khyungbird ([info]khyungbird) wrote,
@ 2008-03-21 15:17:00
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Manga Bible and Manga Messiah
My latest column at comixology, a comparison of two manga Bible adaptations, is online.

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[info]toysdream
2008-03-21 10:55 pm UTC (link)
Interesting. The concept of "Manga Messiah" seems intrinsically sounder, but from the samples you posted, it definitely seems more factory-made and uninspired than the Super Condensed Entire Bible.

As it happens, I just read through the Gospels for the first time (a very worthwhile exercise, and I don't feel I missed anything by skipping the Old Testament and all the Apostles' letters). I've gotta say that the differences in story and message between the Gospel of John and the three "synoptics" are so great that I think you'd be better off adapting them as two separate stories rather than smushing them together.

But who would we pick to do the honors? I think Yasuhiko's Sufferin' Jesus would be a good match for the humane and relatable messiah of the first three Gospels, while the eerie and inhuman character we get in the Gospel of John seems more like an Ikegami-style superstud with glowing genitals and no facial expressions.

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[info]khyungbird
2008-03-21 11:22 pm UTC (link)
I really do hope to read the Bible eventually, but taking it to Nepal seems sort of counter-intuitive (unlike taking the Koran to Egypt), so probably sometime after that. Larry Gonick's art is still the warmest and most readable of all the Bible adaptations I've read, but of course we're talkin' MANGA Bible, not Cartoon Bible, and Gonick's is not really a "Bible" adaptation per se.

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[info]sirspamdalot
2008-03-22 01:21 am UTC (link)
Interesting stuff. The message of salvation through faith alone is central to all the gospels, and pretty much defines Jesus' contribution to Judaism.

"John the Baptizer" is a term I've heard Catholics use, probably to avoid giving the impression that John was a Baptist Protestant. Maybe there are non-Baptist Protestants who do the same.

I've got a manga GN about Jesus that was done in Japan by Japanese creators for a Japanese audience. It's actually well-drawn, but I can't read a word of it.

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[info]khyungbird
2008-03-22 11:57 am UTC (link)
Jesse, could you show me the Jesus GN at Stumptown? I'd love to check it out.

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[info]sirspamdalot
2008-03-22 03:41 pm UTC (link)
Sure thing.

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[info]erinfinnegan
2008-03-25 03:46 am UTC (link)
I have an idea for a new manga adaptation - The Manga Phonebook.

...think about it!

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[info]khyungbird
2008-03-25 03:51 am UTC (link)
TEN-BOOK CONTRACT!!! :)

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[info]erinfinnegan
2008-03-26 04:03 am UTC (link)
I tried all day to come up with a joke to be had about phone contracts... oh well.

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