The Manga Bible is a Bible adaptation created in the style of ‘Manga’, which is Japanese for ‘comics’ or ‘whimsical images.’ The concept artist for the project, Siku, has published four different volumes:
– The Manga Bible – Raw, A small format edition containing the Manga adaptation of the full Bible plus brief features such as ‘Introducing the Bible’, creators’ commentary on key scenes, and a ‘Drawing the Manga Bible’ workshop by Siku himself.
– The Manga Bible -Extreme, Containing both the full TNIV text of the Bible plus the entire Manga adaptation, this is the most Extreme version of the Bible yet! The extra features include Siku discussing the creation of The Manga Bible, an artist’s workshop, and an introduction to the Bible.
– The Manga Bible: NT-Raw, A small-format edition of Siku’s New Testament. As well as the comic strip, it contains a number of ‘extras’: a ‘Creating the Manga Bible’ interview with Siku and Akin, a 10-page sketches gallery and a brief article explaining what the real Bible is and how it came to be written.
– The Manga Bible: NT-Extreme, A deluxe, large-format edition of Siku’s New Testament. As well as the comic strip, the ‘Creating the Manga Bible’ interview and the introduction to the Bible article, it contains the full text of the New Testament scriptures, using Today’s New International Version of the Holy Bible
Ajinbayo Akinsiku, the concept artist and graphic designer for the project, is in seminary in London with the goal of ordination as an Anglican priest. He is quoted as saying, “Christ is a hard guy, seeking revolution and revolt, a tough guy.” (New York Times, “The Bible as Graphic Novel” by Neela Banerjee, 2/10/08, A14)
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