The horse is a big fan of Mr. T.
Revelation: The Comic Book #6
FINAL ISSUE
Drawn Near Art Studios (1996)
ADAPTATION: Leo Bak COVER ART: Eugene Bak LETTERER: Lucy KimIf you’ve read the reviews all week and the actual Book Of Revelation you know we’re at the part where Satan’s forces are defeated, he’s locked up for 1000 years, and then comes back to tempt the last of the people he can tempt before tossed in the fires of Hell forever. Then the new kingdom is established and the vision ends.
Bak also wraps up his character’s lives. Before the last stand General Man is revealed as the wounded beast but they all still follow against Jesus’s forces…and lose big time. Man and false prophet also get dropped into the lake of fire. Does that mean there’s no Antichrist in this telling, or is the wounded beast the Antichrist? I finally restarted my Bible reading so at some point I may find out.
Then there’s Benjamin. When the dead return to life Benny is reunited with his father and both meat Naomi and Esau’s illegitimate daughter, Ayanne, whom they readily accept as a fellow saved. I don’t think it would have been right to bring back Naomi since we never saw proof she was saved (although he have seen a man with the mark of the beast removed…by bug-spitting crow, mind you) but I’m happy that despite the fact she was born to his wife and brother he doesn’t hesitate to accept her. Must be all the salvation going around.
The story of John’s jailing has a happy ending as well. While John is trying to figure out how to get this book he just wrote to the churches, the warden decides to beat him to find all the other Christians and kill them all….until a message from the new emperor shows mercy to their Christian subjects, releasing John as a gesture of goodwill. I don’t know if this is how John was released although I know attitude shifted back and forth between emperors regarding Christians during their individual reigns. Saint Nicholas had a similar issue with the ruler of his area at the time, I believe. My memory of a biographical production may be hazy.
So here are my overall thoughts on the series. The art was rather good for an independent production and whether using black and white over color was a cost issue or an artistic choice it serves Bak’s style very well, making for some great visuals. Mixing the story of people living during the times of John’s vision and the vision itself (again, no clear picture as to whether or not John was shown the events of Benjamin’s family) was okay but I feel making the stories two separate comics might have served both better.
I may not judge souls but I can judge the comic. As a religious piece I think it does pretty well. As a general comic, like I said, the stories would have been better off being their own comic but it’s not a deal breaker. Bak teased a graphic novel collecting the six issues (including issue #2, which I did not get) and if it came out it might be worth a look. If not and you come across the individual issues, it may be worth a look, if only as a curiosity piece.
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