MattGlover.com

Hamo’s post here reminded me of a chapter for a book I began to write two years ago. The book was a dialogue between theology and various area of popular culture. I was to write a chapter on cartoons and God.

Unfortunately, the editor and the publisher had a big fight and the project was halted midway through. This is the intro to the chapter…one day I’ll get around to writing the rest!

What are your thoughts? What would you like to see me cover were I to finish it?!

God in the Funny Pages
An Exploration of God and Faith through the Eyes of the Cartoonist.
Matt Glover BSc(Hons) BTheol

The cartoonist occupies a unique place in society. In the first instance they play the role of the comedian or court jester, entertaining and amusing the masses with their sharp wit and clever images. But at the same time they are skilled social commentators, pointing out the ridiculous, the hopeless, the challenges, the joys, the grief and the celebration of life. They seek to inform and persuade us, and often in the process of doing so, manage to upset and offend us. Yet, in a way reminiscent of the ancient mystics and spiritual gurus, from a position of relative obscurity and isolation, the cartoonist gathers a following of faithful fans that will regularly turn to the funny pages for their pearls of wisdom.

For all the interest they generate, the trade of the cartoonist often involves a long and lonely journey, requiring deep and thoughtful reflection on events happening on the international, local and personal levels. It demands that the artist live with a finger on the pulse of culture, but somehow removed from it sufficiently to portray events in a creative, thought provoking way. The measure of success is not awards or accolades or financial gain, but by simply being able to prompt the average person to cut out a cartoon and stick it on their refrigerator.

Existing in such a unique position, the cartoonist is able to delve into the very core of what we regard as important and bring it to the surface in a way which, in the first instance, serves to make us smile, but ultimately moves us beyond the drawn image and points us to a reality with which we must deal. It is here that the worlds of theology and cartoons meet.