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Topic: Accurate Ancient Writing In Comics Post ReplyPost New Topic
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Robbie Parry
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Joined: 17 June 2007
Location: United Kingdom
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Posted: 20 September 2018 at 5:24am | IP Logged | 1 post reply

At the recent ICE convention (Birmingham, UK), I did buy some graphic novels that were based on biblical tales. I am an atheist, by the way, but one can no doubt enjoy things. Even I enjoy thinking about Daniel in the lion's den.

I thought I'd share some insight from the publisher:


Any views? And, if folk want, let's be broad with this topic. If our host reads this topic, maybe he might provide an insight on this. Feel free to be tenuous in this topic, folks, don't feel you have to talk about the Bible or religion - or the aforementioned comics. But if you have something loosely related to this, I'd welcome it.
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Sergio Saavedra
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Posted: 20 September 2018 at 2:44pm | IP Logged | 2 post reply

Hebrew written with modern characters when it should be with ancient ones is something I've noticed some times. I try not to be too demanding with this kind of things, because it detracts from my enjoyment, but I really appreciate when I see this attention to detail. 
For example, when I read a comic about a historic event or with a historical setting I really enjoy the artist paying attention to the accuracy of the costumes, buildings, etc. But I suppose that this not only depends on the artist's good will or aptitude, but other factors, such as the time they have to complete their job.
By the way, I do not remember reading a phrase in Spanish in a comic book that sounded natural. I understand you can't have a native speaker at hand for any foreign languages, so I appreciate if the sentence is at least correct.
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Steve De Young
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Posted: 20 September 2018 at 3:39pm | IP Logged | 3 post reply

What makes this tricky is when you think the relevant texts were originally written.  Aramaic block lettering is almost always wrong, but what precisely is right varies a lot.  So in the case of Old Testament stuff in particular, you're essentially making a faith statement by what you use, if you go this far in 'authenticity'.  I.e. if you use a 15th century BC script for the high priest's garments, you're claiming that the text of the Torah actually dates from that period and that the description of the high priest's garments therein remains unchanged.  Both of which are suggested by Orthodox Judaism and very conservative forms of Christianity, but not by archaeology or scholarly study of the texts.

But in more general historical fiction, this really doesn't bother me.  For example, if its about the Trojan war, and they show classical Greek instead of Linear B, I don't get all up in arms.
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Rebecca Jansen
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Posted: 20 September 2018 at 5:11pm | IP Logged | 4 post reply

Paleo Hebrew lettering would make it more interesting. It's a collection of stories from different times, places and culture and can be looked at historically.

I remember a display of biblical comic books at a convention once, and they had almost everything from some E.C.s put out in the '40s-'50s, the Joe Kubert/Nestor Redondo tabloid sized book from DC, and Marvel's then recent Pope one-shot. One thing they missed out on though was Larry Gonick's Cartoon History Of The Universe 'undergrounds' (published by Rip-Off Press anyway) which had some Bible era material in it and which I could have loaned original copies of. It sparked my interest enough I even subscribed to a magazine titled Biblical Archeology review for awhile!
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