Peter: the Apostle
Summary
Peter: The Apostle is a graphic novel of Peter’s life, displaying his message and struggles on a sci-fi futuristic backdrop. This graphic novel by Mario DeMatteo, Ben Avery, and Mark Harmon is a true-to-the-Bible telling of Peter, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus, and what occurred in his life and ministry both during Jesus’ time and after His death and resurrection.
Assessment
Like Paul: The Apostle by DeMatteo, Avery, and Harmon, this graphic story Bible is set in the same futuristic sci-fi setting with plenty of cool vehicles, locations, and alien designs. Like Paul, this graphic novel seeks to retell the story of Peter without losing the core of the Biblical account. In fact, all of the events and scenes are taken directly from the Bible, with much of the dialog being word-for-word quotes or close paraphrases.
There were a few more pacing issues than Paul had. Peter’s story has a lot more ground to cover with Jesus’ entire, 3-year ministry, eventual death and resurrection, as well as Peter’s own ministry efforts after Jesus’ assumption into Heaven. The numerous miracles performed by Jesus, Peter, and the disciples, in addition to extensive travel, prison breaks, and the grafting of the Gentiles into God’s family. To this end, a few of the stories — such as the raising of Lazarus — were a bit rushed.
The artwork in Peter is a bit of an improvement over the artwork in Paul; the vehicles are more advanced, the backgrounds and settings are more beautiful, and the character designs wackier and more unique than ever. This said, it still maintains the same level of charm and sci-fi delight as Paul, as well as many little details pulled out of the original, historical and Biblical context.
Light-o-Meter
Artwork: 7 out of 7 Little Lights
Writing: 6 out of 7 Little Lights
Age-Appropriateness: Appropriate for all ages!
Theological Message: 7 out of 7 Little Lights
Overall: 6 out of 7 Little Lights
Talk
One thing that I was interested in with this account is how they were going to depict Jesus, both visually and in how He spoke. It’s nearly impossible to tell the full story of Peter without including Jesus and, with all of the little alien designs, I had no idea what they were going to do for it. Was Jesus going to be some weird little alien design? How was He going to be depicted as God-turned-man in a world filled with a million little designs? One of the core principles of Jesus coming down to save us was the fact that He became Word made flesh, human flesh, so that He could relate to us.
The design of Jesus was — minor spoilers — entirely human and logical to the Biblical account. This may have made Him stand out in the world of aliens, but more importantly allowed His humanness to be on full display for the readers! Jesus was man; human, just like us. In the context of the graphic story Bible, Jesus’ distinct design can be interpreted symbolically, as He stood out from the rest of humanity by being free from sin, as well as allowing young readers to easily connect and identify with His human nature.
In terms of Jesus’ dialog and interactions, I was delighted to find that these were handled with strict Biblical accuracy. Only one or two one-world exclamations or phrases were extra-Biblical, but every other part of the dialog was restricted to only to direct quotes from the Bible. Excellent!
Wrap-up
Peter: The Apostle is an excellent depiction of the life and ministry of Peter, one of Jesus’ twelve disciples. The sci-fi futuristic setting presents the story of this particular gospel in a way that is fun, engaging, but does not take away the core message. The depiction of Jesus was well thought-out and honoring of the original source material and every scene was pulled directly from the Bible.
Where to Enjoy
Amazon: Peter the Apostle: Graphic Story Bible - A Full-Color Graphic Novelization
Barnes & Noble: Peter the Apostle: Graphic Story Bible by Mario DeMatteo
Christianbook: Peter the Apostle - Graphic Story Bible: Mario DeMatteo
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