Creation Story Retold by Comics

As author Scott McCloud writes in his graphic novel Understanding Comics, different comic artists use varying degrees realism and cartoonish abstraction to relate to audiences. When artists make an image more abstract, they are not so much “eliminating details as we are focusing on specific details.” 

Two comics I looked at used varying levels of abstraction to retell the story of creation. As we try to mold ourselves into this creation story as we read it, how do different comic artists try to use the written word and sequential drawings, and this interplay between the abstract and realistic, to build a cohesive world for us to dive into?

In the first page of Testament Vol. 2: West of Eden, the beginning lines are not Genesis’s famous, “In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.” Instead, you see colorful and graphically “realistic” and detailed drawings of three gods from different cosmologies.  Most of these gods would mostly likely be unfamiliar to the typical Judeo-Christian reader; you see Atum from Egyptian myths, Ishtar who after research on my part, was the East Semitic and Babylonian goddess of fertility, love, and war. You also see a destructive bull-creature named Moloch, who I also found was an ancient Ammonite god. The first words you see are “Every god has a creation story” in curved, casual- looking script. 

Already from this first page, this retelling of Adam and Eve reaches far outside its typical depiction. These gods influence the retelling of the Adam and Eve story; halfway through the chapter, how the woman was created was changed due to these multiple gods, including others like Krishna and Elijah. The near-future characters of a male computer technician and his female lover influence this past story, creating a fluidity of myth within this detailed drawings. Instead of relaying on highly abstract drawings, this comic artist uses more detailed and colored drawings to ground this highly abstract story in a more “realistic” and concrete setting, attempting to make it believable yet also timeless. By doing so, it aims to say that history repeats itself. The story takes place in the near future and the biblical past in interchanging intervals to show that these stories exist in the present, the future; religious stories change, evolve, and so do societies at large.

In the Manga Bible, the Creation story is also retold, but is geared towards a more Judeo-Christian, orthodox audience than the previous example. It uses text and quotes directly from Biblical text, and in that regard, uses more accepted and even “realistic” text. Some parts of the book’s text has been heard time and time again, which most likely prompts the opening line “Okay, let’s do this again.” And then it begins with the first verse in Genesis. And it’s not a sarcastic note I hear in the graphic novel’s first line, but the timelessness of telling these stories. This novel does mix up the text, and it features Moses telling the story to a group of children and eager followers. In a way, are we, the readers, the children? As danger brews in the story, are we echoing the biblical voices awaiting the words of the famous prophet? The abstract, cartoonish black and white drawings do give us a sense, as Scott McCloud writes, of reader identification.

Both of these stories reshape and comment on Adam and Eve by manipulating the text of the story and then use drawings to enhance their respective themes. But I argue in these examples, both novels pick one element to really abstract and then use the other remain more "realistic" and consistent and rooted in the cosmology. Testament Vol. 2 gave us realistic and more detailed colorful world so we could observe this near-future and biblical past in a sense of tangible reality. Manga Bible wanted to gear its book to a younger audience, and therefore made it easy to relate to based on its use of cartoons, while keeping a realistic (relatively speaking) and stricter interpretation of the text to tell of the bible’s ubiquity in time, but not necessarily across religions. Like any medium, graphic novels employ different means of texts and pictures to retell a story. I argue that in these two examples, they use contrasting amounts of abstraction in their text and pictures to demonstrate the push-and-pull of the abstract and familiar elements of humanity found in the Christian Creation story.    

The Importance of Imagination

Is it possible to exclude the artist’s interpretation when viewing comics? Even if it is possible, does this defeat the point of using visual representation for a story? The visual medium utilized by comics’ forces the artist’s perception of the story into the mind of viewer. Imagination is a critical component of our conceptualization of these stories. The way in which an individual visualizes the structure of a story is a personal means of understanding. For example, how one constructs the characters, their expressions, their dress, and even their mannerisms is a tool that is used for the individual to personally relate to the story. Our own imagination acts as a conduit of relatability. However, this tool is taken away by the visual nature of comics. Instead of our own method of relation, the artist’s perception is forced upon us. A barrier is breached by comics in a way that written or spoken stories do not do.

        The Genesis story told by R. Crumb and the manga version demonstrate the different approaches an artist can take. R. Crumb’s drawings are more realistic than the manga story. The anatomically realistic pictures in association with Crumb’s biblical terminology establishes his story as more educational than entertaining. His straightforward approach establishes Adam and Eve as seemingly empty vessels. They do not have the personality that is evident in the depictions of Adam and Eve in the manga version. The manga story uses vibrant expressions and more modernized speech as such providing Adam and Eve with a little more personality. Thus, exhibiting how an artist’s perception is apparent in their drawings and how such opinions can intrude upon the viewer’s own imagination. Furthermore, how does the individual maintain his or her sense of self when reading comics?  

The Use of Illustration in Retelling Myths

The development of different medias have facilitated the variety of ways stories are retold. While Scott McCloud defines comics as "juxtaposed pictorial...images...intended to convey information...to produce an aesthetic response in the viewer" (Understanding Comics, Pt. 1), the unique presentation of images can produce varying reactions to the same story retold. 

R. Crumbs' The Book of Genesis Illustrated, includes narrative text almost identical to that found in the original Book of Genesis and is illustrated by detailed black sketch. On the other hand, Maddox and Anderson's The Lion Graphic Bible has very abbreviated text to tell the same story and is illustrated by more simple and vibrant water color images. While both comics attempt to depict the same story, one could argue that Crumbs' work appeals to a crowd more familiar with the original text and is fundamentally more concerned with the text of the story.

Maddox and Anderson appear to take more interest in the interpretation of the text and the freedom that they can take with the colors they use and moods they convey. For example, the first part of the story is illustrated by a complete dark page to convey the darkness of the beginning of time, followed by bright greens and blue to depict the creation of the earth. When man is formed, the artists use earthly tones like reds and browns to depict the creation from clay, and when Adam hides from God, the artists convey apprehension and fear with darker tones in the forest. 

While neither comic arguably does a better job over the other of conveying the story from Genesis, the differences enable different focal points; the vastly different presentations of the myth facilitate different interpretations of the same story. 

Comics Are Just Myths

In Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art, Scott McCloud suggests that the simplicity of comics allows readers to better understand reality. McCloud writes, "The ability of cartoons to focus our attention on an idea is...an important part of their special power." McCloud argues that cartoons allow us to better grapple with ideas by representing them without the confines of reality or specificity. He highlights the simplistic drawing techniques of comics as key to emphasizing certain ideas and characteristics over others. This ability to simplify allows comics to have a greater control over the messages they convey. Myth works in a similar way by creating a simlpified reality that seeks to highlight and amplify certain ideas about the cosmos. Comics, and the myths they depict, are able to use symbols and icons to "strip down an image to its essential meaning." 

The Book of Genesis Illustrated and The Manga Bible used the simplicity of myth to highlight  the repercussions of temptation. After the Adam and Eve eat the apple they lose they are filled with anxieties, such as nudity. Nudity is depicted, in both comics, as something Adam and Eve aren't ashamed of, instead, nudity was simply a natural state of being. In the end of The Manga Bible, Adam and Eve are burdened with personal anxieties after they commit original sin. In the last frame of The Manga Bible, Adam states, "I think I'm going to cover up."  These two basic myths highlighted the anxieties that the original sin “redefined creations destiny.” From these comics I realized that Comics are depictions of myths that allow us to focus on ideas without the specificity of individual circumstance. 

Universally Known but So Different

How can a story so universally known such as the temptation scene be told so differently?

Comics give artistic license in multiple ways that regular paintings and words on a page cannot do. Comics allows the author/artist to interpret a passage through both his or her drawing and writings. Both the words and drawings allows comics to portray multiple meanings. A common stereotype about comics is that they are directed at children and young adults, and usually tell of a hero fighting off evil, but in the retelling of Genesis by R. Crumb, the creation story gets vastly different interpretation. The first thing that immediately jumps off the page is that both Adam and Eve are naked. It is also very detailed when it comes to the drawings with their emotions explicitly expressed. Though this comic is directed at adults (as evidenced by Adam and Eve lying with each other at the end), there is a lack of the full temptation sense, instead focusing on togetherness of man and woman. Crumb's piece seems to stress the humanity of the creation story and the importance of humans. There is a lack of sin in this comic, instead focusing on teaching other lessons such as love and companionship.

The Manga, on the other hand, is more consistent with our typical understanding of comics. It hides the nudity of Adam and Eve (the same with the picture above) and seems to be directed at children as evidenced by the opening scene having some comedy in it. The illustrations in the Manga is much more crude and do not show the emotions that are shown in Crumb edition. This idea means that the story in Manga is about much more important than the illustrations. The Manga does show the full Temptation scene and interestingly shows the snake with human arms. The snake represents the temptation to sin and giving it human features is important to note as a warning to readers to be careful of other tempting you to sin. Though neither shows the exile from Eden, the Magna does show at least some of the consequences of eating the apple, noting that both Adam and Eve notice they are naked (while Crumb's version they are still embracing their nakedness), and the narrator noting the far-reaching consequences of Adam and Eve's actions. Both stories embrace different parts of creation scene as Crumb's focus on happiness and pleasure of Adam having a companion (maybe directed at a couple reading it together), while the Manga focuses on the original sin and how it is so easy to give into sin.

The power of illustration in re-telling the creation myth

Every new version of the creation myth grows further from its original purity and closer to societal misconceptions and stereotypes. The comics The Magna Bible and Testament raise many of the same issues and themes we found in Genesis such as human fascination with stories, subordination, and sexism. The comics elevate these ideas to the next level. The comics are not simply the story of creation, but rather the story of the story of creation. The characters in both comics are extremely aware of their audience. In Magna bible, the narrator encourages the audience to become involved and participate in the storytelling. The Gods in Testament realize that " each story is only as true as the number and intensity of those who believe" and therefore work to create the most convincing myth. This emphasis on the role of the audience plays on the idea that humans are so eager for an explanation of the world around them that they will believe whatever they are told. With this in mind, the storytellers are aware of their power. Both myths also highlight the concept of subordination, a key theme in Genesis. In The Magna Bible the narrator stands on a tall cliff, towering above all of his followers. Similarly in Testament it is the Gods who have the power to create and interfere in the creation myth. As a society, we believe the stories presented to us through religion, books, movies, etc, but these comics make us think about who is behind these stories.

Each re-telling of the creation takes away from ambiguity of the myth and therefore the ability for the reader to employ imagination. The original creation myth was genderless with Ha'adamah as the original Adam. In Genesis we see the emergence of sexism as woman is made to be Adam's partner. However, when the story is told only through words, much is still left to the interpretation of the reader. We have the ability to picture the Garden of Eden and the interaction between Adam and Eve. Both of the comics begin with this same ambiguity, just words set against a black background. On the following pages, however, detailed illustrations appear, which further emphasis gender distinction. Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics explains that less detailed faces in cartoons allow the reader to project themselves onto the character and become a part of the comic. He includes a diagram to show the contrast between a realistic photograph and an ambiguous smiley face. The illustrations in The Magna Bible and specifically Testament are much closer to McCloud's example of extremely detailed figures. These graphic images, especially those of nude women, highlight gender distinctions and the idea of Adam and Eve as sex symbols. Through their illustrations, the comics further solidify and perpetuate these stereotypes that modern day Americans associate with the creation story.

Mythology

As time passes, the stories we tell evolve even though their overall message remains the same. This is true for Genesis, specifically the story of Adam and Eve. In the original myth, Genesis tells the story of creation, the temptation, and the fall of man. The Lion Graphic Bible, written in 2002, chooses to briefly mention creation and focus mainly on temptation and the role of the serpent. In this myth, the serpent is developed into a malicious animal that suggests and pressure Eve into eating the forbidden fruit. R. Crumb’s Genesis, written in 2009, focuses mainly on the creation and ends chapter 2 without even mentioning the temptation. In all three cases, the myth is told differently and the authors choose to focus on different pieces of the same story.  

After reading these three depictions of the same myth, it is obvious that through the re-telling of stories, individuals choose to get rid of old elements or add new elements. For example, in contemporary telling of the temptation, an apple is typically referred to as the forbidden fruit. However, the fruit isn’t an apple in the original Genesis or the two comics we read. People change stories to make them more relatable to the modern reader. An example of this is the tale of Rapunzel. In the Brothers Grimm version, Rapunzel is a damsel in distress who patiently waits for a prince to rescue her from her tower. The latest version, trying to appeal to a feminist and more liberal audience, depicts Rapunzel as an adventurous and heroic character. The changing nature of mythology is reflective of the changing attitudes in our society.

Visualizing Comics

Since comics is a juxtaposition of images that occupy different spaces (rather than one space for film), it holds the ability to create multiple layers of preservation and extension for myths and symbols. R. Crumb’s “The Book of Genesis” and the “Lion Graphic Bible” are two comics novels that offer similar yet different accounts of of the biblical Book of Genesis. 

Both comic strips follow the same narrative of the creation myth but offer a different visualization of it in terms of style and color. Crumb follows the biblical story almost word by word, with each illustration directly depicting the narrative and emphasizing key sacred symbols. The author even gives God a human appearance, with long hair and beard, as the Book of Genesis mentions that man was created according to His image and likeness. The Lion Graphic Bible on the other hand, does not physically illustrate God, instead His presence is omniscient as we can only observe his work and hear his voice in the end. The authors also created a new identity for the Garden of Eden, as they illustrated it more like an African savanna (the presumed birthplace of the modern man) rather than a densely cultivated garden.  

The freedom that Anderson and Maddox took to illustrate the Temptation and "Fall" emphasize the ever-changing aspect of myths. According to the authors, the serpent is the evil itself, as suggested by the text in the first panel in which it appears. In the book of Genesis,the serpent does not force Eve to eat the fruit, it is the possibility of knowing good and evil (and thus being like God) that tempts her into doing so. In the Lion Graphic Bible, the serpent goes as far as calling God a liar and demands the fruit to be eaten. The top-down layout of the last page further emphasizes the humanity's fall to sin. The top image of Adam and Eve fleeing is a borderless panel and the gutter for the whole page, which is connected to the bottom image of Adam hiding in fear.

Stylized temptation

From Rushkoff's Testament and the Manga Bible, we see two very different approaches to reaching the same goal of stylizing the creation story, and, as a result, focusing on and exaggerating certain aspects of it.
In Testament, we see the story of Genesis related in such a way that focuses on the role of temptation in the creation of stories. The main character (coder) is a clear representation of Adam, and the girl he pursues is a clear representation of Eve. They even meet in a garden where she encourages him to to do something that he has been told, and thus believes, would have dire consequences. As the new Gods begin the creation of a story, the wish to block out old Gods so that they may start anew. However, refusing to be ignored, the old ways find there way into the new story, and tempt Eve with the apple that condemns both her and Adam. This suggests to me the difficulty that is inherent in trying to ignore temptation. Also, the representations of temptation shown in this story are highly sexualized. That may be a function of the visual medium through which the story is written, but it is also likely a representation of the blinding nature of love and how it will cause us to ignore authority, as happens in both the Genesis and Modern story depicted in the comic.
In Manga Bible, we see a much more unaltered telling of the story, however, due to its medium, the stylization of the characters lends another dimension to the story. Typical in any manga, the characters all have flowing hair, expressive and large eyes, and lean physiques. The representation creates a heroic narrative to the Genesis story, especially since it is being relayed through Moses as he deals with the impending Egyptian threat. We see a side of the characters that we find to be more admirable, both physically and attitude-wise.  This a certain type of iconization that Scott Mccloud discussed. The image of Moses is serving as a representative for the concept, so they create an icon that is favorable.
This image of the characters from a famous anime, One Piece, shows this type of stylization which is present in most animes.