Would you die for your beliefs? Five hundred years ago, in an age marked by war, plague, inequality, and religious coercion, there were people across Europe who dared to imagine a society of sharing, peace, and freedom of conscience. These radicals were ready to die for their vision. They were executed by the thousands—by water, by fire, and by sword—in both Catholic and Protestant states. Next year, Plough Publishing House will present By Water: The Felix Manz Story, the first of a three-volume graphic novel series that dramatically and creatively evokes a little-known chapter in the history of Europe’s Reformation. Written by Jason Landsel and featuring art by Sankha Banerjee, By Water is a compelling and timely story about young people standing up for truth against the corrupt political and religious leaders of their day.

Felix Manz was the son of a Catholic priest who became an unlikely leader and the very first martyr of the Radical Reformation. The graphic novel chronicles Manz’s real life conflict with his mentor, the establishment reformer Ulrich Zwingli. The trilogy tells the story of the radicals from the Reformation period who tried to build an alternative society inspired by Gutenberg’s Bible and Thomas More’s Utopia.

By Water: The Felix Manz Story will be published by Plough Publishing House on March 21, 2023 and will be followed by subsequent volumes titled By Fire and By Sword.