Gospel of Mark Comic

From Salesian Info Agency: "On the occasion of the opening of the Year of Faith, the Salesians of the Province of China published an English language edition of the Gospel of Mark in comic form, taking cues from the original version of the book in Mandarin.

The new edition, comprising two volumes, had already been completed long ago under the guidance of the Salesian, Fr Dennis Martin, who died in 2006. Assisted by a group of enthusiastic pupils, Fr Dennis had supervised the production of the new version, which reiterated previously published volumes from Vox Amica Press of Hong Kong, changing the lyrics based on the Gospel of Mark in the New American Bible.

Now, in response to the invitation of Pope Benedict XVI to renew the commitment to Christian proclamation, the Province "Maria Ausiliatrice" gave to the printers the two volumes in English. In doing so, the Chinese Salesians intend, in the first place, to offer young readers the opportunity to get to know the figure of Jesus, through the simple and compelling comics form; and secondly, to pay their last respects to the Salesian missionary life of Fr Dennis, appreciating a piece of his legacy.

The two volumes chronicle the life of Jesus with bold graphics and great fidelity to the Gospel account. Flipping through the pages is a special character: "Little Priest", who has the task of guiding the readers on their journey to understanding the Good News.

The comics are one of the most popular media among young people around the world, and this helps to make this work a useful tool to tell the story of Jesus. The new English Edition already has various famous admirers: Salesian Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-Kiun, Bishop emeritus of Hong Kong, hoped that "this book might arouse the interest of people to explore the Gospel and the Kingdom of heaven", while Fr Steve Ryan, Coordinator of Youth Pastoral and young adults of the Province of the Eastern United States, recommends this book to parents, teachers and instructors.

The book is on sale in major Catholic bookstores in Hong Kong; for those who want to buy it elsewhere or receive further information try osenquiry@vap.org.hk"

I was fortunate enough to get a copy of this two volume comic.  It is truly a beautiful book, which covers the entire Gospel of Mark.  I dabble a little bit into comics from time to time, so I am pretty comfortable reading them.  The art for this comic tends to be a bit more  in the style of Eastern manga than what you would typically see from a Western comic.  It includes a Foreword by Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-Kiun, emeritus bishop of Hong Kong, as well as an introduction to the Gospel and a Map of the Holy Land.  If you are interested in obtaining a copy for yourself or a friend, you can email osenquiry@vap.org.hk for more information.  They are very helpful in placing your order in a secure way.  It will, however, take at least five weeks for the comic to arrive from Hong Kong.  It was well worth it!

If you are looking for something in a more Western comic style, I highly recommend A Child is Born by Billy Tucci.  It is simply stunning.  Also, it is interesting to note that Billy is Catholic.  Many of the other comic/manga Bibles on the market are done by Protestant authors.  They are certainly good as well, but it is always great to support Catholic authors.   Tucci's book makes a great Christmas gift.  

Update from Reader Brian:

In case any of the Catholic Bibles Blog readers were interested in obtaining a set of the Gospel of Mark comics from Vox Amica, I just wanted to mention Kenneth and Margaret over at the Fountain of Love and Life bookstore up in Canada.  I reached out to Clare Chan in HK about purchasing a couple of sets of the comics, and she recommended that I go through FLL in Canada.  The Fountain of Love and Life bookstore was very accommodating and helpful throughout the process of ordering a set of the Gospel of Mark comic edition, and it looks like they have quite a selection of Catholic books/videos.  You can check out the bookstore athttp://bookstore.fountainofloveandlife.org/ .