The people behind The Almighty Bible graphic novels had a clear vision. “We were looking to create a series of books that are very accessible to a large number of kids,” says Almighty Bible cofounder Kevin O’Donnell. To do this, they created a series of graphic novels, covering different books in the Bible.
But with economic uncertainty affecting book publishing, closing bookstores, and creating difficulties for new publications, they found themselves facing a tough question. They wanted to publish books that would get kids interested in the Bible, but how could they get the books to the kids?
After months of experimenting, they came upon a unique solution. Instead of going through bookstores, they are using a “book of the month” subscription model. Each month, a new 150-page volume will be sent to subscribers. “We start with Luke and we mix between New Testament and Old Testament books,” O’Donnell explains. Acts is the second book subscribers will receive, followed by Genesis and then Exodus. Mark, Revelation, and Joshua & Judges are some of the other upcoming titles.
The art teams behind the vibrant, colorful visuals are based in Korea. The art style will be familiar to readers of manga and comic books, but the layout of the page has a distinct and unique style. There are no word balloons or caption boxes. Instead, the text appears at the bottom of the page, beneath the artwork, along with scripture references to direct readers to the source material.
By focusing on the words in this way, O’Donnell hopes it will point young readers back to the graphic novel’s source material. The Almighty Bible series was created for parents, grandparents and teachers. “They want their kids to read the Bible,” O’Donnell said. “They want it to be something that will engage the kids.”
In other words, they share O’Donnell’s vision.