SAN DIEGO – On his recent book tour, Robert Luedke skimmed four nearly empty rows of folding chairs at a Borders, hoping someone in the audience – an audience of three – would have a question. Or maybe, against the odds, someone would ask him to sign a poster touting his works.
No one did. One man had grabbed a seat in the back row to read Vogue magazine; eventually, he spoke up.
“I have no idea who you are,” he said.
“Nobody knows who I am,” said Luedke, half-joking, half-sighing.
Luedke is among a small but determined cadre of artists who hope to bring Christian-themed comic books – or their preferred term, graphic novels – to a larger audience.
Luedke opened “Eye Witness: A Fictional Tale of Absolute Truth,” the first work in a planned trilogy, and held it up so his audience could see his rendering of the crucifixion.
In classic comic book fashion, capitalized words appeared above images, in this case the face of Jesus Christ wincing in pain: “CLANK! CLANK! CLUNK!”
In another panel, Jesus spoke from the cross: “Father … cough … Forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
Christian comics have been around for decades. But, unlike Christian rock, religious graphic novels have yet to find a wide market.
Some Christians question whether comics are appropriate for religious content. Some apparently shy away from the books because they think “graphic novel” means adult material. Some mainstream stores are reluctant to carry books appealing to what they view as a small niche.
In hopes of breaking down those barriers, Luedke, of Flower Mound, Texas, came to San Diego in July as part of his book tour and to join other Christian artists at Comic-Con International, a convention dedicated to comics.
At a workshop on Christian graphic novels attended by about 50 people, Luedke told his fellow panelists, “The goal is to bring art back into worship, just like contemporary Christian music brought music back into worship.”
The other panelists and the moderator, Scott Shuford, agreed that the Christian comic book market has unrealized potential.
“Any company would love to have an emotional tie to the consumer,” said Shuford, founder of FrontGate Media, which consults with companies hoping to market to Christian consumers. “And what is faith but a huge emotional tie?”
Christian artists try to reach readers in various ways:
* In Royden Lepp’s “David: The Shepherd’s Song,” a scrawny boy with thick eyebrows and a mop of hair herds fluffy sheep with a shepherd’s staff nearly twice his height. The book tells the tale from 2 Samuel, in which David eventually is anointed king.
* Guardian Line comics feature a series set in contemporary times called “Joe &Max.” In it, God sends Max, a muscular Hispanic guardian angel who wears golden wings in heaven but blue jeans and seven gold chains around his neck on Earth, to protect Joseph Julian Davis, a black boy who wears cornrows.
* Luedke’s “Eye Witness” books feature Dr. Terrence Harper, an archaeologist who doubts Scripture until he stumbles across a document that scientifically proves Jesus Christ’s crucifixion.
But finding outlets for Christian comics hasn’t been easy.
Luedke’s books are available at www.headpress.info.
Christian bookstores, authors say, traditionally cater to 45-year-old women, unlikely devotees of comic books.
There are a few signs of larger publishers taking an interest in Christian comics. Thomas Nelson Inc. in January acquired the rights to Bibleman, a masked superhero who defeats villains such as Dr. Fear and the Gossip Queen through Scripture.
Building a fan base isn’t easy. A day after the convention, Luedke was at Borders with his audience of three. It became an audience of one when a couple excused themselves. That left Omar Johnson, the man who had been reading Vogue.
Johnson, who teaches Sunday school at Word of Life Pentecostal Church in San Diego, said he found comics a poor teaching tool because some embellish Bible stories.
“I personally don’t use graphic novels, because it’s so hard to get those images out of your head,” Johnson said. “That’s what I’ve found with the graphic novels, that they’ve added things to it to dramatize it. Whenever you go outside the confines of the word of God, you’re in jeopardy with God.”
But Johnson conceded that perhaps some graphic artists would be able to reach the young.
He wished Luedke “all the best – so long as it relates to the word of God. If He can use a donkey in the Bible, He can use anything.”
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