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Religion See other Religion Articles Title: So Much Heresy, So Little Time: Christian Comic Book Helps Kids Crossover To The Dark Side So Much Heresy, So Little Time: Christian Comic Book Helps Kids Crossover To The Dark Side Christian comic book takes look at dark side By KHALID MOSS Cox News Service DAYTON, Ohio — The pages of most Christian comic books are filled with uplifting tales, colorful characters and carefully framed biblical messages. But Covenant, a new Christian comic book conceived and illustrated by Marvin Bean with a narrative by Steve Bates, flips the script on the story of Christ. What if instead of dying on the cross Jesus had lived to sire an army of holy warriors bent on forging a New Covenant? Preposterous, right? The random particles of this implausible premise collide in Covenant, a Christian action comic book reminiscent of another popular fiction on Christ. "Some people have compared our project to Dan Brown's 'The Da Vinci Code,'" said Bates, a comic-book insider who managed Bookery Fantasy in Fairborn, Ohio for 18 years. "While both pose concepts that start with the life of Jesus and a possible lineage of Christ's descendents, the comparisons end there. Ours is more of an alternate history, socio-political, science-fiction action story with only a hint of the conspiracy so integral to 'Da Vinci Code.' But if the comparison makes our comic book more visible, more power to it." Christian comic books aren't new. Christian Cartoons, written and illustrated by E.J. Pace, was published by the Sunday School Times Co. in 1922. More recently, Tim Todd's 2005 Hairy Polarity and the Sinister Sorcery Satire is a 32-page satire designed to "rescue teens from the deceit and allure of the occult." Covenant mastermind Bean collected comic books as a youth but never imagined he would create one. "I was reading the Bible one night four years ago when a passage from Matthew stuck with me," said Bean. "I've never been able to write narratives, but I could always draw, so I drew up some scenarios. I created an outline and called Steve at Bookery Fantasy. I asked him if he knew anyone who could help me create a comic book. A few days later he volunteered. Letterer Justin Wasson and inker Roxanne Scarborough joined the team later. I have felt God's hand moving this project along. I don't think I chose it. I think it chose me." The dashing superheroine of Covenant is Adonna. She's the daughter of a fisherman but might be a descendant of Jesus. Arch-villain Canthus is leader of a terrorist cell plotting against the Pax Euorpa Empire. Further complicating matters is emperor Cyrus the Caspian, a pig-eyed despot obsessed with world domination. "People always wonder what our lives would be like if Christ never died on the cross," Bean explained. "What we did is set up an extreme situation and created that 'what if.' We have created a world where 2,000 years later, everything is completely different. It's a place where you wouldn't want to live." Bates, who left Bookery Fantasy for a job in the marketing department at Diamond Comic Distributors in Baltimore, said Covenant is unlike anything he's ever written. "Most of my stories are entertaining or diversionary," Bates said. "There are elements of that in Covenant, but the underscoring element is to make people think 'what if.' " "This frightens some people, and I can understand why. But our intention has never been to undermine Christianity or belittle anyone's faith. In fact, we both feel strongly that Covenant can and should make people get more in tune with their beliefs." Khalid Moss writes for the Dayton Daily News.
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#2. To: Mind_Virus, Zipporah (#0)
The comic industry is loaded with anti-Christian types. Having said that...this little project won't go anywhere. It's just a glorified press release. Unlike the newsstand; comic retailers have to purchase their books on a 'non-returnable' basis. In other words, if it doesn't sell, it becomes part of their 'permanent' inventory (until they figure some way to unload the pig on their customers). Comics cost $2.99 and up nowdays, and with the amount of high-profile material coming out from Marvel and especially DC over the next year; this book won't even be noticed. It won't be ordered, and as a consequence, won't sell. You may see one or two issues published, tops.
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