What do superheroes do on Sunday?

They go to church, of course; at least, they do if they’re practicing Christians.

Which are practicing Christians, you ask? Why not consult this handy-dandy chart compiled by people with too much time. It’s a table of superhero religious affiliations with links to provided evidence.

Of note: there are a lot of Catholics and various Protestant denominations, but I’m tickled by the “met God” category that some characters fall into.

Also of note is that most dreaded of categories—”Communist atheist”—to which Colossus and Black Widow belong.

§1046 · March 19, 2006 · Tags: ·

4 Comments to “What do superheroes do on Sunday?”

  1. Pharyngula says:
    Sunday, March 19th, 2006 at 7:37 pm

    Godless Sunday…

    Can you take a little more godlessness? Sean Carroll has a nice discussion of this remarkable article in the San Antonio Star-Telegram. Atheists…in Texas? A newspaper article that writes sympathetically about the godless? How gratifying! Religio…

    Reply
  2. Chris says:
    Tuesday, March 21st, 2006 at 8:43 pm

    You know i’m tickled by such things… stop tickling me!

    Reply
  3. Andy says:
    Wednesday, March 22nd, 2006 at 12:27 pm

    I actually think most of these are valid, from what I know. Perhaps it attempts a bit too much detail. (Jimmy Olsen a Lutheran? How was this determined exactly? Did some writer script a discussion of the Sacraments between he and Lois Lane? Did Superman’s best pal’s views on transsubstantiation of the body and blood of Christ play a significant role in The Last Son of Krypton defeating the Lex Luthor/Brainiac team in some story arc of which I remain unaware?) Protestant, I could buy; but not broken down into denominations of same.

    Artistic interpretations do not follow these models closely, though. I find it somewhat hard to believe that a “devout Christian” superheroine would dress so provocatively as is the vogue in spandex haute couture.

    But I digress.

    Reply
  4. Ben says:
    Wednesday, March 22nd, 2006 at 12:31 pm

    Well, according to the site:

    Given his last name, it is reasonable to presume that Jimmy Olsen was envisioned as a typical “all-American” Lutheran young man. The character’s creators lived in Cleveland, Ohio, where there would have been no shortage of Lutherans who were second- and- third-generation Scandinavians. Olsen (or Olson, as the character is sometimes mis-identified) is one of the most stereotypical Lutheran American names the writer could have chosen.

    But despite the seemingly obvious identification of Jimmy Olsen as a Lutheran,, and despite his having been featured in over six decades of stories, there exists little actual textual support within DC Comics cannon for the identification of Jimmy Olsen as a Lutheran. Olsen has never been written as if his religious background was anything other than Lutheran, but the character has not been portrayed as a devout churchgoer nor is he known to have overtly stated his religious affiliation. Perhaps the best evidence for Olsen’s Lutheran religious background or affiliation is influential Superman chronicler Elliot S! Maggin’s identification of Olsen as a Lutheran. Maggin seems to have simply articulated what other writes have assumed about Olsen for decades, but it is arguable whether this can be considered “cannon” (official DC Universe continuity).

    Reply

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