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INTRODUCTION The Bible isn't generally regarded as a particularly funny book, and those who say it is are usually just trying to be clever. The Judeo-Christian religion isn't as as hilarious as, say, the Native American trickster tales where the sacred and profane are blended together without blinking. Even still, I felt compelled to make a comic strip of the entire Bible (or as much as I can get through), in order. These aren't like those New Yorker style one-panel comics that use Biblical characters to make some dumb joke. My strip is meant to tell a unified story, which in many ways is more specific and story-like than the Bible itself, and to comment on the Bible in some significant way. You'll be able to pick up on several pet theories and interpretations and to see some of the way my brain works when exposed to these weird tales. Since the strip is in such a simple form you probably won't be able to tell, but a butt-load of research goes into each entry. Above all the stories, analysis, and scholarship, Bible Stories is meant to be funny, to create punch lines in the style of a four-panel Peanuts strip. Sometimes the jokes might make you laugh aloud, sometimes they might just make you snicker in that quiet sort of half laughter that comic books tend to elicit, and sometimes they won't make you laugh at all. But I promise you that, no matter how subtle, there's at least one joke in there somewhere. The strip isn't necessarily meant for very young kids or to be taught at Sunday School. (Though, then again, why not?) It is meant to be read by intelligent adults who don't mind jokes about sensitive subjects, and it can be read by believers, non-believers, and everyone in between. I think they are especially for everyone in between. The question has come up: do I believe in God? This is a question that can't be answered easily, by anyone. Which God? What's the definition of God? A personal god? God as a symbol? Etc. I do have a God Blog that might give you some clues, if this question is important to you. I will say that these stories are a part of my culture, I respect them deeply, and I consider them "mine" to play with in this way, if that makes you feel better. Oh, and there's no reason to be offended by this comic, though I'm secretly hoping that someone will be: someone famous who will go on TV and cause a big scandal so that this strip can get all kinds of publicity and I can retire from my real job and do this for a living. But, really, there's nothing to be offended by. If God is, in fact, not a little pink dot, or if Adam is not descended from Australopithecus, then this comic will not change their true natures. I truly hope you enjoy these strips. I will continue working on them until I die or get tired of doing them. At the pace I'm going now, I should at least get through the book of Genesis before I go to Heaven. Please write me email whenever you have praise for me. I dwell in the praises of my people. |
BIBLE STORIES
by Rusty W. Spell