Florida Pastor Tries Bible-themed Comics
Art Ayris, executive pastor of First Baptist Church of Leesburg, Florida has decided to try his hand at comics. Working with former Marvel and DC Comics artists and writers they’re creating a new spin to spreading the Christian message: comic books with themes from the Bible.
Adam and Eve, the Book of Exodus and the end of mankind are some of the stories explored by the comics. Other stories focus on historical moments and offer messages about tolerance and compassion.
The comics are published through Kingstone Media Group, a publishing company formed by Ayris that alsoproduces graphic novels. Ayris also produced a 2005 low-budget film titled The Touch, which became a hit in the Middle East.
So far nine issues have been released and is a new way to help spread religious views to a wider audience. Christian themed comics are becoming a growing segment of the comic book industry.
Back in seminary in the, well never mind what decade, it was largely pre-www, I remember some TEE folks (that’s Theological Education by Extension) publishing crude comic books to teach semi-literate rural pastors in the Christian religion and pastoral duty. I’ve always been intrigued by the idea, but never ran with it.
In the present context of the post, I think the idea has merit, especially if at least some of the comics can be distributed online rather than in paper form. If you are thinking about business or self-supporting solvency, some electronic version samples could be given away free as teasers, and some for pay, all online.