Dean Rankine makes Christian webcomics on WCN. From what I can tell, he is very sincere in his efforts, and believes that his work is a ministry. I'm not a Christian, but I like his comics (not enough to convert, but there you go). Maybe I'm more the target audience than actual Christians. Here's what a group of actual Christians had to say on a very popular conservative blog about his comics recently:
I thought I was used to the junk spewed nowadays, but that comic made me physically nauseated.
I cannot understand why anyone would portray our Wonderful Savior in such a way. May God forgive them. How much longer, Lord, will this go on?
My take on viewing this comic was that the author was mocking Christ. I'm pretty surprised by his comment that he was not intending this. I wonder if the author would be OK with depicting another religious leader like this, or his family member or loved one. I believe drawing an Islamic leader like this could get some people angry with you that you really wouldn't want to cross.
I love that last one in particular: these fundamentalist Christians actually seem envious of the terroristic reputation of Islamic fundamentalists!
I'm sure it doesn't matter to Dean, who knows what he does, and why he does it, and can take his own measure of the value of these opinions -- but it just struck me as something to mention (maybe because this furor was responsible for bringing WCN into the top 20,000 of all websites this week, according to Alexa -- apparantly they're poking around on the site more, not just sticking to Dean's comics).
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Comments
Interesting
It would make a good article. Getting good writers to tackle subjects requiring a decent amount of research has always been a struggle though... :(Â
I'll think about it on my summer vacation here though!  (Psst - what about that podcast interview?)
____
Xaviar Xerexes
Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Gnaw.
As you probably noticed with
Aren't you supposed to be on vacation, anyway?
(;
Joey
www.webcomicsnation.com
I often wonder
I often wonder what opinions self-identifying Christians* have (or, as the case may be, would have if they read) of my webcomic. My characters have been icons in Christian folklore for a millenium, but it's tricky writing characters who are more devout than you are.
* As opposed to people like me who have faith but from whom Christian isn't an adjective that would arise when composing a paragraph autobio.
Paul Gadzikowski, paul@arthurkingoftimeandspace.com
Arthur, King of Time and Space New cartoons daily
Paul Gadzikowski, paul@arthurkingoftimeandspace.com
Arthur, King of Time and Space New cartoons daily
You Just Can't Touch Religion Without Offending...
So you just need to be prepared for it. It doesn't matter how you personally interpret the Bible; you could create the most literal comic interpretation of the Bible as possible, but some groups will still call you a heretic.
The main problem lies with a select few hardcore-fundamentalist christians, who, at some point, crucified their sense of humor. They don't take kindly to any mention of religion unless it's the same kind of zealous material they choose to saturate themselves with. Either be ready to deal with a few zealots, or to just ignore them.
I'm Catholic, but I can take a joke about christianity. Hell, I even make those jokes myself. If we could all just have a laugh at our expense once and awhile, we'd all be more well-adjusted, and happier, to boot.
Don't hesitate to procrastinate. See my stuff at http://www.cuteninjagirls.com
It is a tough subject,
It is a tough subject, considering the power the religious right these days. I'm a Christian, but as someone with an education and a decidedly liberal stance I usually find myself at odds with the right wingers. We've entered a dark age, when humanism has become a bad word, disagreeing with the president is deemed unpatriotic, the press in on the ropes, science is ignored, and common sense is all but forgotten.Â
I hope this webcartoonist keeps up his work, and doesn't let the voices of unreason deter him from his mission.Â
http://www.komikwerks.com/comic_title.php?ti=117
I got a lot of emails like
I got a lot of emails like that when I was writing Pirate Jesus. It seemed as though people thought I could physically injure Jesus by making a comic about him. (Kind of like people who think you could physically injure a country by burning its flag. This idea is called 'idolatry' *wink*)
With a solid argument, I was able to explain how the comic was actually not making fun of Jesus, it was just a metaphor for the myriad ways people represent Jesus to fit their own politics, morality, race and personality. Most people who got this response seemed mollified.
The funny thing is, when I started the comic, I was just kind of making fun of Jesus. It only took on some more lofty goals as I started to empathize with my characters.
The extreme militants in any
The extreme militants in any group are, by definition, pretty unreasonable whether they're fighting for a religion, a nationality, a sexual persuasion or an ethnic group. That aside, you do need to be aware that if you choose to mock the beliefs of a particular group, then its more reactionary adherents are going to see you as fair game.
When it comes to religion, I don't often get embroiled in debates if I can help it. I have no problem stating that I'm an atheist to anyone who's interested but, whilst I would have thought that made me a neutral and relatively safe from attack, I've certainly been surprised to find that there are plenty of bigots from all denominations who seem to regard that as tantamount to admitting that I have a single-figure IQ and/or that I secretly sacrifice goats at midnight.
It's not worth getting involved in arguments with those kinds of people. The tenor of their own posts will usually say far more about them than anything you could possibly say in a response.
Broken Voice Comics
Because comics are not just for kids
Mocking
if you choose to mock the beliefs of a particular group, then its more reactionary adherents are going to see you as fair game.
And they'd be right.
But complaining about Christian comics being done in earnest is ridiculous. I'm glad to see how civily Mr. Rankine handled the situation. I find it amazing but not surprising how little good it did.
Absolutely.
Absolutely. Hence my conclusion:
Broken Voice Comics
Because comics are not just for kids
Religion in webcomics
How very odd that a Christian comic gets blasted by conservative Christians for mocking Christ. Yet the only person to ever voice complaint about my versions of Jesus were my previous sponsors.
In fact, I have received a rather surprisingly large number of favourable e-mail from my Christian readers concerning my character of Drunk and Bitter Jesus.
And recently I've received a couple of dozen favourable e-mails from Buddhists over my Bishounen Buddha character.
Your different versions of
Your different versions of Jesus were a thing of beauty.Â
___
Nerdcore: The Core Wars
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