Sacrificial Love (Of Cyborgs, Saviors, and Driller, a Real Robot Killer) in the Comics Descender and Ascender.
Seeking to examine cases of sacrificial love for another that is empathetic, unconditional, and morally redemptive, I focus on writer Jeff Lemire's and artist Dustin Nguyen's heralded comic series, Descender and Ascender (published by Image Comics starting in 2015 and 2018, respectively). In the fir...
| Publicado en: | Humanities (2076-0787) Vol. 14; no. 4; pp. 91 - 120 |
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| Formato: | Artículo |
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MDPI
Apr2025
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=184795426&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 184795426 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 20760787 FDTT jtl: Humanities (2076-0787) issn: 20760787 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Apr2025 vid: 14 iid: 4 pid: 97109 pub: MDPI artinfo: ui: 184795426 10.3390/h14040091 ppf: 91 ppct: 29 formats: tig: atl: Sacrificial Love (Of Cyborgs, Saviors, and Driller, a Real Robot Killer) in the Comics Descender and Ascender. aug: au: Admirand, Peter affil: School of Theology, Philosophy, and Music, DCU All Hallows Campus, Dublin City University, D09N920 Dromcondra, Ireland su: Nguyen, Dustin Lemire, Jeff Sacrifice Love Atonement Empathy Redemption sug: subj: Nguyen, Dustin Lemire, Jeff Sacrifice Love Atonement Empathy Redemption keyword: Ascender atonement comics studies Descender Dustin Nguyen empathy Jeff Lemire love redemption sacrifice sacrificial love ab: Seeking to examine cases of sacrificial love for another that is empathetic, unconditional, and morally redemptive, I focus on writer Jeff Lemire's and artist Dustin Nguyen's heralded comic series, Descender and Ascender (published by Image Comics starting in 2015 and 2018, respectively). In the first main subsection, I argue how illustrative fictional cases (some involving robots) can mirror inter-human ethical struggles in our own world and examine what I call the "The R2-D2 and Wall-E Syndrome". Next, I look at some representative theoretical, literary, and biblical examples of sacrifice, especially regarding morally problematic theories about Jesus' death on the cross, a classic Western example of sacrificial love. I then provide a brief context for why I chose Descender and Ascender and highlight some of the main themes and characters in the comics. In doing so, I draw from three main examples: the cyborg and mother Effie (Queen Between), the companion robot TIM-21, and the robot Driller ("a real killer"), where I gleam key traits of sacrificial love as empathetic, unconditional, and morally redemptive. I close with how to distinguish unholy and holy forms of sacrificial love and reflect on how the examples of sacrificial love in the comics ultimately complement my reading of Jesus' sacrificial death on the cross while adding some stipulations to his oft-quoted saying: "No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends" (John 15:13). pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y dt: @attributes: year: 2025 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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