The Relationship Between Superman and Churches

Abstract

When future Superman comics editor Mort Weisinger was first hired as a comic book editor in the 1940s, he called his friend Otto Binder for a “crash course” on working in the medium. Binder said it was “very simple,” because in comics, “you get a fight, the hero hits the villain on the head with a lamp and says, ‘Lights out for you!’” That may be a bit of a simplification. Sometimes, superhero stories endeavour to comment on contemporary politics, have deep literary significance, or evoke religious symbolism. Nonetheless, with reference to the character of Superman, this study will demonstrate that churches have had an evolving relationship with superhero media that connect their stories to Jesus. In this essay I will track the history of parallels between the comic book character of Superman and Jesus Christ and analyze how such parallels have been perceived in churches in North America. The idea of connecting Superman and Jesus has sometimes been controversial. I will argue that initially some churches and self-professing Christians were cautious or even angry about such parallels, but over time, other Christians began to exploit this parallelism because they thought Superman movies could be used for evangelistic purposes. Even so, in the last decade, the studios behind the Superman films consciously exploited that parallelism to market the movies to churches. As such, churches and pastors who participate in such enterprises are left with an ethical question: should they allow themselves to be used as a marketing tool for a multinational corporation trying to sell a superhero film if they believe that in doing so, they can help spread the Gospel to the wider culture?