Review: Word for Word Bible Comic - The Gospel of Matthew

This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham...

This is how the Gospel of Matthew starts in the New International Version of the Bible, and so begins the new graphic novel of this Gospel in the Word for Word Bible series. I have been following the Word for Word Bible and its author Simon Pillario on social media for some time, so I was excited to be able to review the newest of the currently six-volume series (the others are the books of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Esther, and the Gospel of Mark). I appreciate Simon sending me a download of the digital version of Matthew's Gospel. Both of us participate in the Bible Gateway Bloggers Grid (his blog is here.

This is a 240-page graphic novel, intended for adults and teens and having an advisory age of 12+, with all of the Gospel presented in comic format but word for word from the New International Version. The word for word presentation inherent in the Word for Word Bible title can be challenging with Biblical books; I came into the theatre to see the 2003 movie Gospel of John wondering how the filmmakers would depict the lengthy discourses of Jesus in the text, and I had the same question about this graphic novel of Matthew's Gospel (I have not seen the 2014 film of the Gospel of Matthew, which is supposed to be word for word, but it is in my lengthy queue of videos to watch). How would this comic deal with the family tree of Jesus, which takes up the first 17 verses of the book? The Sermon on the Mount is a key part of the gospel, but can a graphic novel sustain the reader's interest over three chapters?

I thought the Word for Word Bible Comic did an excellent job with Matthew, one of the wordier gospels (other than John). The Sermon on the Mount, for instance, is indeed word for word, but throughout this version imagery and metaphors in the spoken discourse are illustrated in panels coloured in a pink-purple hue. So the preaching of Jesus in the sermon, with its many instructions and examples ("You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden." "If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also." "When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do." and others), is illustrated throughout, and is not just text. I liked that that these word pictures may relate to other scriptures - for example, the brothers Cain and Abel appear in the panel for Matthew 5:21-24 ("anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment"), and David and Bathsheba illustrate Matthew 5:27-30 ("anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart"). They may also use modern imagery, for instance in Matthew 10:18-22 as Jesus speaks about the coming persecutions of those who believe in him, with the panel depicting not just the stoning of Stephen and a Christian threatened by a wild leopard in the Roman arena but the burning of a modern church, Christians being crucified in 16th century Japan, authorities arresting African Christians, and Chinese authorities using technology to track a Christian on the street.

The Word for Word Bible books are claimed to be accurate to the historical, ethnic and cultural setting in order to represent the story as truthfully and faithfully as possible. This is apparent in the earlier volumes from the Hebrew Scriptures, as this graphic shows, and in the Gospel of Matthew - unlike most comic book depictions of the life of Jesus, and Western art until recently - the characters here do not have pale skin!

Angels are also drawn as mysterious and frightening, not as the winged, robed white people of Renaissance art - there's a reason that angels in scripture frequently have to tell humans not to be afraid, after all. There is also an effort to distinguish languages different from the Aramaic that Matthew's characters would be speaking throughout, by using a different font - at least, that seems to be the case in the story of the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15:21-28, where the font would indicate that she is speaking in Greek.

Finally, I enjoyed little details that fill out Matthew's words - when Jesus and his disciples in their boat leave the region of the Gadarenes in Matthew 9:1, they sail through the floating carcasses of the pigs who died by drowning in the lake when an evil spirit was sent into them in 8:32. It was also helpful to have the chapter and verse inked on each page, page breaks to begin each chapter, and footnotes for quotes from the Hebrew Scriptures. I would, however, have liked a footnote or explanatory note for Matthew 27:25 (the crowd calling out for Jesus to be crucified, shouting "“His blood is on us and on our children!”), given how often this verse has been used as part of anti-Semitic arguments for the Jewish people's guilt.

This graphic novel may appeal to readers who don't find text-only Bibles helpful or easy to read, those who enjoy comics, and readers who would gain insight and pleasure from a comic-format supplement to the biblical text. If you would like to read this faithful adaptation of the New International Version translation of the Gospel text, the Gospel of Matthew can be ordered here. There are hardcopy and digital versions available of all of the Word for Word Bible Comic books, and links to Kindle and Comixology versions.