 Eyewitness - a Fictional Tale of Absolute Truth
published by Headpress
A graphic novel by Robert James Luedke
Eyewitness is a great graphic novel. I think I always go into books like this half expecting not to like them. But happily I was disappointed – what I mean by that is I was wrong. It’s very good!
Getting away from the tautology – lets look at the book. The story is about a scientist – Dr Harper, who begins the book as a sceptic of the stories about Jesus contained in the Bible – but through a series of events… well
you can guess.
I suppose what this comic does, is much the same as what the Da Vinci code book does (in a different arena obviously). It wraps up a story about Jesus in a slightly contrived fiction about an archaeologist.
In this case the Jesus story is drawn from the gospels – with a little license of course – but in general there is nothing in here that would offend the sensibilities of a straight up and down evangelical.
It addresses the sort of questions that many ask – in particular did Jesus really die on the cross – and what exactly went on between him and Judas.
Although the nature of our faith is such that we cannot and should not rely on physical evidence as the basis of our beliefs, there is a clear argument to suggest that a contextualisation of the story will help people understand that the Bible contains true accounts of events, as well as parables, poetry, prophecy and so on.
In fact I was just struck that it’s a great way to introduce someone to the gospel story.
It reflects the fact that the author himself was an agnostic until he heard a detailed account of how Jesus’ death on the cross was a real physical event – not just a legend.
That’s probably who this comic will work best for – those who have looked at the Jesus story and felt that they just weren’t sure whether it was true or not. As Luedke says in his epilogue – “when bad things happen in life that can sometimes be a lonely place to be in!”
The sci-fi/adventure story that surrounds the Jesus story is good fun. Somehow I think he gets away with dipping a toe into the messy politics of the Middle East without saying anything to offend any of us (and I’m possibly more sensitive than most on this front.)
Luedke uses a rather traditional format to deliver his story – which works well. The juxtaposition of two different art and colour styles works, and my one quibble would probably be his lettering – I’m not a big fan of some of it.
There are also a couple of occasions where he resorts to using lots of text in the form of a letter – I’m not wild about that, but I think that it is absorbed well into the book, which is pretty lavish in size and quality.
Possibly there is a danger – like in the case of the Da Vinci code of people grasping onto some of the fiction and mistaking it for fact – but I think that in the context of a discipleship relationship – surely the only real basis for sharing faith – this will be easily dealt with.
For those of us who are reading this from a Christian perspective – I believe that this provides an entertaining read, I really do like it!
Perhaps I’m just surprised, because often this kind of endeavour isn’t handled very well – hats of to Luedke. He has done it.
As the author recommends – share this book with a friend.
Working largely on good endorsements and word of mouth, this book has sold
about 5,000 copies. The second book in the series is out soon!
Eyewitness #1 by R J Luedke
Published by Head Press
96pp full colour trade paperback
Available from www.headpress.info |
