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A New GnosisFrom Horror to Heroes: Mythologies of Graphic Voodoo in Comics

A New Gnosis: From Horror to Heroes: Mythologies of Graphic Voodoo in Comics [This essay examines the mythemes of Voodoo in comics from the early twentieth century to the present day. Unlike Vodun, an indigenous tradition of West Africa, or Vodou, an African diasporic religion in Haiti, Voodoo is a trope of imagined racial and religious otherness. Comics Voodoo – or what I call Graphic Voodoo – comes to the fore in its envisioning of black religion and spirituality as the loci of spectacular figurations of horror and supernaturalism, and ultimately as an origin source of the black Superhero as Africana deity. It is my contention that Graphic Voodoo simultaneously reflects and exaggerates fears of the black Sacred through the use of sensational narratives and visual illustrations of Africana religions as savage, violent, and demonic.] http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png

A New GnosisFrom Horror to Heroes: Mythologies of Graphic Voodoo in Comics

Part of the Contemporary Religion and Popular Culture Book Series
Editors: Odorisio, David M.
Chireau, Yvonne
A New Gnosis — Jan 1, 2023
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32 pages

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Publisher
Springer International Publishing
Copyright
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023
ISBN
978-3-031-20126-4
Pages
25 –57
DOI
10.1007/978-3-031-20127-1_3
Publisher site
See Chapter on Publisher Site

Abstract

[This essay examines the mythemes of Voodoo in comics from the early twentieth century to the present day. Unlike Vodun, an indigenous tradition of West Africa, or Vodou, an African diasporic religion in Haiti, Voodoo is a trope of imagined racial and religious otherness. Comics Voodoo – or what I call Graphic Voodoo – comes to the fore in its envisioning of black religion and spirituality as the loci of spectacular figurations of horror and supernaturalism, and ultimately as an origin source of the black Superhero as Africana deity. It is my contention that Graphic Voodoo simultaneously reflects and exaggerates fears of the black Sacred through the use of sensational narratives and visual illustrations of Africana religions as savage, violent, and demonic.]

Published: Jan 1, 2023

Keywords: Horror; Graphic Voodoo; Black superheroes; Comics; Race

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