Classic Bible Comics Bring the Bible to Life

Alexis Dallara-Marsh reviews the new edition of a Bible classic for children, written in the popular comic book style.

Classic Bible Comics is a re-print of a 1974 Children's Bible using pictures and text in comic book style presentation. This style, in which pictures come to life, is still loved nowadays, given the success of some of the most popular movies and storylines in America over the last decade. I find the visuals very appealing, in that I think they will help one recall the stories easier than text alone.

I enjoyed this Bible particularly in that it captures the raw emotions of many of the characters in the images. For example, in the story of Abraham, we see their real emotions (i.e. confusion, joy, fear, belief) along with the signs of Abraham and Sarah being of older age (i.e. wrinkles), and the characters appear more real-looking than in some other versions of children's Bibles.

At other times I wonder if the illustrations, because they are so realistic looking, may be harder on the eyes of younger children, as for example we can see the effects of sin in some of the stories of the Old Testament (i.e. the murder of Abel, or the temptation of Samson by Delilah), or other ways of life, such as the use of swords/knives.

Generally speaking, however, the number of stories presented is not overwhelming and the book is thin at 82 pages, again probably being a good way to approach the younger population. A downside to this would be that only six of the 23 narratives cover the New Testament, with four of these probably being already very well known to children (Christmas, the Three Kings, and the Crucifixion and Resurrection).

Overall, I find a comic book style of Bible being an excellent way to draw in children as an introduction to the stories of the Bible, especially if they haven't had enough regular exposure outside of church already, and would look forward to sharing this with older elementary-school children.

Classic Bible Comics is available from Sophia Institute Press.

Copyright 2021 Alexis Dallara-Marsh
Images: (top) Canva Pro; all others courtesy of Catholic Bible Comics, all rights reserved.