AH. Madman! That's where I'd seen him before. Madman was pretty cool, so I'll give him a shot I think. These are comics I can convince my family to buy me as presents. My only problem with his work, particularly in Madman, is he doesn't have a particularly creative or interesting page layout mind. Each page of Madman has 6 square panels of equal size. It's boring to look at.
However, I'm not sure where the heck that writer is getting off saying that no one suspected the artist is LDS. There's an issue of Madman where they meet an alien held captive by primitive South American natives. HE tells Madman and co. that he (the alien) is "Nephite," while his captors are "Lamanite" and dont' understand. I mean, how overt do you have to get.
I also have to disagree with Allred. Comics are more than willing to tackle religious subjects. Esp. Marvel and DC. DC has a character who is an angel and tries to tell everyone about the true nature of God. He's often rejected, but perseveres. They've also had God appear as a little boy in many, many Supergirl comics. Supergirl is referred to as an earth-bound angel in a very literal sense. She deals with satanic cults and it explores the good and evil that is IN each person. She deals with sexual orientation issues. Even if you disagree with the conclusion, the book IS talking about more than just good v. evil ina black and white context.
And what about Marvel's Punisher? a few years back we learned that the reason his family died was because their guardian angel was drunk. It looks at the issues of responsibility: that faith isnt' enough. A large number of Marvel characters are Catholic and deal with their beliefs versus their practices.
