Bible graphic novel....

[Scarecrow]

I thought this was pretty sweet! I just discovered the Action Bible the other day and it's basically a huge comic book version of the bible. Very good artwork too. I just thought, if any of you guys had kids or liked comic books yourself, I'd bring it to your attention. The artwork (the reason I picked up) is really pretty good... it's not Jim Lee but it's still one of the highest quality Christian products I found IMO (usually art in these things are quite bad but this guy actually illustrated for Marvel and DC apparently).

The narrative is a little... meh... but that may be because it's a comic book? I never liked reading comics to begin with so.. but I like to draw though (sometimes) and purchase comic books if I like the artwork. And this is pretty good compared to a lot I've seen. So I picked it up.

Anyway, yeah it goes from Genesis to Revelation. It breezes over minor prophets and books like ecclesiastes, Isaiah and the poetry stuff (not much you can illustrate with those I guess ) but all the major stories are there (and bunch of minor ones too I always forget about, like the Bronze snake and stuff) in chronological order so it's easy to follow along and visualize everything. (I thought they skipped Esther but it's waaaay farther back than it is in the bible).

Anyway, I thought it was cool and good enough to recommend if you have kids (especially boys... would make an awesome gift IMO) or just like comic books yourself or even just comic book art and wanna look at the pictures. You can check out some samples and stuff at theactionbible.com

I remember a long time on here people were talking about a Bible graphic novel but there weren't any good ones but I about flipped out when I found this so I thought I'd share...

[Hiryu]

My brother found a bible that has some bible stories set in the style of manga.

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=Manga+bible&hl=en&client=opera&hs=9sE&rls=en&channel=suggest&prmd=ivnsb&resnum=2&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&biw=1024&bih=656&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=1551113353914210436&sa=X&ei=OlfqTeOeGcPW0QHw5fWVAQ&ved=0CFsQ8wIwAA

[Atria35]

I think you're referencing the

Manga Bible

and

Manga Messiah

Manga Bible, I wasn't so impressed with, as the stories it told were rather disjointed and it actually contained stories that are Christian legend and lore, and not in the Bible.

Haven't read Manga Messiah yet.

The Action Bible isn't impressing me from the sample pages. The dialogue is pretty darn cringe-worthy. I do like the art and the color pages, but I would have to get it and read it to make a better assessment. And yes, as someone who enjoys comic books, that is pretty darn bad dialogue.

[Ante Bellum]

I'd have to agree with Atria about the dialogue. Based off the sample pages, I wouldn't read it. Maybe this would be something for kids, but not much else.

[Sheenar]

Manga Messiah was done very well, in my opinion.

[Ally-Ann]

Manga Messiah was done very well, in my opinion.

Me, too. I was about 10 or 11 when I read it and was thrilled that there was a Christian manga, and one with good art style, too. I still read it.

[Atria35]

^ I will be reading it soon. Hoping it holds up better than The Manga Bible.

[LadyRushia]

Manga Messiah is pretty legit. The art is good and the pacing is great because they're not trying to fit the entire Bible into 200 pages. I have yet to read the rest of the series, though.

[Atria35]

Well, my other issue with the Manga Bible was that they put legend and lore in there, not just the Bible. Like the slaughter of babies in Bethleham. There's no basis for that in the Bible or in archeological records.

[Okami]

Well, my other issue with the Manga Bible was that they put legend and lore in there, not just the Bible. Like the slaughter of babies in Bethleham. There's no basis for that in the Bible or in archeological records.

Matthew 2:16? "Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi." (NASB)

[Atria35]

....Ah, yeah. But I'm wary since it's only in Matthew, and outside of that there is no evidence for it whatsoever.

[Okami]

....Ah, yeah. But I'm wary since it's only in Matthew, and outside of that there is no evidence for it whatsoever.

There are quite a few details throughout the Gospels that are unique to the Gospel in which they're told in, though. This is only one case of that. Matthew's Gospel was told primarily to a Jewish audience, so this piece of information may have been more relevant to them, as opposed to a Gentile audience, for example (Mark's Gospel). Every Gospel has its way of storytelling for specific reasons, as well as the reasoning why some things are found in different orders, or omitted entirely within the writing - the same applies to why some things are repeatedly mentioned. It all comes down to making a point to their particular audiences.

[Scarecrow]

Well if you're looking for a good story, yeah the action bible isn't it. I mean I like it cause I got it more for the artwork which is really good. And it does goes over a lot of stories I didn't even know where in the bible. Sure none of the stories go deep but it did make me go pick up my bible and read the whole story in there. I was like "I didn't know that was in there? When did that happen?" Etc... since it's got the chapters where the stories are from at the beginning of each section, it's easy to find the full story in the bible.

So yeah, I think it's a beautiful book and a nice thing to skim through but if you're looking for great dialog and deep long thought out conversations and character development, you'll be disappointed. The book is about 750 pages though and does illustrate some of the more obscure stories and give you a basic gist of all the major stories. So yeah probably aimed more at kids to get them interested in reading the real bible but I think it's cool for adults too if you like the art and to flip through. Maybe find a story you forgot about or didn't even realize was in there or something.

But if you aren't interested in the art and just having a nice looking book that gives you the basics of most of the bible, I'd skip it cause developed stories and conversations this has none.

[SincerelyAnomymous]

I hear american people who try to make manga are notoriously horrible at it. Japanese however seem to be talented at anime drawing, so I'll surely pick up the Manga Messiah when I can.

[Atria35]

I hear american people who try to make manga are notoriously horrible at it. Japanese however seem to be talented at anime drawing, so I'll surely pick up the Manga Messiah when I can.

Funny thing is, it's really not as good as you would think. It looks like a fan comic instead of a professional-quality manga. I have *very* non-Japanese friends who draw just as good as that- and even better than that. The art has a lot of moments where I would even call it bad, where it devolves into cartoon-looking people.

I much preferred the art in The Manga Bible.

[Sheenar]

Funny thing is, it's really not as good as you would think. It looks like a fan comic instead of a professional-quality manga. I have *very* non-Japanese friends who draw just as good as that- and even better than that. The art has a lot of moments where I would even call it bad, where it devolves into cartoon-looking people.

I much preferred the art in The Manga Bible.

I rather enjoyed the art in Manga Messiah. Especially the fact that it shows Jesus laughing and smiling at points during the story --many other depictions of Jesus do not show that side of Him.

[SincerelyAnomymous]

I rather enjoyed the art in Manga Messiah. Especially the fact that it shows Jesus laughing and smiling at points during the story --many other depictions of Jesus do not show that side of Him.

I hate how most people portay Jesus as a overly-serious person. With most people liking this manga, I'll surely pick up a copy.

[Atria35]

I rather enjoyed the art in Manga Messiah. Especially the fact that it shows Jesus laughing and smiling at points during the story --many other depictions of Jesus do not show that side of Him.

That's not art, that's characterization. That was nice, but they over-simplified the story. I can only repeat what I said in the 'What manga are you reading?' thread: It has as much depth as a Story of Jesus coloring book. I disliked how some of the things that really should have been explained weren't (biggest example of this is the 'left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. This is ALWAYS used in our society about deception, so unless you've specifically read that story, the mention that it's about giving freely makes no sense whatsoever). And they simplify, simplify, simpify the bad guys into characatures. They're laughable and demeaning.

I would give this to a kid, but it's not engaging for an adult who wants more.

[Scarecrow]

Well I found another comic book bible... it's called Good and Evil. The writing doesn't seem to be any better but the art is good from what I've seen. This I think skips a lot and just does the major stories so it may be a bit better developed but even so, from the sample pages, the writing doesn't seem great. But just mentioned it if anyone wanted to check it out. But again, I'm really not a fan of comics in general and the way they tell stories but anyway...

[Sheenar]

That's not art, that's characterization. That was nice, but they over-simplified the story. I can only repeat what I said in the 'What manga are you reading?' thread: It has as much depth as a Story of Jesus coloring book. I disliked how some of the things that really should have been explained weren't (biggest example of this is the 'left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. This is ALWAYS used in our society about deception, so unless you've specifically read that story, the mention that it's about giving freely makes no sense whatsoever). And they simplify, simplify, simpify the bad guys into characatures. They're laughable and demeaning.

I would give this to a kid, but it's not engaging for an adult who wants more.

I thought it was well-drawn. I also enjoyed how they had the Scripture references for everything so that people COULD go look at the Scripture for themselves for more detail/context.

I enjoyed it because it was a light read --I read so much heavy-handed stuff in college, that it was nice to read something that hit the main points and had some humor in it at times.