Skip to main content

“To Survive and Still Dream”: Ritual and Reclamation in Little Bird

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
A New Gnosis

Part of the book series: Contemporary Religion and Popular Culture ((CRPC))

  • 126 Accesses

Abstract

Winner of the Eisner Award for Best Limited Series (2020), Little Bird: The Fight for Elder’s Hope presents readers with a postapocalyptic vision which pits an obscenely corrupt totalitarian religious regime against an indigenously inspired rebel community. In pages steeped in rich, lushly saturated hues of red, aqua, and violet, writer Darcy Van Poelgeest and artist Ian Bertram’s eponymous character Little Bird swoops into each comic panel – deftly fierce and gravely vulnerable. The comic is a picture of archetypal contrasts: between institution and individual, between other and self, between death and life, between real and imagined, between story and experience.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Baudemann, Kristina. 2016. Indigenous Futurisms in North American Indigenous Art: The Transforming Visions of Ryan Singer, Daniel McCoy, Topaz Jones, Marla Allison, and Debra Yepa-Pappan. Extrapolation 57 (1–2): 117–150.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brisson, Luc. 1992. Eros. In Greek and Egyptian Mythologies, ed. Yves Bonnefoy, 164–172. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chaney, Michael A. 2011. Animal Subjects of the Graphic Novel. College Literature 38 (3): 129–149.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Darmon, Jean-Pierre. 1992. The Classical Greek Bestiary. In Greek and Egyptian Mythologies, ed. Yves Bonnefoy, 131–133. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eliade, Mircea. 1987. The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion. Trans. W.R. Trask. New York: Harvest.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jennings, Theodore W., Jr. 1995. On Ritual Knowledge. In Readings in Ritual Studies, ed. Ronald L. Grimes, 324–334. Prentice Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, Ross. 2019. Hope Exists: Darcy Van Poelgeest and Ian Bertram Discuss Their Comics Saga Little Bird. B & N Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog. 14 Nov. https://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/sci-fi-fantasy/hope-exists-darcy-van-poelgeest-and-ian-bertram-on-little-bird/.

  • Little Bird. 2018. Little Bird’s Darcy Van Poelgeest and Ian Bertram Craft a Fever Dream About Resistance and Identity. Image Comics. 21 Dec. 2018, https://imagecomics.com/features/little-birds-darcy-van-poelgeest-and-ian-bertram-craft-a-fever-dream-about-resistance-and-identity.

  • Knowles, Christopher. 2007. Our Gods Wear Spandex: The Secret History of Comic Book Heroes. Weiser Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kripal, Jeffrey J. 2011. Mutants and Mystics: Science Fiction, Superhero Comics, and the Paranormal. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • McCloud, Scott. 1994. Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. William Morrow.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2005. The Visual Magic of Comics. TED. ted.com/talks/scott_mccloud_on_comics?language=en.

  • NoiseCat, Julian Brave. 2020. Indian Country: A Postapocalyptic People: What It Means to Survive and Dream. The Nation. June 15/22: 30–33.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paden, William E. 2003. Interpreting the Sacred: Ways of Viewing Religion. Boston: Beacon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Simmons, Kali. 2019. Reorientations; or, An Indigenous Feminist Reflection on the Anthropocene. JCMS: Journal of Cinema and Media Studies 58 (2): 174–179.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, Jonathan Z. 1987. To Take Place: Toward Theory in Ritual. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner, Victor. 1995. The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Gennep, Arnold. 1960. The Rites of Passage. Trans. Monika B. Vizedom and Gabrielle L. Caffee. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Poelgeest, Darcy, and Ian Bertram. 2019. Little Bird: Book One: The Fight for Elder’s Hope. Image Comics.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jennifer Tronti .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Tronti, J. (2023). “To Survive and Still Dream”: Ritual and Reclamation in Little Bird. In: Odorisio, D.M. (eds) A New Gnosis. Contemporary Religion and Popular Culture. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-20127-1_11

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics