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Recently, Comedy Central’s South Park aired a three-part episode titled “Imaginationland.” The boys travel to where all imaginary characters are real and meet The Flash, The Matrix’s Morpheus, Luke Skywalker and dozens more. Religious icons are represented as being imaginary characters as well, and Jesus was depicted as one of the top nine imaginary characters. This satire was clever and didn’t necessarily bother me but it was other students' reactions to this depiction that was troubling. I was in a full room of people when the episode was on. When Jesus was shown as an imaginary character, someone shouted, “That’s awesome!” and the room erupted in laughter. We attend a university that champions the idea of cultural unity, where everyone is valued because of what they believe, but this is not the truth. Time and time again “intellectual” professors decry Christians as backwards and unenlightened. At the University we must tolerate and respect other cultures ... except for those Bible thumpers.So I step onto my soapbox and present some Christian-themed comic books and heroes.

Bibleman

Though not a comic book, this video series is sold at Christian bookstores and periodically shown on the TBN (Trinity Broadcasting Network). Bibleman also doubles as a traveling live-action ministry show. Though campy, the show is meant for a younger audience. Armed with the Word of God and a lightsaber-like weapon, the armored Bibleman fights allegorical villains, such as the Shadow of Doubt, who makes church members doubt God. The new series features a new Bibleman and is called Bibleman: Powersource.

Learn more at http://www.bibleman.com/

PowerMark

This comic book features PowerMark, a soldier working for the Alliance, a group devoted to the protection of humankind. Utilizing his resolve as a hero and knowledge of the Bible, Mark Chen is able to curb the attempts by the evil Leviathan to conquer and destroy the world. The super hero stories are complimented by accompanying Bible stories.

As series creator Steve Benintendi told me, “Our agenda is to expose as many kids as possible to this positive role model and to powerful and exciting stories found in the scriptures. Doing so will certainly have an evangelism impact, but no where will these books cram something down anyone’s throat.”

Intended for eight to 14-year-olds, PowerMark is a well-drawn series that, unlike Bibleman, is less blatant in its allegory.

Learn more at www.powermarkcomics.com

Battle Pope Vol. 1: Genesis

This is not a Christian comic book, though it does feature Jesus, God and the pope. Written by Robert Kirkman (Invincible, Walking Dead) for Image, this series falls short of the brilliance his other series exhibit. Unlike the rest of the character driven work he has done, Battle Pope is an action driven comic that is sacrilegious for sacrilegiousness’ sake. It hardly sustains a second reading. Featuring a post-Revelations world, God has appointed the Pope to find a fallen angel and features Jesus as a Rush Hour Chris Tucker sidekick. I’m not Catholic, but after reading this book, I felt like I needed to confess it to a priest.