Acts of God (Comic)
Summary
Acts of God is an educational graphic novel by Kingstone that presents the story of the pilgrims aboard the Mayflower. Drawing from William Bradford’s testimony, the comic breathes to life the struggles, celebrations, alliances, and conflicts of the English Separatist Church’s quest for religious freedom.
Assessment
Acts of God outlines the first year of the Mayflower’s pilgrims with impressive art and information taken directly from Bradford’s journals of the expedition. It is designed to supplement history classes and provide an extra resources for teaching early American history in a way that is both fun and accessible. The comic is organized into almost bite-sized historical facts, providing some dates and times, but more importantly highlighting
The artwork follows a beautiful, semi-realistic Western comic style with rich colors and distinctive characters. While the art is definitely elegant, it does not distract from the comic’s overall message and history lesson. The story is abbreviated, but includes most of the main highlights from the Mayflower’s voyage until the first Thanksgiving in 1621, including the harsh first winter, contact with the Native American chief Massasoit and the story and political machinations of the translator Squanto.
The comic does place special emphasis on the pilgrims’ religious reasons for leaving England and weaves a thread of faith throughout the the story, although there is not necessarily a grand, theological message. In terms of cleanliness, the comic does deal with a lot of death — accurate to historical events — but is not gory or violent. There is no nudity, romance, or adult themes.
Light-o-Meter
Overall — 5 out of 7 Little Lights
Story: 4 out of 7 Little Lights
Artwork: 5 out of 7 Little Lights
Quality: 6 out of 7 Little Lights
Theological Message: 4 out of 7 Little Lights
Age Appropriateness — Appropriate for intended audiences of kids and teens.
Talk
Okay, American history was never really my strong suit (I preferred medieval Europe and Ancient Roman history), but there is a very good chance that I might’ve understood and remembered it a little better if I’d had a comic like this to supplement my classes. The artwork is great, the story is well-organized and edited — you can tell its probably a bit abbreviated, but it doesn’t feel like its missing key information at all, — and, although it mostly draws from a single account of the events, the comic’s presentation isn’t layered on with extra, modern biases from any angle. It presents the facts as Bradford outlined them, focusing on the survival, bravery, diplomacy, conflicts, and cooperation of both the settlers and the Natives.
What was really great about this comic is the fact that it didn’t feel like cheesy “edu-tainment”. It was obviously educational, but the artwork, writing, and editing was so good that it felt like reading a regular comic that just happened to take place in the seventeenth century. Definitely something to look into for both parents wanting to supplement their kids’ education (or help make things a little clearer with visual aids) and people who just really enjoy early American history.
Where to Enjoy
Kingstone Comics (publisher): Acts of God - Kingstone Comics
US Comics: Acts of God – U.S. Comics
Amazon: Amazon.com: Acts of God (U.S. Comics Book 1) eBook : Peterson, Doug, Bennett, Joe: Books
Christianbook.com: Acts of God: Edited By: Kelly Ayris By: Doug Peterson Illustrated By: Joe Bennett: 9781613283615 - Christianbook.com
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