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.

Depictions of religious stories: real or authentic?

“The Manga Bible” and “The Book of Genesis Illustrated b R. Crumb” are two comic book versions of Genesis. These recreations of the story of the bible demonstrate several of the issues of mythology, namely losing information in translation. The story of Genesis has been retold for thousands and thousands of years, and ideas, plot, characters, and many other aspects of the story can change when so many people are telling it. Culture, time period, and place may all have an impact on the way the story is told. This can be seen in R. Crumb’s cartoon version because his story of creation is depicted much differently from the original version and from “The Magna Bible” version. For example, two humans are created, but later, God forms Adam’s identity and after that God extracts a rib from his body. This differs from the original creation story because in the original, Adam is the first and only human created, and then a woman, Eve, is made from one of Adam’s ribs. An interesting aspect of “The Magna Bible” depiction is that in some ways it demonstrates the secularism of religious stories. This doesn’t really include the meaning of the creation story. Instead it uses anime to tell the story and excludes the religious meaning behind the plotline. One other issue really stands out to me, which is that by including images with a story, it can significantly change the perception and interpretation. For example, both of these comics depict God with lots of facial hair and a cane. Also images can change the emphasis that is put on certain aspects of the story. Adam is depicted as very chiseled and masculine, while Eve is shown to be beautiful with extremely feminine features. These aspects of the story seem unimportant, however they highlight the gender constructs that are not as prevalent in the original version.

All of these issues make me wonder, what is real and what is authentic? If stories are being retold in different ways, who is the one to decide which version is accurate? If religious stories are becoming more secular, then who is to say that it is even a religious story at this point? I think that the point of the bible is to teach certain beliefs and values. However, if the stories are becoming so secular, like in movies such as Noah, then how can that be considered an authentic religious story? I don’t think that it can be, which is where many issues lie with mythology. Also, who is to say that these physical depictions are accurate? Maybe these physical aspects of the story are unimportant, but they definitely may change the way that future generations view the creation story, and all the other stories of the bible.

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.

Lost in Translation

Lost in Translation

     R. Crumb's "The Book of Genesis" and Siku's "The Manga Bible" elicit an interesting point about the retelling of Creationism and of general myth retellings. Both, as all myth re-tellings do, add their own touch to the story, one more dramatically than the other but equally important. "The Book of Genesis," despite being a unique medium, does an excellent job of maintaining relative accuracy to the Old Testament's original telling of the story; using familiar language and a parallel chronology paired with straightforward illustrations of the text. For example, the comic uses biblical language like, "And God saw the light, that it was good," of which the tone and grammatical organization is close, if not identical to the Bible's. However, every now and then the author includes some of his own language, like "for on the day you eat from it, you are doomed to die!" Furthermore, unlike the subtle differences seen in R. Crumb's comic, Siku's "The Manga Bible" tells the Creationism myth in a more entertaining context and uses close to no familiar language from the original text. This manga comic tells the creationism myth as if Moses was telling it to the children of Israel, ironically a myth being retold within another myth also being retold.

     Regardless of how different the retelling is from the original, whether understated like in "The Book of Genesis" or very distant like in the "Manga Bible," why do authors feel the need to insert their own personalities into retellings, especially in myths as systematic and "straightforward" as the creationism story? While this "broken-telephone game" phenomenon is often the cause of confusion and misunderstandings, perhaps it's the root of what makes myths beautiful and entertaining to the audience, and even prevents myths from becoming fact. If the same exact story was told endlessly, regardless of its validity, it would likely become accepted as fact over time and effectively close the doors for meaningful interpretation; quite the opposite of the intention of mythology as a genre.

     

Genesis and the impact of story telling

The comics, “Testament” and “Manga Bible” each take on the task of depicting the “Creation” story, each adding its own unique flair to the commonly retold story.  Both stories are told through a narrative in which the speaker or speakers greatly influence the story being told altering it from the original book of Genesis.

            In the comic, “Testament,” the story begins with different “Gods” from different religions and mythology, each laying claim to the creation of the world.  These gods are amidst a power struggle in which the god who is worshipped the most, has the greatest amount of power.  In order to solve this struggle, the Gods decide to develop a new creation story in which everyone will worship the “one true God,” and this newly created story emphasized the use of language as creation as opposed to nature.  The significance of the use of language is that it differs from traditional paganism in which the world is “created” through nature.  By using language as a means of creation, it makes humans more centric to the universe because meaning that the universe was developed for human use as opposed to humans interconnected with nature.

            The use of language is also prevalent in the “Manga Bible.”  The story of Genesis is told to a group of children by Moses in a precursor to the parting of the Red Sea.  In the story, Moses emphasized the word “Good” to imply that God did not create evil.  This is an expansion done by the comic that maybe was to imply that humans are responsible for evil. 

      Both comics use the narrators of the story to take the same story, but alter it from its original meaning.  While taking drastically different stances on creationism, both comics were able to take the same exact story and provide commentary on completely separate issues. 

IN THE BEGINNING, THERE WAS FOOD

With each retelling of Christianity’s Creation Story, we can see a typical human narrative: we are tempted, we sin, we lose our paradise. The story has also been used a rallying cry for many social groups, homophobics and pacifists alike. But what about foodies?

According to Genesis, God said, “everything that has breath for life, I have given you every green plant for food.”¹ Today, certain Christians affirm their faith by embracing this vegan life. Books like Alive! A Physician's Biblical and Scientific Guide to Nutrition² and tumblr posts like “Veganism is about taking care of all God’s creatures”³ show how this story creates Christian identities centered around food. Meanwhile, many Christians argue that God gave people “dominion over”⁴ animals for us to eat. In both cases, Genesis raises contentious questions about food in our society.

                 

 The forbidden fruit is an obvious symbol about sin. But have you noticed that we’re “tempted” by chocolate cake? Many candy companies like Forbidden Fruit do.⁶ This religious language shows how, without realizing it, many of us are like Eve wanting that cookie and the indulgent, sinful food. From Christian online communities to everyday epicureans, the Creation story shapes people’s identity with cuisine.  

Sources

1. Genesis Chapter 1:30 (New Revised Standard)

2.  Alive! A Physician's Biblical and Scientific Guide to Nutrition by Scott Stoll

3. http://veganchristian.tumblr.com/FAQ

4. Genesis Chapter 1:26 (New Revised Standard)
5.  http://caramelapplesandmore.com