Title: Faith, Morality, and the Man without Fear: Theology and Religion in Daredevil

Editors: Taylor Thomas and Regan Hardeman

Abstract, CV, and Proposal due: July 30, 2023

Initial Final Paper due: November 15, 2023

Created by Stan Lee, Bill Everett, and Jack Kirby in 1964, Daredevil is a triumph in comic book writing that provocatively combines the holy militancy of John Brown with the impassioned jurisprudence of Thurgood Marshall. Matt Murdock, commonly known as the blind lawyer from Hell’s Kitchen in the series, upholds the law while Daredevil, Murdock’s masked persona, breaks it when the justice system fails. Murdock’s costumed crusade has long been inextricably connected to a fragile, yet enduring, Christian worldview he engages, and often questions, throughout the series. This distinctively religious element of the character drives nuanced storylines that explore moral, theological, and interpersonal conflicts and raise existential questions about value, purpose, and the threat of nihilism in a seemingly godless world. In Faith, Morality, and the Man without Fear: Theology and Religion in Daredevil, scholars from various specializations related to the study of theology and religion will be invited to examine philosophical,  theological, and religious themes and concepts as they have appeared within the now almost sixty-year-long multimedia world of Daredevil.

The goal of Faith, Morality, and the Man without Fear is to engage interdisciplinary perspectives on topics ranging from (1) theodicy, metaphysics, epistemology, and axiology to (2) theological and ethical reflections on violence, pacifism, and moral duty. The editors want to continue uplifting comic and graphic novels as a narrative art that rewards scholarly analysis. The volume will be thematically grouped along three primary themes of inquiry: (1) Philosophy, theology, and ethics, (2) identity, embodiment, and recognition, and (3) religion, society, and the law. As such, we are seeking scholars from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines who can help us in our goal of designing a multi-author volume that is diverse in its content and broadly accessible to general audiences interested in theology and religion, while maintaining the scholarly merit required to be used as supplementary material in introductory level theology and religion courses. We ask that potential contributors explore Daredevil as the character has appeared both on and, very importantly, off the screen.

Potential Topics:

Freedom and Destiny

Law and Order

Justice and Mercy/Forgiveness and Judgement

Faith and Doubt

Violence and Pacifism

Morality and Virtue

Friendship and Fellowship

Parenthood and Mentorship

Vocation/Calling

Duty and Desire

Sacred Spaces

Love and Hate

Trauma and Restoration 

Belonging and Acceptance

Politics and Religion

Religion and the Occult

Aesthetics

The Nature of Good and Evil

Identity (Religious, Racial, Sexual, Gender, etc.)/Disability and Bodies

Domination and Liberation

Race and Racism/Gender and Sexuality

Timeframes: Please send a 250-300 word abstract, a paper proposal of up to 1000 words, and a current CV to radicalt@bu.edu. Acceptance notifications will be sent out by September 15,  2023. Full manuscripts will be capped at 6000 words a piece and due on November 15, 2023. The completed volume will be sent to the publisher on June 1, 2024.