STH: Special Collections

Beginning August 30th, 2018 the School of Theology Library officially re-named its Religion and Graphica Collection the “A. David Lewis Religion and Graphica Collection.” With this name change, we recognize the tireless work of Dr. Lewis helping to secure the funding to launch the collection in 2009 through a BU Center for the Humanities grant, his continued generosity as the collection expands, and his significant contribution to scholarship at the intersection of religion and comics.

The collection contains a variety of religious-themed materials in graphic novel format ranging from the classic Maus novels of Art Spiegelman to the irreverent Battle Pope novels of Robert Kirkman and company. The collection is located in the last row of our oversized books and items in the Lewis Religion and Graphica Collection can be checked out.  Please feel free to browse our shelves to see what we have available, or ask for assistance if you cannot locate an item. Use BU Libraries Search to locate a specific item in the collection and find its availability.

Dr. Lewis, a current faculty member at MCPHS University, is an alumnus of Boston University’s Graduate Division of Religious Studies; his dissertation was the basis of 2014 publication American Comics, Literary Theory, and Religion: the Superhero Afterlife. Dr. Lewis co-edited Muslim Superheroes: Comics, Islam, and Representation with Martin Lund, released in 2017. His newest work, Kismet, Man of Fate: Boston Strong, will be released in print September 2018. The Library hosted a talk by Dr. Lewis in 2017 on the overlap of religion and comics.