Suitably sophisticated, this new retelling of the biblical story as a graphic novel serves its subject matter and its intended audience—teens and young adults—well, epically!
The Contents pages list individual story titles, but The Epic Bible tells “God’s Story from Eden to Eternity” (the subtitle) as one continuous, chronological story, with no breaks.
Easy to read, the text of the book is adapted from the New Living Translation of the Bible. The publisher notes that the book “closely follows the biblical text but is not a word-for-word adaptation. In a few places, scenes and conversations are included which can be inferred or imagined from the biblical text and from history.”
Scripture references for the action and text appear at the bottom of every page or two-page spread.
Visually, the book is stunning, beginning with the illustrated panels of course, which do much of the storytelling. The type design is clean, open, and inviting. Reluctant readers might be enticed!
Samson and Deliah didn’t make the cut, but Rahab is here. So are Bathsheba and Hosea’s wife, Gomer. Mary and Joseph abstain until after Jesus’ birth. Nothing inappropriate for a teen audience, but younger readers may not be ready.
I especially like the Introduction, which presents facts about the uniqueness of God’s Word and ends with the challenge:
“So now that you have this information, the question is,
what are you going to do with it?
And more importantly, since you have the Bible
what are you going to do with it?”
The Epic Bible: God’s Story from Eden to Eternity
illustrated by DC and Marvel Comics artists
published by Tyndale House Publishers (2020)
hardcover, 840 pages, 6.6 x 1.5 x 10.2 inches
Making God’s wonders known to the next generation,