There seems to be a reoccurring trend in movies, television shows, and now my comics! Numerous mentions of the devil, spiritualistic rituals, demons, and all things opposite of God. Let's start with Marvel. Fans of 'Spider-Man' know the fiasco of 'Brand New Day'. Mephisto or the devil makes a bargain with our boy Spidey. Which erases all continuity of Spider-Man and Civil War events. Then we move on a few years later and we have my all-time favorite Marvel comic: 'X-Force'. Needless to say I was very pleased to see 'X-force' make a comeback and the return of Domino was an extra special treat for me. But in #9 references are made to Ghost Rider (a man who is inhabited by a demon), and Demon Bear ( a demon that looks like a grizzly). Wherein Johnny Blaze says "I'm going to teach you how to kill a demon."
Then we have DC, and my all-time favorite character: Batman. Well if you haven't heard the internet buzz, or read the forums, and message boards about Batman and the Black Glove organization there has been numerous discussions about the head of said organization being none other than the Devil himself. My initial response was "WTF!!! What is Satan doing in a Batman story and why is he interested in Bruce Wayne?" After reading Morrison's run and putting the pieces together: spiritualistic rituals, demon-exorcisms, and other super-natural references and innuendos, I'm starting to think The Devil was intended to be GM's 'big reveal'. Which really wouldn't surprise me given Mr. Morrison is himself into the Occult and a practicer of magic. I guess being a Christian I find all this devil-talk to be highly offensive and quite frankly unoriginal story telling.
I do not want Satan, demons, or other evil spirit creatures in MY COMICS! I think it's ungodly to entertain these notions in my reading material. I think it is very inappropriate on both companies parts. Hell they don't even mention Jesus or God but they have no problem using Satan as a reoccurring character. I'm not claiming to be a 'model Christian' or anything but it's upsetting to me and it saddens me that my childhood hobby of comics is under attack from a very powerful evil presence and undertone. I will no longer purchase anything Grant Morrison has penned. As a Christian the idea of allowing this entity any recognition in fiction is appalling. What is happening to comic books these days? Following the trend that 'Satan is cool now' is a very dangerous and risky venture to embark upon. I for one will NOT entertain it any longer.
