I recently read Who Needs A Superhero? written by H. Michael Brewer. While I suspect that there may be one or two reading this post who’ve read the book, I suspect that most haven’t. Let me just say that I think every fan of comics and Christ-follower should read this book. In a nutshell, Brewer takes some of the all-time favorites and “finds virtue, vice and holiness” in them.
Without giving anything away, he tackles various heros and heroines and then shows us how they communicate Biblical truths. Characters included and discussed are: Superman, Batman, Hulk, Spider-Man, Iron man, Wonder Woman, Thor, Daredevil, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Punisher, Green Arrow, Captain America, and The Spirit. Quite the spandex lineup!
For those of us who’ve read and loved comics for years, Brewer doesn’t really tell us anything about the characters we don’t already know–however, he does put them in a Biblical light, something we probably haven’t done. I know that I hadn’t, not for the overwhelming majority of them anyway.
The other cool thing is that Brewer really knows his stuff: comics AND Bible. We didn’t get overlong explanations of the characters. I enjoyed the way he summarized what we know about the hero without being long and drawn out…and then brought in Biblical truths revealed by the character and their story. He’s handled it so that the devoted comic afficianado is interested and the casual comic reader is equipped with enough information to understand.Brewer ties both a love for Christ and a love for comics together very nicely.
Comments
Sounds like an interesting read. Will need to look it up.
Martin