Graphic Novels | Super Spiritual

Graphic novels are generally considered to go deeper than regular comic books. They are typically longer than a normal comic book and will contain a full-length story within them. Comic books on the other hand are shorter and come out as periodicals, so it can take months for a story to truly progress. The depth and length of graphic novels allow for far more information to be passed to the reader and for deeper connections to be made.

Graphic Novels Paving the Way for Reconciliation?

Graphic novels provide an excellent opportunity to educate people on various; topics, and just like with comic books, they can introduce people to religion in a completely non-hostile manner. One man is seeking to simply use graphic novels to show people that faith and science are not, in fact, mutually exclusive. The following information was provided by Antonia Blumberg.

Tommaso Todesca, an Italian Catholic with a passion for literature, wants to highlight the more nuanced relationship between the science and religion — and he’s using a graphic novel to do it. Todesca, a banker based in Los Angeles, set up a Kickstarter campaign to help fund the project.

The idea for the graphic novel came to him last year when he read an Italian book called Scienza e fede, or Science and Faith, by professors Giuseppe Savagnone and Alfio Briguglia.

a page from a graphic novel about science and faith

Todesca initially wanted to translate the book into English, he said, then decided on the comic book format with the hope of reaching an even wider audience.The "hook of the project," Todesca said, is the message that "science and faith are not in conflict with each other."

The graphic novel will feature Savagnone and Briguglia — a philosopher and a physicist, respectively — as comic book characters who go on a journey that takes them from Rome to Florence to Toulouse, meeting with great scientists and thinkers of the past and the present, including Galileo Galilei, Johannes Kepler and Thomas Aquinas.

Their dialogue draws from the original book, which Todesca said "makes a compelling case for faith as a type of knowledge that can find its ground in rationality."

Teaching the youth

Not only can graphic novels and comic books be used to teach adults about religion and introduce them to new ideas, the same applies to children! The following information was provided by Offbeat Home and Life.

Religion and spirituality are usually two incredibly complex ideas, and much of the literature explaining various beliefs goes way over the head of kids and teens. One solution to this? Religious graphic novels!

Whether you are a devout service attendee or simply a follower of The Force (in which case Lucas has got ya covered), there may be something interesting in here for you. If anything, I was fascinated by the sheer wealth of illustrated novels about religions that exists.

The Story of The Jews: A 4,000 Year Adventure

This book is exactly what it sounds like: a fast-paced introduction to 4,000 years of Judaism, and it's awesome. Author Stan Mack pays special attention to the women of the Torah, including those who aren't usually mentioned, like Queen Alexandra. The book is sometimes compared to Larry Gonick's comic series, but Mack's book is much more fact-based and historically accurate. Sidenote — any political parents looking for a stance on the Israel-Palestine conflict will need to move along, as Mack barely delves into the issue.

Buddha, Volume 1: Kapilavastu

Kapilavastu is part of the eight volume Buddha series by author and illustrator Osamu Tezuka. The first installment both follows the birth and life of Siddhartha and also introduces readers to various characters. Some of these are historically accurate, but others were simply invented for the purpose of the series.

Hudhayfa Learns About Allah

Muslims frown upon depicting prophets, but there are a few books that can give insight into the religion of Islam. Since it's the fastest growing religion in the WORLD, I'd say it's one to be mindful of. Hudhayfa Learns About Allah is a sweet little illustrated number (read: not a graphic novel), that teaches children basic Islamic lessons.

The Manga Bible From Genesis to Revelations

Author Siku was actually an artist for Judge Dredd, which was on blood-filled comic book, so it might be a little surprising that he also illustrated The Manga Bible. The book doesn't cover every single little story, which means it leaves out a bit, so if you're looking for word-for-word interpretation of the Bible, you might just want to … get your kids a new Bible.

Rising In The Ranks

Recently, graphic novels have been becoming significantly more popular than in the past and recently a couple charted as top spiritual books! The following information was provided by Joe Gordon.

David Crumm on the Detroit Free Press picks his top ten spiritual books of the year and, for the first time since the list started ten years ago, graphic novels feature in it:

Two graphic novel releases from 2006 made it onto the spiritual best-of list, both from DC: Absolute Sandman Volume 1 (one of my happiest purchases of the year) and Pride of Baghdad (I’ve been telling folks this is a book non-comics readers will also love, looks like the Detroit Free Press agrees).