By Neela Banerjee

Ajinbayo Akinsiku wants the world to know Jesus Christ – just not the gentle, blue-eyed Christ of old Hollywood movies and many illustrated Bibles.

Akinsiku says his Son of God is “a samurai stranger who’s come to town, in silhouette,” here to shake things up in a new, much-abridged version of the Bible rooted in manga, the Japanese form of graphic novels.”We present things in a very brazen way,” said Akinsiku, who hopes to become an Anglican priest and who is the author of “The Manga Bible: From Genesis to Revelation.” “Christ is a hard guy, seeking revolution and revolt, a tough guy.”

Publishers with an eye for evangelism and for markets have long profited by directing Bibles at niche markets: just-married couples, teenage boys, teenage girls, recovering addicts. Often the lure is cosmetic, like a jazzy new cover.

Sales of graphic novels, too, have grown by double digits in recent years. So it makes sense that a convergence is under way, as graphic novels take up stories from the Bible, often in startling ways.

In the last year, several major religious and secular publishing houses have announced or released manga religious stories.

The medium shapes the message. Manga often focuses on action and epic. Much of the Bible, as a result, ends up on the cutting room floor, and what remains is darker.

“It is the end of the Word as we know it, and the end of a certain cultural idea of the Scriptures as a book, as the Book,” Timothy Beal, professor of religion at Case Western Reserve University, said of the reworking of the Bible in new forms, including manga. “It opens up new ways of understanding Scripture and ends up breaking the idols a bit.”

While known for characters with big eyes and catwalk poses, manga is also defined by a laconic, cinematic style, with characters often doing more than talking.

In a blurb for “The Manga Bible,” which is published by Doubleday, the archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Rowan Williams, is quoted as saying, “It will convey the shock and freshness of the Bible in a unique way.”

No doubt. In “The Manga Bible,” whose heroes look and sound like skateboarders in Bedouin gear, Noah gets tripped up counting the animals in the Ark: “That’s 11,344 animals? Arggh! I’ve lost count again. I’m going to have to start from scratch!”

Abraham rides a horse out of an explosion to save Lot. Og, king of Bashan, looms like an early Darth Vader. The Sermon on the Mount did not make the book, though, because there was not enough action to it.

“The Manga Bible” sold 30,000 copies in Britain, according to Doubleday. The print run in the United States is 15,000, and it sells for $12.95.

Akinsiku, 42, who uses the pen name Siku, grew up in England and Nigeria in an Anglican family of Nigerian descent. He recently graduated from theology school in London. For years, he has worked as an artist, and a rendering of the Bible was the best way of glorifying God, he said by telephone from London.

While younger adults and teens are the most avid consumers of manga, Akinsiku said he had heard from grandmothers who picked up the book as a gift for their grandchildren. The book is meant to be a first taste of the Bible, which many feel too intimidated to read, Akinsiku said. Every few pages, a small tab refers to the biblical verses the action covers.

“For the unchurched, the book is to show that this thing, the Bible, is still relevant,” he said, “because it talks about what human beings do when they encounter God.”

Christian thinkers have tried to make the Bible accessible for centuries, scholars said. Stained-glass windows related Bible stories when Europe was largely illiterate. New printing technology in the 19th century made it possible to mass-produce Bibles, including illustrated versions, said Peter Thuesen, acting chairman of religious studies at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

As literacy rose (and marketing flowered), individual families bought Bibles. In the 1960s and 1970s, books like “The Living Bible” and “The Way” came out, written in vernacular English, although scholars criticize their accuracy.

In the past decade, as consumer products have been directed at niche markets and religious services tailored to different groups, publishers have made more money by creating Bibles to serve certain groups, said Lynn Schofield Clark, director of the Estlow International Center for Journalism and New Media at the University of Colorado.

A few years ago, for example, the religious publisher Thomas Nelson issued a Bible for teenage girls called “Revolve,” which looked like a glossy magazine. It sold 40,000 copies in a month, Clark said, a staggering number for a Bible.

The goal of the Bibles is not just to win people to Christ, but to particular ways of thinking, said Jason BeDuhn, associate professor of religious studies at Northern Arizona University. Akinsiku said the biblical message he wanted to underscore was justice, especially for the poor.

His book has been criticized by some manga bloggers as too wordy.

Akinsiku said the exposition gave readers a quick understanding of the Bible. His next project is a manga life of Christ. He has 300 pages to lay it out, which means there will be a lot more action, a lot less talking, something like Clint Eastwood in the Galilee.

Religious superheroes come back fighting in a Manga comic Bible

By Murad Ahmed

He comes to town as a stranger, a silhouetted superhero ready to save the world. He’s dark, he’s moody and he deals in miracles. He is Christ.

That’s the portrait of Jesus depicted by a British artist in a new, abridged version of the Bible illustrated in the “manga” style, the Japanese form of comic books.

The Manga Bible, created by Ajin-bayo Akinsiku, known as Siku, has earned rave reviews in the Christian community and has been endorsed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, who is quoted in the book’s blurb as saying: “It will convey the shock and freshness of the Bible in a unique way.”

Speaking to The Times, Siku said: “I’m seeing him as the original Superman. That’s why he appears as he does, in silhouette and exploding into the scene in heroic poses. I am saying, this is my hero, my superhero.”

The Manga Bibleaims to pass on the biblical message to the 15-25 age group and has already sold 30,000 copies in Britain, becoming the best-selling manga novel in the country.

It attempts to illustrate the whole Bible, from Genesis and the Old Testament to the Book of Revelation and the New Testament, in 200 pages.

In recent years publishers and Christian authorities have seen the benefits of directing Bibles at niche markets in an attempt to make the “greatest story ever told” more accessible to new generations of readers. In 2005 new renderings of the Bible included a translation into text message form as well as a slimline version designed to be read in 100 minutes.

The accessibility of The Manga Bible is aided by the book’s heroes who sound like street-savvy teenagers dressed in the latest Bedouin fashion. Samson falls for a girl called Delilah who asks him: “Samson babes, what’s the secret of your inhuman strength?”

John the Baptist appears like a bedraggled fighter from a video game, and is described as “a lone figure emerged from the Jordanian wilderness . . . fearless and full of attitude”.

Siku admits that these colloquial flourishes, such as when he described Jesus as “the ‘badass’ that kicks everyone’s butt” has caused some problems. “I got into trouble with some Christian forums for talking like that,” he said.

But the Church of England praised The Manga Bible, describing it as “brilliant and clever”. A Church spokesman said: “This will clash with some people, but it’s something many people will identify with too. The idea of Christ as a sort of superhero figure isn’t new. Think back to Jesus Christ Superstar. What’s important is that the message of the Bible is maintained.”

Though young adult men are the main readers of manga, Siku claims to have heard from grandparents and young children reading his book. The novel is meant to be a starting guide for new readers of the Bible. Every few pages, a small tab refers readers to the biblical verses that the scenes cover.

Siku, 42, grew up in England and Nigeria in an Anglican family of Nigerian descent. He has worked as a graphic designer and artist and recently graduated from theology school. He hopes to be an Anglican minister.

The novel has been criticised by some manga fans as being too wordy, because the manga style is usually cinematic. “If you are condensing the Bible into 200 pages, it will be wordy,” argues Siku.

As with many comic books there will be a sequel. His next project is The Manga Jesus, a 300-page novel focusing on the life of Christ. Jesus will be darker and moodier, like Christian Bale in the new Batman sequels. Every good comic book hero needs a side-kick however. The Robin role will be fulfilled by John and Peter, who will provide the humour and light relief.

Siku said: “When you have a heavy character like Christ you need a side-kick who softens the tone a little bit.”

Word for the day

Da txt msg Bible “In da bginnin God cre8d da heavens & da earth.” Thus begins a version of the Bible published by the Bible Society in Australia in 2005. All 31,173 verses of the Bible were translated into text messages

The hundred-minute Bible for the “hurried and harried” generation, was introduced in 2005 at Canterbury Cathedral by its author, the Rev Michael Hinton. All 66 books of the Bible were cut down into a 20,000-word version

The Bible for teenagers, published in 2004, is written in modern idiom and includes a number of extra passages penned by contemporary authors on “youth issues”. The passage on pornography advises teenagers “to avoid the top shelf of the newsagents, [and] pray as you surf [the internet]“

The sexed-up Bible The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, gave his backing to a translation of the New Testament in 2004 in which St Paul’s condemnations of gay sex were deleted and Christians were told to go out and have more sex. St Peter became “Rocky” and Mary Magdalen “Maggie”

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