Tempt the Messiah - a comic about Jesus and the Devil...

[Thehorseman]

Poetic and symbolic, a story about good verses evil starting with Satan tempting Jesus in the desert. See realistic sequential art at:

http://home.windstream.net/themessiah

If you are interested in the art method, you can go to a link at the bottom of part 3 and see some details about that.

"No", Satan is not suppose to be a specific gender. And "yes", the backgrounds are often photo-manips. You could say that the characters are too - BUT I USE A PENCIL RATHER THAN a contour filter/effect.

Just thought I would get those common questions out of the way first. This is a work in progress and I welcome any kind of feedback.

[ChrisChrusherComix]

I like it a lot. I'm a Christian and it's refreshing to see a Biblical comic that doesn't mock God or millions of people's religious beliefs. I don't know how many I've seen that just bash away (usually with mindless cliches too).

And don't feel bad if nobody says anything... nobody ever says anything about my comics either. I just spent a couple of days revamping my http://towner.comicgenesis.com/ comic site and I never hear a peep from a soul. Sometimes it's the name of the game.

If only one criticism, since I have dial-up, one panel per page would work for me... but that's just me with my accursed slow connection, haha! That is better for people with broadband though. Everything else is amazing to my eyes.

God bless you though, tremendous art style and a good message! I've saved it in my favorites for sure! God bless!

[Thehorseman]

...And don't feel bad if nobody says anything...

Usually, when I go to a forum I get comments. A few are pats on the back, but most relate to controversy. People ask about my “ white messiah” - why is Jesus so white? They take issue with Jesus “hitting a girl with a stick”. They wonder why the devil looks like a woman, BUT PEES STANDING UP!!! And then there are people that suspect me of doing photo paint-overs, and such. I deny it. We go back and forth. Then I end up posting progress images. And occasionally, someone gives me great feedback that helps me improve it.

But maybe this is a quiet forum. We shall see. Here is a sample from part 2. Jesus is talking to birds...I mean angels.



see parts 1,2,&3
http://home.windstream.net/themessiah

[Glarryg]

Love the art, and some of those symbols ("Adam") are kind of cool, but putting one image per page would be nicer for us dial-uppers. Also, somebody's eventually going to want to see citations; if you had a one-image-per-page setup, you could easily put citations at the bottom of each page in text, so you wouldn't have to go back and redo all your beautiful artwork.

*EDIT: Woops, didn't notice the citations on the last page.*

Glarryg

[ChrisChrusherComix]

Usually, when I go to a forum I get comments. A few are pats on the back, but most relate to controversy. People ask about my “ white messiah” - why is Jesus so white? They take issue with Jesus “hitting a girl with a stick”. They wonder why the devil looks like a woman, BUT PEES STANDING UP!!!

Well, Jesus was a Jew, so I think you got the skin tone accurate. And the devil could be anything, so it doesn't matter what it looks like. Ah, people will always find something nitpick, you know?

And then there are people that suspect me of doing photo paint-overs, and such. I deny it. We go back and forth. Then I end up posting progress images. And occasionally, someone gives me great feedback that helps me improve it.

Well, like I said, my only suggestion (and it's not a complaint) is one pic per page for dial-up users.

But maybe this is a quiet forum.

Well, until today, I only had one person commenting on my two comics in this forum (and both had been up for over a year), so you've already got me beat.

[Glambourine]

Pretty awesome art; gets better as it goes along. I think the story could be done more clearly--visually it's pretty clear, but the Bible verses taken from all over the New Testament don't mesh all that smoothly at times. Also: why did you blur the temptress's body? Just to keep the gender ambiguity, or because of obscenity? If the latter, consider leaving it unblurred in the future--part of the power of this is the grittiness (like the temptress urinating on the temple), and it rings really false when (if) you censor yourself.

Looking forward to seeing more.

[Thehorseman]

... Also: why did you blur the temptress's body? Just to keep the gender ambiguity, or because of obscenity? ...

I did that for gender amibiguity. I wanted the viewer to have the loose impression that satan is female. But, I tried to leave doubt (no boobs). Then, you see satan peeing standing up. I was going for surprise...or shock. I was not really concerned about obscenity (you see satan's butt in part III). To me, all this is symbolism that goes along with the devil coming as an angel of light but seeking to steal, kill, and destroy.

Thanks for the feedback.

[Inshue]

Fantastic job on this! ChrisCrusherComix is right, it's good to see a comic not bashing a religion for once. Besides, even if you don't look at it from a religious perspective, it's a great story. I look forward to more.

[Thehorseman]

Thanks for the feedback. I have update/changed the comic several times after getting good feedback in the past. I will likely do so again. I am grateful for all of your comments. Please, hold nothing back - tell me ANYTHING that you think will make it better. I am trying to decide what font is best, because many have said that I should change it.

I updated my blogspot. I have more details about the process to the art, as well as some progress images. You can access this from the bottom of part 3.



parts 1, 2, and 3
http://home.windstream.net/themessiah

[Pencilears]

well i like the art, about the only qualm i have is that the text seems to jump around, this could be just because i wasn't raise Christian and only have a cultural understanding of what you're talking about as opposed to a more direct religious understanding.

anyway, i like how your doing what you do art-wise,also having a comic with a more reverential portrait of Jesus is quite refreshing.

also it makes sense to me that the devil is without gender.

[Thehorseman]

Christians know Him as Jesus Christ. In Hebrew, He is Yeshua HaMashiac Adonai (Jesus Messiah Our Lord).

I have been told that the text "jumps around" before - some Christians even think that. So, don't feel like you think that because you were not "raised Christian". However, I think the text relates. The old testament passages have messianic references...or shadows...within them. There are old testament scriptures that obviously point to Christ that are widely accepted by Christians. And there are some where the references are much more subtle.

Thanks for the comments and feedback.

Parts 1, 2, and 3
http://home.windstream.net/themessiah


Tempt the Messiah

[Renee Katz]

I think it should be a little smaller. Too much scrolling!

[Solipsism]

i think the comic is great, i myself am christian and i think its great to find an artistic approach to a story like this one.

[Miruku]

An interesting art method. I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like it. I think you do a particularly good job incorporating the more surreal looking aspects.

The panels, particularly in the first part, feel larger than necessary sometimes, and it kind of makes it feel unconnected. I would like to see more panels on each page. Condensing it might make it flow better (although the sense of space seems to be something you were going for, so I don't know, maybe just one or two more panels per page?).

Not a criticism, just a comment; I actually didn't feel the devil's gender was all that ambiguous. I mean, it peed while standing, yes, but the lack of breasts can't really be seen with the robes, and the face looked distinctly feminine to me.

I noticed on the bottom of the most recent portion that you said that your purpose in writing the comic is to "spread the truth in comic book form." I'm not Christian, or even religious. I do find religion fascinating, and I have tried to read the Bible numerous times. The reason I never get very far is because the language is really laborious to read. I would imagine there are other people who feel similarly. If you want to spread your beliefs to those who don't already share them (while still using scripture), it might be more effective if you try integrating smaller portions of biblical text with your own, more readily accessible writing. It would also make the comic more...comic-ey? As it is right now, it's more like illustrated scripture.

Of course, I don't know what audience you're trying to reach. I just thought I'd put my two cents in, in case it's at all helpful. Your visual style is certainly unique, and it was nice to read something so different from what I usually do.

[Moder]

I like the art! Beautyfull

Too bad the theme Isnt really what Im interested In... (a comic I like and that uses a similar "real" feel to It Is Ranxerox)

[Liddell]

I like the wide open layout. It makes everything feel like a desert. However, I did have to do some left/right scrolling a couple of times in order to read the whole thing.

[Thehorseman]

Great feedback miruku - thanks. And I know what you mean about that side scrolling, Liddell. I tried to place the text boxes in such a way that you do not have to do that. I thought I fixed that. I guess not for all monitors. If you like this type of art and the subject matter, I have another site that I am working on - the scrolling is straight down on this one. Also, there is alot of music and videos to listen to. It is all Christian, but even if you are a pagan, I think you can enjoy the sights and sounds.


http://www.jesusweptart.blogspot.com



It is not sequential art - but I think you will like it!!!

Thanks everyone for the feedback. It really helps me.