The Guardian Line

The closest you'd get would be Don Ensign's Guide to Christian Comics, which he has published perennially since 2004 (I assisted him with the 2005 and 2006 Guides, and we're working on a review site together as well that should be up within a few weeks), but even those just capture about a year's worth of material each:

The 2007 Guide to Christian Comics is now available.

+ Christian Comic Arts Society Publication
+ Compiled by Don Ensign
+ 4th Annual Edition
+ 36 Pages
+ Sections incude:
+ Christian Comics(Print) 5 pages
+ Christian Comics (Web) 15 Pages (over 150 listings)
+ Groups, Ministries, Publishers, etc. 4 Pages
+ Milestones 3 Pages plus Publicity and Work by Christian Comics Creatorsl
+ Short of analysis of 2007 Christian Comics Scene .
+ Over 40 sample illustrations

$ 2.50 (plus $1.50 p & h).
Donald Ensign
250-A S Paseo Cerro
Green Valley, AZ 85614
(Yes, I have PayPal)
densign8@dakotacom.net

Tell him I sent you and he'll waive the postage and handling. He might still have copies of the other years as well, but I'm not sure if he's charging for them.

I want'em! I want'em! But i wonder why no ones doing a monthly magazine about christian comics?

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I WANT THOSE ZONDERVAN COMICS NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, I'm stinkin' jealous, n. HOW DO YOU GET THOSE ADVANCED COPIES!?!?!?!?!

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The only advance copy I got was Manga Messiah, not any of the ZGNs, although I heard some reviewers got some early copies. I know a guy who works for a company who is going to sell Manga Messiah, and he gave it to me knowing how much I'd appreciate it...and I do!

Here are my reviews of all of the ZGNs:

HAND OF THE MORNINGSTAR
This is a superhero team comic, but probably not like many other superhero team comics that you've seen. The five members have received powers from someone (something?) called the Morningstar, so they go off to do great things all over the planet. All praise goes to the Morningstar, though...they don't take any of the praise themselves (well, it does happen once...ONCE!), and they do all kids of good deeds, humanitarian aid, etc. But there's something deeper at the core of the organization that doesn't seem to fit just right, and we haven't seen who this "Morningstar" person/thing is yet, so the mystery keeps getting deeper. The creator team is Brett Burner and Mike Miller from Alias comics, so these guys know a little bit about how to tell a story! A truly interesting take on the superhero story, and very nicely done.


TOMO
All right - the new Zondervan series that most surprised me was Tomo. It's the story of a Japanese girl who loses her mother and comes to America to live with her grandfather...boooooooooring, right? Wrong! It has a cool fantasy element tied into it, and the art is extremely well done...the best yet out of the six Zondervan Graphic Novels. And it works extremely well for this book! There is a very cool backstory that is still a mystery after two issues, real-life intrigue for the girl (assimilating to American culture, etc.), it's fun, smart, action packed, and has subtle spiritual elements that seem to be growing with each issue. I can only assume that the payoff will be with issue 4, and it should be a big payoff. Anyway, if you like fantasy, martial arts, fish-out-of-water stories, or just a good plot fully realized in script and art, get this book!


MANGA BIBLE
This being the only actual manga (or, really, manhwa, but who's splitting hairs?) from the Zondervan Graphic Novel line, it is very much in line with humorous 'quick-draw' manga, although it seldom lets the story go past without five or more panels per page. Much of the humor is in the giggle or groan variety, with puns both visual and literary, but it does not get very close to offensive humor or mocking holy things. The stories are straightforward retellings of the Bible stories, but allowed to bend slightly to accommodate a chuckle. Anachronisms are sometimes present, and sometimes in what might seem obtrusive ways, but they never linger (Joseph's Pharaoh wields a machine gun in a few panels, but it doesn't survive for Moses' Pharaoh to shoot over the parted Red Sea, for instance), and although there were a few liberties taken with the biblical text, they were nothing that would signal errant theology. Besides, it's a comic book - the actual theology here is pretty light as it is. A fun take on many of the stories that are maybe too familiar to those of us who have grown up into the faith, but taken in fresh ways to entertain as well as inform.


SON OF SAMSON
In a word, fun! Branan is the titular son, and he's on a quest. Just hours after Samson's death Branan is told that Samson was actually his father. This is the impetus for his journey, as he attempts to find the places and people that his father touched (sometimes quite literally!) during his time as judge of Israel. Sergio Cariello opts for a looser art style than we've seen from him, and it works here, giving some characters that almost-cartoony form and face and slightly comedic appearance. The stories showcase Branan's strength, of course, but also his brain, and how his faith informs his decisions. Issue two introduces (at least) two characters who should make repeat appearances, if not form a company around Branan, and we also find out that there are some issues from Samson's past that young Branan just might have to deal with before the series runs its course. Sort of like Conan, without all the brooding, and with more direction towards a positive goal. And less lamentation of the women.


TIMEFLYZ
This is a cute little series that I had trouble getting into, maybe because the protagonist is a ten-year-old girl, and I have very little in common with ten-year-old girls, for some reason. The concept is kinda cool, with cybernetic time-traveling flies and a neat little mystery of a plot that has really got me thinking. Adi Darda's art is a great fit for this book, and the flies each have their own look, although similar enough to cause confusion until they all get sorted out. The plot, however, might be difficult for the target audience to follow, as it delves into history, physics, and time paradoxes, among other things, but could be a fun ride for kids who don't take all that too seriously.


KINGDOMS (this is a longer review, which is what the other five will probably morph into as I get more thoughts about them out)
This is actually a cool concept - retelling the story of the later kings of Judah, with prophets and all, AND as a literary device, retelling the stories of the judges and earlier kings as well. There are many elements taken directly from scripture, just enough license to make the stories three dimensional. My problem was keeping the story chronologically linear. A list of the judges and kings along with the accompanying prophets would have helped greatly in keeping the separate stories in their place, and both issue one and two had blank pages at the end. Maybe I can make my own list there, but one provided would have helped in the initial appreciation of the book.

Another problem I had was with the art. I'm not familiar with Mat Broome's style, but he has worked with both Marvel and DC, so I found it odd that some of the facial drawings were asymmetrical, it was sometimes difficult to tell characters apart and, strangely, most times his drawings of people holding things (spears, swords...things with obvious bulk) looked like objects drawn on top of closed fists instead of hands holding the items. Open hands also look overly cartoonish. I can only imagine the pace of having these books drawn, so perhaps it was the rush of getting the book done on time that led to these flaws, but the other 5 books in the ZGN line did not have observably poor art, although some were at a lesser quality than the artist usually produces (like Sergio Cariello's Son of Samson, which appears more sketchy and cartoonish at points, but worked well with the story and concept). From what I have seem of Broome’s art, this is not up to his usual quality, unless he is going for a drastically different style than usual.

Anyone who wants to pay close attention to the different characters and enjoys period adventure (300, Lord of the Rings, Braveheart) should enjoy this book for the behind-the-scenes machinations and warfare as well as the overarching story of the prophet Iddo trying to hold the nation and his family together through this difficult time in Israel's history. The story, although dwelling on issues of God's presence, providence and power, is not preachy at all, relying on matter-of-fact issues that are covered in scripture, and do not even attempt to convince the reader that this really happened, merely stating it as fact. Since this is a group of stories that take place long before Christ is born, there is no evangelistic material here, outside of any foreshadowing that exists within the stories themselves.

The art shifts a bit in issue two, with Harold Edge taking over the main art chores and Broome assisting. I'm not sure what the reason for the redistribution is, but Edge's work can move closer to the cartoonish style than seems good for this title, which would benefit from a more technically accurate art style to lend weight to the story and more individuality to the characters themselves. Writer Ben Avery does a great job presenting the various stories (which cover centuries) and weaving them into a cohesive narrative, but, as stated before, a timeline would have assisted greatly in piecing the biblical puzzle together, and this coming from someone who knows a bit about the Bible. I can only wonder how someone unfamiliar with the Core Text will understand it.

Wow. . . . you are the man, n. . . you're just the man!

Now, are these in color? I thought they were. HOwever, I went to Mardel the other day, and they were very small and b/w. That kinda dissapointed me.

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They are manga-style, which means small and b/w, but you get about 150 pages of story each. Trust me, Tomo is worth it, period. Morningstar is worth it if you're a superhero fan. Son of Samson and Timeflyz are good for their genre, and kids should like them a lot.

But I asked the Zondervan team before they even came out if they were in color and they said they did. . ...........

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They all sound good to me. I don't know about TimeFlyz though.

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I read "Hand of the Morningstar" and it is. . . . . ...... fantastically awesome! I love it!

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Hand of the MorningStar is one i've been wanting to read. Is it awesome? Who writes and/or draws it?

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Story by Brett Burner and Mike Miller, art by Mike Miller.

Do They have an alias, because i'm certain i read about this book in my AO sample issue.

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I don't think so (although, ironically, their comic book company is names Alias Comics).

Whoa, eerie.        So they do have an Alias.:) *BA DOOM BOOM*

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Has anyone read any of these comics?

http://www.abacuscomics.com/abacus_main.htm

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