6,084 posts)
13. It doesn't mean that Jewish immigrants didn't use it...
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...as an Americanized version of "Cohen." The Wikipedia article about superman suggests:
"Furthermore, the surname Kent, in early 20th century real life, was a common Americanization of 'Cohen,' and Clark Kent's wimpy, bumbling persona strongly resembled the classic Yiddish schlemiel." |
Response to WillParkinson (Original post)
Mon Sep 24, 2012, 08:45 PM
sakabatou (29,072 posts)
2. Booster Gold... annoying as hell.
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Wolverine seems interesting.
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Response to WillParkinson (Original post)
Wed Oct 10, 2012, 08:51 PM
DonCoquixote (5,630 posts)
8. Hmm
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Last edited Wed Oct 10, 2012, 08:52 PM USA/ET - Edit history (1) I would say Comic books tend to have a lot of Atheists and Agnostics, namely ebcause there are a lot of Scientists. Plus there is the whole awkwardness of Faith when, very often, the Gods and Godessess people used to worship are the people having Coffee with you in the Hall of Justice or Avenger's mansion.
Here is on odd take: Is Doctor Strange, aka the "sorcerer supreme", a Pagan clegy, or, because he knows the way these "magic" entitiies work, is he a Scientist, dealing with just a slightly more complicated group of people and forces? Also, one last point about Comics.. A story I read when I was young had the Justice League beating a Witch, that turned out to be a High-tech alien using holograms. Now, Barry Allen, aka the Flash, was a police scientist, so he said: "This proves to me that what people call Magic is nothing more than undiscovered science!" Then, Hal Jordan, aka Green Lantern, tells Barry "maybe Science is just unacknowledged magic..." And I can only imagine what would have happened if DU was around at the time |
Response to WillParkinson (Original post)
Wed Oct 10, 2012, 10:16 PM
dimbear (5,112 posts)
9. One bit of negative information: Plasticman, definitely not Hardshell Baptist. n/t
Response to WillParkinson (Original post)
Fri Oct 12, 2012, 08:44 PM
Iggo (22,306 posts)
10. Other than Nightcrawler being Catholic...
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...which was more of a play on how he looked like the devil but was down with the lord, but other than that I don't really remember religion being a big part of the storylines when I read comics back in the 60s and 70s.
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