Bible 2.0: Genesis and Job in Comics

The Bible is so widely known that the word bible can mean an authoritative guide to almost anything. It has circulated in enormous numbers, though owning a copy and reading it all the way through are different experiences.

Many readers know a few stories without having read the whole book. Its length and religious character can make it a daunting prospect. Yet its stories turn up in films and books often enough to make a first reading worthwhile.

Bible 2.0, Volume One: Genesis and Job

Bible 2.0 was designed for readers who know about the Bible but have found its length or its religious associations an obstacle to picking it up.

The series breaks the material into smaller parts. The first volume takes up Genesis and Job.

The stories are told in comics. The pace and weight are different from those of a long prose passage. I found the sequence of events easier to follow.

Diagrams for the People and Their Relationships

The people can be harder to keep straight than the events. There are many of them, and their relationships cross generations.

The book uses drawings and diagrams to show who is related to whom. It is easier to return to a story once you can see how the people fit together.

An Easy Entry Point, with a Strong Point of View

The Bible can be worth getting to know for its place in literature and film. Its influence is particularly visible in older European writing, including works from the Middle Ages.

The comics make this an approachable starting point. At times I found the adaptation too quick to cast events in terms of virtue rewarded and wrongdoing punished. That reading is one of the choices the book makes, and it left me wanting to see more of the tensions in the stories themselves.

Book Information

Bible 2.0, Volume One: Genesis and Job

Authors

Kim Dong-sun and Bae Gwang-seon

Publication date

5 May 2013

ISBN13

9788997923021

View book on YES24

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