The Bible is a dynamic story of adventure and intrigue, with intense scenes of action throughout the Old and New Testaments. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that is has now been adapted in the comic book format, bringing to life the pages of the Bible in a new way.
While the Bible had a few adaptations in the mid-20th century, it has received a renewed interest during the last 10 years. Many different publishers have been creating their own comic book Bibles and each have their own unique take.
Below is a list of the top five Bible comic books for Christians, with a few notes for parents who are interested in buying these products for their children.
The first adaptation of the Book of Jonah in the Old Testament using Lord of the Rings‘ author J.R.R. Tolkien’s original translation as inspiration.
Largely regarded as the “most popular” comic book Bible, The Action Bible has quality artwork and an engaging story, often “filling in the blanks” left by the Bible with a unique twist that provides an entertaining biblical scene.
Brazilian artist Sergio Cariello is the main artist for this series and is a veteran in the comic book industry, working for Marvel Comics and DC Comics.
The Bible is presented in a “narrative” format, rather than a book-by-book adaptation. If you want to introduce your children to the overarching “story” of the Bible, The Action Bible hits it perfectly.
The Action Bible is geared at children ages 9-12.
Similar to The Action Bible, the Kingstone Bible has high-quality artwork, but instead of focusing on a narrative-style presentation of the Bible, Kingstone is presented as, “the world’s most complete graphic novel Bible. At 2,000-pages, it is the longest non-serialized graphic novel ever published. All images were created by more than 45 industry-recognized artists including Kyle Hotz (Captain America, Dr.Strange, Spiderman), Christopher Ivy (Daredevil, Avengers and Hulk), and Emily Kanalz (Spiderman and X-Men).”
Recently they have also produced, “The Epic Bible,” which is being “published by Tyndale and is a 1-volume, 840 page synopsis of the 3-volume Kingstone Bible trilogy.”
The Kingstone Bible is aimed at children ages 10-14.
Instead of looking at the Bible from a narrative approach, the Word for Word Bible Comic was produced to be more of a “literal” presentation of the Bible.
It is explained as, “A word-for-word comic presentation of the Bible, using a bold contemporary style and historical accuracy to bring out the impact and excitement within the Scriptures to a more mature audience (12+ or 15+ age advisory).”
This comic uses the New International Version (NIV) translation of the Bible and includes every word of the Bible.
The Word for Word Bible Comic is intended for mature audiences (15+), with more graphic violence than the other Bible comics.
Similar in concept to the Word for Word Bible Comic, the Catholic Comic Book Bible published by Tan Books (St. Benedict Press), is a “literal” presentation of a few books of the Bible. Currently the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles are available.
This is the only Catholic presentation of the Bible in existence and uses the Revised Standard Version-Catholic Edition for its text. The artwork is less dynamic than the previously mentioned Protestant-produced Bibles and is more of an illustration-style of artwork, rather than a more modern-day comic book style.
The Catholic Comic Book Bible is suitable for young children, though the text would need to be read by an adult or older teen, on account of its more advanced vocabulary found in the RSV-CE translation.
At Voyage Comics & Publishing, we have created the first adaptation of the Book of Jonah in the Old Testament using Lord of the Rings‘ author J.R.R. Tolkien’s original translation as inspiration. (Learn more about Tolkien’s translation here)
It covers the entire biblical story of Jonah, while delving into Jewish traditions, legendary stories and Catholic spiritual themes.
While not a “literal” interpretation of the Bible, it is more concerned about the “spiritual sense” of Jonah and using it more as an “allegorical” story to communicate spiritual truths.
Jonah’s Voyage to Atlantis is geared towards children ages 10 and up.
