Page - 10 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 03/01

10 | Alexander D. Ornella/Christian Wessely www.jrfm.eu 2017, 3/1, 9–16 or wearing badges, buttons, t-shirts or sweaters with images of those charac- ters on them. In other words: many fans do not merely consume comic books; rather, they arrange a considerable part of their lives around them and in some cases even embody their heroes, that is, they copy their behaviour and their lan- guage.4 the comic universe, the comic books and the range of activities emerg- ing out of them and around them become a meaningful universe for fans. As a site that can give rise to meaning, comics are not a religion-free zone. religion emerges in and from comics in a variety of ways. Many comic book sto- ries draw on the vast pool of narratives and imagery from religious and mytho- logical traditions. The endless fight of good versus evil, the quest for purity and truth, the development of the virtues of the main characters, the initiation rites these characters have to go through – all these various elements connect the heroes and their narratives to a longing for that which transcends the ordinary,5 a human longing of which sallust said, “Now these things never happened, but always are.”6 Today, we can also find explicitly religious content being mediated through comic books, and Davide Zordan has argued that the medium “comic” is particularly apt to communicate religious narratives: “Now, even if comics is a popular medium considered mainly as a type of entertainment and, until very recently, without any societal relevance, it is characterised by this formal predis- position for religious subjects.”7 4 it is fascinating to see this behaviour used as a cross-media-reference: in the popular sitcom The Big Bang Theory (Chuck Lorre, UsA 2007–), the main characters share a fascination for comics and con- sequently spend considerable time in comic shops, at comic cons and talking about their favourite characters and series. 5 Chidester 2005, 1. 6 salustios, On Gods and the Cosmos 4, in: Murray 1943, App. 205. 7 Zordan 2015, 150. Fig. 2: A small part of the specific abilities of comics. Scott McCloud, Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art, New York: Harper Perennial, 1994 (1993), 211.